I’m not sure if we’re still supposed to do a post for this half-week, but regardless, I’d like to share this with anyone who’s still reading the blog at this point. 
I stumbled upon this while listening to my music on shuffle the other day and I wish I’d thought of it sooner. Music is a huge part of my life, and a lot of artists use it to bring up issues of nature, much like Snyder uses poetry.
One of the artists I really love is Serj Tankian. You may have heard of him a year or so ago when a couple of his songs got popular, or from when he was a part of System of a Down. I was never into SOAD, but Serj’s solo stuff goes in a different direction that really speaks to me. I like its blend of violent, disquieting punk aspects (we can tell where that influence came from), really unique and sometimes tender melodies, and powerful, poetic lyrics. The song that hooked me was “Empty Walls” which was on MTV or something a while ago, as a direct protest to the war in Iraq. Once I got the whole cd, I quickly realized Serj is not afraid to tackle lots of hotbed issues with forcefulness but attention to the craft; he doesn’t just whine about his views while strumming a guitar or lose the strength of his message in the music.
I want to share two music videos with you, because I think they have relevence to this classs=. The first is perhaps my favourite of his songs, “Sky is Over,” a heartfelt elegy for our air, which is being poisoned by pollution and threatened by ozone depletion. I love that he speaks to the sky as if it’s a friend or a lover – you can’t help but be affected by it and feel somewhat responsible. This song still gives me chills.
The next is perhaps even more relevent – “Honking Antelope,” a bizarre, angry, and spiritual journey through a ravaged Earth with a bleak outlook for the future. The lyrics remind me a lot of Turtle Island’s more pessimistic poems. The whole song has a sense of ghostliness, things already lost and the futile attempt to hold on to them. My favourite lines are, “We are the cause of a world thats gone wrong/Nature will survive us human dogs after all.” It gets under your skin, makes you feel that you are nothing more than a not-so-smart ape with your finger on the doomsday button. Incidentally, I think the video itself is pretty bad, so feel free to ignore it ^_^
September 23, 2009 at 5:12 am |
WOW…i honestly do not know where to start on your blog. The videos that you picked hit today’s class and EVERY class we have ever had right on the dot! The videos were super depressing and i think you analysis of them was also right on point. That guy is not the best singer or even sexy hahaha but his lyrics gave me chills and the end of the first one did too. You win best video pick for this blog session for our class girl! For sure! Nice job!
September 23, 2009 at 5:33 am |
I just had my friend Kelsey watch the movies and she told me that calling us “Dogs” is the wrong word. It is too natural, and it should be something more like machines or robots something with no feeling. She also thinks that the word human has created its own bad name. Even in movies with wizards or animals when they call us “humans” it is not in a good way at all. Its always derogatory.