Semiotic Analysis: Music and Americans

How does music affect cultural development? Every culture in the world, from the boom-rhythmic African tribes to the ancient number crunching Pythagorean culture have all used music to define and preserve their culture. Music is the universal language that people use to communicate emotions and ideas, and for that reason it is a particularly adept place to begin analyzing culture. 

American culture is no different, and for that we should be thankful. The image that music has made in the minds of Americans is one that can not be scrubbed clean, or at least not easily. From the get go it was music that sounded the charge against the British, the blaring trumpet sound screaming for freedom and the end of injustice. As time went on so did music, but the underling freedom to live had sunk its roots deep in the minds of the people. All music screams out like a blaring trumpet while the drums take up cadence in the back ground. Liberation, peace, sovereignty: the true values of america. When you listen to country, you hear the intonations of patriots, the fight for freedom no matter the cost. Lost loves for the greater good, always fighting for a better life through all of the struggles. Then as you move on rock and all of its branches call for liberation. "American Idiot" by Green Day is calling out the educational establishments for leaving so many hopelessly ignorant of the world. Almost all music in the time of the Vietnam war was calling for peace and not blood; this music instigated more protest and eventually brought on the end of the war due to the lack of support. Everything is kept in song, and by doing so it is engraved deep in the minds of all those who can listen.

America is the nation of the blowing trumpet, America is the nation of freedom and prosperity. So long as its people are not def there will be a future for it. So keep making music America, keep listening.

Metaphorically Speaking

Why do we, humans as a whole, write? Many have answered this question but none of them seem to completely agree. For this reason I have found that writing is among the few real wonders of our human-ness. Every culture has a style entirely there own, scribbling meaningless runes across the paper, and when they finish it has a meaning as profound as the one who wrote it. This being so, writing is what one could call the entire embodiment  of all humans and the civilization that they surround themselves with.

Like the great pyramids of Giza, writing can fill the viewer with awe and wonder. The cover of a book is filled with mystery and suspense that dares the reader to enter in the same way the pyramids draw in grave robbers and explores. But then as the book opens and the story within begins to unravel an intense feeling of empowerment and knowledge sweeps over the reader. The true power of all ancient wonders and books alike does not lie on the outside, but within.

Seeking these wonders is never easy, often they lie in harsh and difficult areas where many work so hard to avoid. But those who dare to venture and take the leap of faith, the writings of the past can prove to be more rewarding than any ancient treasure. And to write these wonders has rewards beyond that. The names of those who write are immortalized in the minds of all those who see or hear of the greatness that they created. Like the great pharaohs and high priest, the writers of truth and fiction, the present and the past control what is and what will be. And for that reason we write.

Skunks

After reading Skunk Dreams by Louise Erdrich I found myself trying to comprehend the vast world that we live in and how we as humans interact with all of its intricacies. The question of what do skunks dream of trigger even more questions in my head pertaining to how everything, not just skunks, view the world in comparison to us. When she dreamed through the eyes of the creature crawling through the forest, a new significance was given to the surroundings astounding the author with the pure massiveness of the world. Between the dreams and the feelings they invoked she was soon to move to the woods and as the author said so elegantly, she found solace in the trees. 

I know for myself I often have dreams were I wake up and have to ask myself why in the world did I just dream that. Sometimes I feel as if maybe I am just alone and I am going crazy, maybe my trying to stand out as an individual has finally pushed me of the small amount of balance that I still have. But then again maybe we all live in a giant karrass that envelopes all things and we really do share the dreams of other things that creeps and crawl in this place we live.

After the skunk sprayed the narrator, the powerful sensation of there-ness consumed her bring all things into sharper perspective, leaving all else behind but what was really there. This was the key to the story. Life is about seeing the obstacles in life and then going after them. If there is nothing to overcome and all that exist is a smooth road then there is nothing for us to live for. In this way I agree that a skunk is one to stand apart, to take what is its, to do what it wants, and never to fear for it knows it can overcome the obstacles it creates in it's own life.