So yeah, I'm using a song for my collaboration. Not the most original idea ever, I'll admit, as Kayla already did it, and so did Mengli. But whatever. I'll do it too. I'm not using the whole song, however, I'm using only a short segment. The excerpt (do you call it that for songs?) is from Drop The World by Lil Wayne ft. Eminem, and it is part of Eminem's part. Please ignore all profanity.
It hurts, but I never show
This pain you'll never know
If only you could see just how lonely and how cold
And frostbit I've become, my back's against the wall
when push comes to shove, I just stand up, scream "Fuck 'em all!".
Man, it feels like these walls are closin' in
This roof is cavin' in, up, time to raise it then
This song I think embodies Chris' spirit in that he is very closed about his emotions. He puts on a persona of a happy and affable kid, but I get the sense he is quite turbulent emotionally. He will "never show this pain [that] you'll never know" and so nobody will ever truly glimpse the depths of his mind. It also shows his resistance to society, because when he is in dire straights, or his "back's against the wall", in other words, he resists all help in the matter, essentially screaming "Fuck 'em all!". He feels like he is all alone in the world, and that no one thinks the way he does, and that no matter where he turns, society is present. He think that as "these walls are closin' in", the walls of society will forever entrap him. However, he is possessed of an immense can do spirit, and when the "roof is cavin' in", he still tries to "raise it", and head out into the wilderness of Alaska, in a final act of resistance.
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I definatly agree with a lot of what was said in this post. Chris was definatly unhappy with a lot of aspects of society, and thats a big reason he turns to nature. However i disagree that Chris feels all alone in the world. I think he can fit in with the rest of society when he wants to, he just choses to live off by himself. Chris mad a lot of friends on his way to Alaska, many of which he left lasting impacts on, especially Ronald Franz. He even keeps in touch with many people throught his journeys. Although others may not think the way he does, and feel such a big attraction to nature, he doesn't feel alone.
ReplyDeleteI found this post to be very intruiging, with the comparison of the song lyrics to Chris' spirit. I definitely agree with what you said regarding Chris, who, especially in high school, had the appearence of a happy normal kid, but inside was burning with desire to get out of scoiety. Also, Chris kept the pain of his father's mistakes inside of him, and did not reveal at the time what he had found out. I wonder whether or not Chris would have liked Eminem, who despite the swearing that doesn't seem very Chris-like, can have some meaningfull songs and lyrics.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you did the song collaboration. But hey, you did a really good job of it. Personally, I'm not a very big fan of rap, but Eminem is one rap artist that I like. I think you make a good point about how McCandless's life is very much like the metaphorical roof caving in during this song. That society is just building and building over Chris's head until he cant take it anymore and raises it by going to Alaska. Wandering is Chris's way of breaking free from society. Also, the line in the song where he says "it hurts but you'll never know, the pain you'll never know", can be compared to how Chris rarely communicated to his parents during his travels. He never told them about his emotional, or some times literal, pain. All in all, i thought you connected the song to the book very well.
ReplyDelete-Mitchell
The way you compared the song lyrics to Chris was very interesting. I liked how you said that the wall represented society closing on him. But I disagree with you when you said that Chris tried to cover up his emotions. He doesn't care much about what others think of him, so I don't see much of a reason for him to cover up or hide his feelings. Chris can definately make friends and I think he enjoys their company, but I believe that he wants to limit his time with his friends so his friends don't restrict him from connecting to nature. Because if he formed too many close relationships, then he would have too many ties that would keep him away from nature.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with the ideas that he feels alone in his thinking, and I lmost find it frustrating because he is the agent to his own demise. He is the one who puts up the wall refusing to help others around him understand his thinking and his ideas. He puts up the wall himself by dropping the connections with people he might have had the strongest connections with. By doing so he felt that no one would understand him because HE pushes people away and never attempts to connect. In this way he is the agent of his own demise. (This book also would have fit the album The Wall by pink floyd just to keep the song references up :P)
ReplyDeleteI really like the connection you made between the song and Chris. I'm a fan of this song and I think it also relates to Jon Krakauer. The song begins with Lil Wayne talking about some of the hardships he has faced in his life. He continues to say,
ReplyDelete"And it's worse, but better times seem further and beyond
The top gets higher the more I climb"
Although Lil Wayne is speaking of his personal experiences, I thought the quote was very similar to Krakauer's emotions while climbing the Devil's Thumb. Krakauer's climb was tedious and he was extremely close to giving up, but he eventualy overcame this "climb" (literally in his case) and reached the summit. Lil Wayne ends the stanza by saying,
"[Be]cause all the bullshit, it made me strong"
Krakauer does not explain how the climb affected his life, but I'm sure it made him a stronger individual after accomplishing this incredible feat.
I agree with the points you made and liked that you did a song comparison because it is interesting to see all the different possible types of songs that can relate to Into the Wild. I recently commented on a post about a Beatles song, which contrasts greatly from Eminem. You mentioned how both Chris and Eminem resist society, which I agree with, but in my opinion each of them resist for differing reasons. Chris doesn't like society much because he feels that it is ruining nature, while Eminem feels he is being pressured and suffocated by society and just wants to find a way to be free. Overall, I think you did a good job of comparing two distinct pieces and finding similarities between the two.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of the things that you mentioned in this post. I especially like how you mentioned that Chris, even in the most dire of situations, never accepts much help from others. I also think that the “back against the wall” phrase can also embody how he feels about society. He feels like society is forcing things upon him that he really doesn’t want any part of, and the only way to escape it is to go to the one place where society isn’t present. I also agree with what Natalie said in that McCandless really isn’t alone. He may seem alone, when in reality it is his choice to put a barrier between him and society, including relationships with others. He also meets many friendly people along his travels that come to enjoy him and his presence. I think if McCandless returned to society, he would not have any trouble finding people to talk to.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your ideas and your song choice:)I think that perhaps Chris never disclosed whatever emotional pain he is in, even to his private journal. In the book he was vengful and wanted to cause them as much pain as possible, actually making the comparison of "divorcing" his parents. When he does this it realtes back to screaming "f*** you all!" SCoiety has never helped him, slapped him in the face by giving him wealth and comfort while others in the world were dying. He throws off the shackles of a life of entitlement and personally makes the world fair again, litterally dying. Personally, the experiance of being figurativly trapped aginst a wall make me do things that i would never do in another situation. I think Chris felt backed up and just left.
ReplyDelete