How does one know their destiny or what awaits them in the future? Is their destiny controlled by our decisions we make today? Or is their destiny predetermined by god? The idea of existentialism contradicts the previous statements. Existentialism is the belief that there is no such thing as fate or god. Meursault, the main character from the book, The Stranger, connects to the many ideas of existentialism. The song, Young, by Hollywood Undead also connects to the many ideas of existentialism and the struggle of Meursault.
The song, Young, by Hollywood Undead is part of the album Swan Songs. The album was released on September 2, 2008. Hollywood Undead is a rock band that performs and writes songs about life. (How life is unfair or about alcohol/drugs) In the song, the beginning starts off at a slow steady pace. Then when the lyrics begin, the pace changes to a faster, more medium pace. The intro to song begins a guitar solo and effects. When the lyrics begin, drums immediately join in, creating an “angst” kind of feeling. I believe the reason the band chose this order of instruments/sound arrangement was to get the listener excited/ “whooped up” when the lyrics begin. The song starts off with the chorus “We are young, But we have heart, born in this world as it all falls apart, we are strong, we don’t belong, born in this world as it all falls apart.” Sung by Aron Erlichman. The volume of the song rises whenever the chorus is sung. The volume lowers after the chorus during the other versus sung by George Ragan. This is to emphasize the main message the song. Towards the end of the song the pace slows down just like in intro. Throughout the whole song, a slow/medium pace is maintained. The timbre is higher during the chorus and is lower in versus and toward the end of the song. All of these factors cause an overall feeling of belittled, frustrated, and anger. Young is about life not being fair. The message is how the youth is blamed for the adults’ mistakes and the impact it has caused on society.
Young has many existential components. Absurdity is one of the themes that are portrayed in Young. Absurdity is the idea that there is no actual meaning or universal meaning to life and that some occurrences may not have any meaning whatsoever. In the song, it says “Feel the beating of our hearts, fleeting hope as we depart…” “Feel the beating of our hearts” refers to our lives. The words fleeting, hope, and depart show that the George Ragan does not think that there is a meaning to life or that some events that happen in life also have no meaning and happen by chance. This idea of absurdity also portrayed in The Stranger. Meursault, the main character, goes about life, not caring. Stated above, the line “Feel the beating in our hearts, fleeting hope as we depart” connects to Meursault and how he just goes about life. He does his job, and daily routine, but Meursault doesn’t believe that there is an actual meaning to life. Another one of the themes used in the song is absolute systems.
Absolute systems is idea that philosophy, religion, and science will always fail at meaning of existence and that they are not worth following because they limit your own personal meaning to life. In the song, it also says “Yes we wave this flag of hatred but you’re the one who made” This shows that the Ragan follows these absolute systems because of the one who made them. The words “flag of hatred” shows that the singer is not in favor of these absolute systems, but follows them anyways. Later in the song it continues “All together walk alone against all we’ve ever known” This line then shows the Ragan going against the absolute systems, showing that they are not worth following. Absolute systems is another theme that is portrayed in The Stranger by Meursault. In the beginning of the book, Meursault follows the rules of his neighborhood/sity or absolute systems. Later on in the book, Meursault defies them, by killing an Arab man. The line stated above “Yes we wave this flag of hatred…all together, walk alone against all we’ve ever known.” These lines connect to Meursault in the beginning of the book and how he turned out in the end. The theme, of alienation is also used.
Alienation is when one feels like a “stranger” in their life and that people cannot fully understand them because each person’s meaning of life differs. Young reads “Hear us whisper in the dark, in the rain you see the spark” This line is talking about how others in society doesn’t understand the singer’s meaning of life. The word dark emphasizes how others aren’t able to see the Ragan’s meaning of life. “In the rain you see the spark” refers to being able to see the “stranger” in a crowd or the one that differs from the rest and feeling like an “outcast”.
Another theme that is used in Young is forlornness. Forlornness is the sensation of isolation and depression that occurs upon realization that one is on their own to create meaning. It is also the idea that a person is always in a state of forlornness as long as their identity is based on things can break down. In the song, it says “But you take who we are, the innocence of our hearts” This shows that Ragan has lost his identity/meaning. The song continues “Made to kneel before the alters as you tear us apart” This refers to the idea that once Ragan lost his meaning, and that he is broken down and has given into society. Similar to the song, Forlornness is also shown in The Stranger. Meursault has very different moral standards. For example, Meursault does not cry or grieve over his mother’s death. Society has trouble accepting his moral standards, seeing him as an outsider or outcast. Later in the book, Meursault is at his trial for killing an Arab man. Meursault confesses that he didn’t have any feelings for his mother’s death, causing damage to his reputation because of how society viewed him. Another theme is facticity.
Facticity is the idea that one is “thrown” into the world and into a certain body, society, culture, family, time and place etc. and that one has no choice in regards to these things. (The background and history of existence) Young states “We are young, but we have heart, born in this world as it all falls apart…” This shows how Aron Erlichman believes that we are caring about others, but we are born into a cruel/unfair society. The song continues “We are strong, but we don’t belong, born in this world as it all falls apart.” This shows that believes that he is strong and willing to help society, but doesn’t belong because it is an unfair situation. Facticity emphasizes the idea of being thrown into unfair situations. This line supports that idea strongly and that the singer believes that he deserves better. The final theme that is portrayed in the song is death.
Death is the ultimate moment in one’s life and the end. It is also the idea that since one is still constantly discovering their identity, they are an incomplete definition until their death. The song says “ We get so sick oh so sick, we never wanted all this, medication for the children with no reason to live” The phrase “We get so sick oh so sick, we never wanted all this” refers to the singer being tired of seeing the way of life. “Medication for the children with no meaning to live” refers to the death that follows after Ragan is tired of living. The song continues “So we march to the drums of the damned as we come watch it burn in the sun, we are numb…We will fight or we will fall, till the angels save us all” This last line shows the struggle that is fought and that death will be involved either way. “We will fight or we will fall” refers to both Erlichman and Ragan fighting and succeeding or dying while trying. “Till the angels save us all” refers to the end of the struggle when the fight is over and the both the singer are dead. This line also connects to Meursault. An existentialist believes that the end is when the character development is complete, thus finding peace with them. Meursault says “But I was sure about me, about everything, surer than he could ever be, sure of my life and sure of the death I had waiting for me. Yes, that was all I had…I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another.” This connects to the idea of death and how Meursault knows that his character development is complete. He continues “Throughout the whole absurd life I’d lived, a dark wind had been rising toward me from somewhere deep in my future, across years that were still to come, and as it passed, this wind leveled whatever was offered to me at the time, in years, no more real that the ones I was living.” This shows how Meursault acknowledges his absurdity and existentialist views throughout his life.
To conclude, absurdity and absolute systems were the two themes of existentialism that stood out the most in the book and connected well with the song, Young. Existentialism is the idea that there is no such thing as fate or god and the ability of free will. Free will is the belief that people can do what they want, when they want to do it. Free will is used in both the Young and The Stranger. As stated above the line from Young states “All together, walk alone against all we’ve ever know”. This line shows the rise against absolute systems, but free will as well. It shows that the singer had the choice whether or not to ride against the absolute systems. In the book, The Stranger, Meursault has the free will to kill the Arab man and do the things he does in his life. The song Young contains many traits that make it an existentialist piece. Meursault contains many of the same traits, also making him an existentialist.
World Studies World Literature 