Existentialism in Music
Throughout history, music and novels have always been tremendous ways to share and spread ideas. One popular idea that is discussed in song and book is existentialism. Both the song No Reason and Camus’ The Stranger embody certain elements of existentialism. Existentialism contains many different aspects to it. However the two most evident themes of existentialism that are present in No Reason are individuality and responsibility. Both of these themes are sung about in the chorus. They also take place in the overall song, itself, but aren’t as much of an impact to the listener. Because the main ideas are written in the chorus of the song, this means that they are repeated the most. The repetition of the chorus influences the listener to understand those views the most. Also, the words remain stuck in their head after listening. This further drives the writer’s idea home to the listener. While No Reason centers mainly around those two existential themes of responsibility and individuality, it also includes pieces that relate to the novel, The Stranger. This novel contains existential ideas, as well.
The idea of being responsible for creating the meaning of one’s own life is spoken of in the chorus of the song. As stated previously, the writer of the song uses the chorus this to focus the listener to the point’s they’re trying to make. The lyrics of this are “responsibility to/ create your own life/ no one can define you” (line 7-9). They show that it is one’s responsibility to define one’s own meaning of life. Also, the writer is saying that it is no one else’s job to do that for anyone. Along with the theme of responsibility comes the idea of individuality.
Just as the concept of responsibility is written in the chorus of the song No Reason, the idea of individuality is as well. The lyrics, “Couldn’t find a reason to change my life/ I’ve never been the one to please just anybody/ except for me” (line 1-3) provide evidence that the writer of the song stands for individuality. Changing to fit into society limits one’s individuality. The songwriter is saying, through their lyrics, that there is no reason to change one’s self to fit anyone else’s standards.
Many existential themes are apparent in Camus’ The Stranger, which is why both The Stranger and No Reason are similar. Meursault, the main character in The Stranger is very much an existentialist. Two of the themes that he follows are also responsibility and individuality. Also, in the song, the lyrics “indifferent world” (line 10) and “turns out I was guilty/ for doing just this” (line 36-37) both relate to Meursault and the theme of existentialism. Many times in the novel, The Stranger, Meursault speaks of the “gentle indifference of the world”. This shows both Meursault and the writer of the song have similar existential views on the world. The third verse of No Reason is about how the writer of the song was “guilty” for following their existential view. Meursault, who was tried in court, was literally found guilty. The main reasoning for this is that he was an existentialist and people didn’t understand him. Though the writer of the song wasn’t tried in court and found guilty, they are guilty of believing what they do. All of this connects The Stranger to No Reason.
The song No Reason incorporates both themes of existentialism and a relation to the main character in Camus’ novel The Stranger. It’s repetitiveness drills in the two larger ideas of both responsibility and individuality. Throughout the song, there are underlying lyrics that further present these ideas, such as the ones that relate to Camus’ work. These concepts of existentialism, in the song No Reason, are parallel to those of Meursault’s in The Stranger.
World Studies World Literature 