Jarod George

Existential Song Lyric Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPXWt2ESxVY

It’s interesting to see that 20^th century literature has similar themes to modern day written works. Albert Camus’ The Stranger almost seems to be a prequel to the modern existential art seen by The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize”. Camus’ work has explicit emphasis on the subject Meursault who seems completely detached from emotional response and everyday meaning. His view on essential components of life such as: death, love, and the pursuit of happiness; makes him indifferent. It is only when his life is drastically changed and he faces the eventuality of death, that he discovers several existential revelations within himself. Camus’ magnifies this process throughout the novel by juxtaposing Meursault against a range of normal people and their reactions to life. One of these people is Marie, a love interest and former co-worker of Meursault. She is defined by her passion of love for Meursault, while he is entirely focused on the physical passions of the relationship. Although Albert Camus’ The Stranger and The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize” are separated by decades, they have the same existential revelations due to their focus of physical passions, absurdity, and the importance of death

Meursault only finds meaning in the physical aspects of passions that interest him just as The Flaming Lips maintain focus on the physical realm. On an emotional level Meursault seems completely unattached to Marie, only because emotions do not interest Meursault and form no personal meaning for him. Instead he focuses on Marie’s physical aspects even in extremely emotional scenes, like when Marie visits him in prison he notices that she was “smiling her best smile for me. I thought she looked very beautiful […] (Camus 74). He is not interested in what she has to say about his imprisonment, just that she brought herself to see him. This is very similar to the line “Do You Realize- That you have the most beautiful face” (The Flaming Lips). In a song about realizations of the eventuality of death and the absurdity of life the importance of physical passions still remains a focus in the song. In both instances Meursault and The Flaming Lips are defined by their inherent interest in physical properties because it supplies personal meaning. This parallel focus on physical passion is one of the many existential connections between the two works.

In both The Stranger and “Do You Realize” the sense of absurdity is relevant in similar forms. In Meursault’s life he has not been able to accrue any meaning to his life and comes to realize that the occurrences in his life did not matter. Once Meursault is imprisoned he realizes that “Nothing, nothing mattered […]” over his whole life he “had lived [his] life one way and [he] could just as well have lived it another. Every decision that Meursault had made in his life was meaningless, even the decision that allowed him to be arrested. The Flaming Lips display this similar concept with the line “Do you realize that life goes fast it’s hard to make the good things last”. Life goes so fast that there is no way that meaning can be gathered, time just goes by until one’s life is over. Everything that a person enjoys in their life essentially doesn’t matter because they come and go quickly, leaving a person the same. Meursault encounters this in prison where he is “tormented by [his] desires for women” and his “freedom” (Camus 77). Everything that Meursault had centered his life around and thought gave him meaning was stripped of him so quickly. In that state after being stripped of his freedoms, everything he had done in his life had become meaningless; he was just another person. This condition is seen in even greater effect once Meursault must face the eventuality of his death.

In both works there is a definite focus on death and its importance as the absolute end. Meursault after being imprisoned is sentenced to death and must come to grips with what is left of his life.  Meursault realized that “Since we’re all going to die, it’s obvious that when and how don’t matter” (Camus 114). He comes to peace with death in a way. Death is universal, and with a meaningless life what is there to be afraid of. The Flaming Lips also focus on the eventuality of death in the line “Do you realize – that everyone you know someday will die”. Similar to Meursault, The Flaming Lips understand that death is an eventuality for everyone. The deliverance from The Flaming Lips seems calm and casual as if this revelation is not seen in terror, but in comfort. There is no need to fear you own death if everyone will reach death eventually, and the “when” is unimportant. Meursault comes to a little bitterer conclusion of “Well, so I’m going to die [….] But everyone knows life isn’t worth living” (Camus 114). Only when he is faced with the absolute end of his life is he able to reflect on his life, and realize that it was not worth living. He had no meaning in his life. In the end, an individual’s reflection might be different, but the effect that death makes you sees you for who you truly are still remains the same.

Overall, Albert Camus’ The Stranger and The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize” share the same existential themes due to their attention to the physical realm, absurdity, and the focus on death. The trials of Meursault from the novel and the repeating lines of the song made several obvious parallels. One of first instances was both works showed focus on physical passions in the midst of serious subjects. The second instance occurred with the sense of absurdity surrounding Meursault in his imprisonment and in the message the song was trying to send. Lastly, the focus on death appeared in both works, it was the concluding resolution that death is an eventuality for everyone.  There are many existential revelations that people find within themselves, even today, its one’s hope that a person doesn’t need to be sentenced to death to realize them.

            

Eli Moskowitz

Existentialist Comparison Essay

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV4r47lctV4

Based on the American Heritage Dictionary, Existentialism is defined as “a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one’s acts.” In The Stranger, Meursault goes through life with very little excitement, and acts as if there is no meaning to his life. He sees everything in his life as he wants to see it, and it is all based on his perception. He also is stuck in many absolute systems in his life until the end, when he breaks free of them and becomes a true existentialist. For most of his life, he lives a life filled with absurdity, with no meaning. “Church” by Outkast and The Stranger by Albert Camus are connected by three existential ideas: Absurdity, Authenticity, and Absolute Systems.

In both mediums, absurdity is one of the main themes. Absurdity is the idea that there is no meaning to life or anything. In the opening lines of the song, the question is posed “why are we here, what is the meanin to all of this?” The speaker in this song is wondering what the meaning of life is, or if there is one at all. For most of his life, Meursault has a similar view towards life, but instead of wondering if there is meaning, he accepts that there is not meaning in his life. When Meursault says “…nothing mattered, and I knew why. So did he. Throughout the whole absurd life I’d lived… (Camus 121)” After killing the Arab and being sentenced to death, Meursault realizes how meaningless his life was. He even uses the word “absurd” to describe his life; showing how he believes his life was truly meaningless. Meursault’s comment about his meaningless life and Outkasts’s lyrics that question the meaning of life both bring up the idea of absurdity.

In both the book and the song, authenticity is a clearly visible idea. Authenticity is the idea that one decides what the truth is in their life, and, to a person, the world is how they perceive it and their life is based off of their choices. In the second verse of the song it says “Life, is nothing but a dream, so peaceful and serene, Unless you’re being evil then you on the devil’s team, Well you perceive what you want to believe.” This refers to how one perceives their life, and a person can see what they want to believe. Also, it refers to the choices a person makes, if one is good, their life can be peaceful and serene, but if they are evil then their life will be negative. Meursault shows this idea of authenticity when he says “I had been right, I was still right, I was always right. I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another. I had done this and I hadn’t done that. (Camus 121)” The first sentence of this quote shows how Meursault believes he was always right about everything, showing how he decides what is true in his life, as what he believes is right may be wrong to someone else. Then in the next two sentences he refers to how he made the choices that make up what his life his, which shows how he believes that his life happened the way it did completely because of the choices he made, and it could have turned out differently had he made different choices. Meursault’s feeling that he is always right is exactly what Outkast was referring to when saying “You perceive what you want to believe,” because Meursault believes he is always right, and that is all he knows.

The last theme that can be seen in both the book and the song was Absolute Systems. Absolute systems are organized systems that control peoples’ lives, usually by enforcing rules or regulations. Near the end of the song, Big Boi says “Talk to the coach or break out the huddle.” This refers to making a change in your life in order to “break out of the huddle.” The huddle could be considered your everyday routine, which is controlled by absolute systems. The huddle in the book is essentially Meursault’s boring, absolute system filled life. He breaks out of it when he kills the Arab, going against the laws and moral rules of the world, which are ruled by absolute systems (Camus 59). In the song, the speaker talks about breaking out of absolute systems, and in the book, Meursault actually breaks out of a few absolute systems that he is in.

The three ideas that are talked about in “Church” by Outkast are shown in The Stranger, during and after Meursault kills the Arab. Absurdity is shown in both, as the song wonders why we are here, and Meursault is very blunt in saying that life is meaningless. In the song, Outkast talks about how a person is in the life that they chose and that the want to live in, which Meursault agrees with, and believes his life is exactly how he wanted it to be. Absolute systems are also referred to in both, the song believes that one should get out of absolute systems, and in the book, Meursault breaks out of his absolute systems. In conclusion, “Church” by Outkast and The Stranger by Albert Camus both have strong agreeing existentialist themes.

Cam Ca$hman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgfgFpFaxgw

Comparing The Stranger and existentialism to Edguy’s “King of Fools

The song “King of Fools” has lyrics that show existentialist themes like individuality and not following absolute systems, and some lines can be compared to scenes in The Stranger when Meursault is being questioned by his Lawyer and the judge during his trial. The song’s lyrics describe a character, who is similar to Meursault in that he lives the way he wants to rather than the way society wants him to, however the song’s character seems to have more emotion, in particular anger, while Meursault doesn’t express his feelings outwardly. The song goes on to describe how the character doesn’t follow the crowd and absolute systems and chooses to walk his own way, calling the leader of these people the “King of Fools.”

What do you think when you spit in my face? How does it feel to accuse and to haze? Now look at me, I’m not one of your kind, and I prefer to stay behind. The first verse is demonstrating a couple of existentialist themes. The first two lines represent alienation, as the speaker is describing how the other people don’t understand him and mock him for how he lives his life. The line “I’m not one of your kind” alludes to not only this, but also individuality, because the speaker is describing how he chooses not to follow the crowd and their absolute systems because he wants to live his own life. This attitude can be directly compare to Meursault’s, although Meursault never explicitly states it in the book as the speaker in the song is. The other people mocking the song’s speaker could also be compared to when the judge calls Meursault “Monsieur Antichrist” because he doesn’t understand the way that Meursault lives his life.

We don’t wanna be like you, don’t you get that King of Fools? We don’t mind your life is trite, you are the King of Fools. The chorus begins with the speaker saying he doesn’t want his life to be like the others who blindly follow the King of Fools and absolute systems. The next line uses the world “trite,” which means lacking in originality or freshness. In this line, the speaker is mocking the others for their lives being controlled by absolute systems. We are never gonna be like you, we don’t follow – King of Fools, you’re the blind who lead the blind. In this line, the speaker is saying that even the leaders of this absolute system are blind as well as the followers, and nobody is making choices for themselves. Since the chorus is kind of insulting to the others, this is where I think the song’s character differs from Meursault. While Meursault is largely emotionless and often keeps to himself, the speaker in the song is quite angry and insulting the others.

The line “And walk the wicked way!” is used multiple times throughout the song, and it is a very important line in the song. The speaker isn’t saying the way he “walks” or lives his life is actually wicked, he’s saying in the eyes of the others, his strange way of living is unusual and they shun him for it, so in their eyes it is wicked.

You feel at ease as you flock with the masses, what do you see with your heads in their asses? This is the most existentialist line in the song. It uses harsher language to really push the message of the song. In this line, the singer describes how he sees the rest of the people, all in one huge flock. Not literally, of course, but they’re all following the same absolute systems that he doesn’t like. He says “What do you see with your heads in their asses” to describe how many of them there are, so many that they’re so close to each other their heads are figuratively up their asses. This shows just how different this character is from Meursault, because Meursault very much keeps to himself and isn’t really outspoken about how he lives his life, in fact, Meursault might not even be aware how existentialist his life is, meanwhile the speaker in the song is very much aware of how he lives his life and is outspoken and insulting to the people who don’t share the same views as him. The next line, Keep on railing at what I believe, call me insane and I am proud to be, describes even more that even though these people make fun of him he’s still proud and stands behind his choices, which is something that existentialists do. This line I think best represents the scene in The Stranger when the lawyer is questioning Meursault. Meursault mentions that “I had pretty much lost the habit of analyzing myself…I probably did love Maman, but that didn’t mean anything. At one time or another all normal people had wished their loved ones dead” and the lawyer, shocked “Made me promise that I wouldn’t say that at my hearing or in front of the examining magistrate.” Even though the lawyer is not directly insulting him for his beliefs, Meursault has chosen that he wants to live and feel this way and the Lawyer warns him against expressing this because he feels that it is strange.

It is very clear that the song “King of Fools” has a lot of specific existentialist themes and can be directly connected to Albert Camus’ The Stranger.

Wils Ezequelle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJmnvhAOIBo

Ghost! By Kid Cudi

                The song Ghost! By Kid Cudi is an existentialist song because it contains absolute systems, alienation, forlornness and individuality. The individuality in the song is found by one repeating sound that extends throughout the song and the rest of these traits are found in the lyrics sung by Kid Cudi. This song relates to the book “The Stranger” by Albert Camus because they both exhibit existentialist traits.

References to absolute systems are present in the song “Ghost!” by Kid Cudi. The line “down the road with no lights on” in this song exemplifies Kudi’s choice to stray away from where everyone else is going and be an individual. Cudi is breaking free from the absolute system to become who he wants to be, not what society wants him to be. He followed the path of his destiny and this was a path of darkness. This quote relates to when Meursault, from ”The Stranger” by Albert Camus, says “He wanted to talk to me about God again, but I went up to him and made one last attempt to explain to him that I had only a little time left and I didn’t want to waste it on God.” This is when Meursault is being spoken to about his beliefs and the man is confused as to how Meursault is blind to God. The father is trying to push belief in God upon him but Meursault is not listening to what he has to say. This shows that Meursault is not conforming to the absolute system of the belief in any religion. Meursault has decided not to connect with anything that he can’t physically see or feel; therefore he is not conforming to the absolute system of religion. In both of these instances the character being focused on isn’t obeying a specific absolute system or in Cudi’s case just absolute systems in general. Nearly everything in life is an absolute system of which one is expected to follow the rules of, however the choice can always be made to become the person one wants to be, not the person that they are expected to be.

The trait of alienation is also present in the song “Ghost!” by Kid Cudi and the book “The Stranger” by Albert Camus. When Cudi says “I hope they understand that I really understand that… they don’t understand,” he exemplifies alienation. Cudi is saying that he accepts the fact that no one understands him. He believes that no one will ever be able to completely understand him because of the idea that everybody’s meaning of life is different and that his belief of happiness may be very different than other peoples. His life is very complex with many different decisions that he has made that he doesn’t expect anyone to be able to relate to and understand. Meursault in “The Stanger” also experiences alienation in his life. He shows this in his conversation with Maria when he says “Then she wanted to know if I loved her. I answered the same way I had last time, that it didn’t mean anything but I probably didn’t love her.” This is saying that Meursault doesn’t think that love means anything and that he doesn’t know if he loves her. He says that he probably doesn’t which implies that he doesn’t know what it is like to love someone. No one can understand him because no one knows what it is like to have never loved anyone. The fact that he has never loved before means that his meaning of life is much different than someone’s meaning of life that has loved, which makes it so that no one can fully understand him. Both of these characters exhibit the feeling that no one can ever understand their life but themselves.

Kid Cudi also speaks of experiencing forlornness in his song “Ghost!” When he says in his song “But I want to know one thing, when did I become a ghost” he is speaking of forlornness. Cudi is experiencing the realization that he has to make his own meaning of life. He is realizing that he has become a ghost of himself and has lost his originality and now has to recreate his meaning of life. This all causes him to have a sense of isolation because it is up to him to decide who he is. This isolation and lack of positivity in his life causes him to be depressed. The realization that he must create a meaning for his life is a large and complex idea that is very intimidating to think about. Meursault also experiences a feeling of forlornness but not to the same extent as Cudi does in his song. Meursault never really reaches the point of realization that he has to define his own meaning of life, but he does suffer through the feeling of isolation and he has no meaning of life. Meursault has never thought about what the meaning of his life is and therefore has no personal idea of his meaning of life. Both Cudi and Meursault experience of forlornness, however Cudi experiences it much more drastically than Meursault does in their lives.

In Kid Cudi’s song “Ghost!” individuality is expressed, however this trait is expressed through the music of the song rather than the lyrics. The general sound of the music in the song is low and repeating with the same noise. This trend of low sounds carries throughout the entire song. Also in the song is one higher pitched ringing noise that is much higher than the rest of the music. This sound is present throughout the whole song with a certain rhythm that repeats itself. This sound is representing individuality because is unique from the rest of the music that goes along with the song. The other music sets an absolute system of a lower beat and this sound is showing how to be an individual one must break out of their shell and not let absolute systems define who they are. One must make their own personal idea of themselves as an individual and what that looks like to them. Meursault states that he had “pretty much lost the habit of analyzing himself,” he is claiming his sense of individuality. Meursault is becoming his own person by not analyzing himself because he isn’t being limited as much by absolute systems if he isn’t constantly analyzing himself to see how well he is fitting in with other people. He has given up on the idea of self evaluation and become a more individual person. Cudi and Meursault experience great amounts of individuality in their lives and they embrace it as individuals.

The song “Ghost!” by Kid Cudi is existentialist because it contains individuality, forlornness, alienation and absolute systems. These traits are not all found in the lyrics of the song, individuality is found in the music used in the song. Existentialist traits don’t always have to be found in the lyrics of a song, they can be hidden in underneath layers of the music. All four of these traits are found in the book “The Stranger” by Albert Camus in the character Meursault. Because of these traits, Meursault is comparable and similar to Kid Cudi. Both individuals experience very similar feelings in their lives

Katie Ameida

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_CydL91xZak&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_CydL91xZak

“Crooked Teeth” by Death Cab for Cutie conveys responsibility and forlornness; tenets of existentialism. The tone of the music and the tone of the lyrics are contrasting. The music displays emotional depth, unlike in The Stranger, where the simplicity and monotone speech demonstrates a lack of emotion. The lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie, Ben Gibbard, recently lost a lot of weight. He took his life into his own hands, created and defined his own life. He is also a singer, songwriter and guitarist. Through his band, he searches for something to fill the empty void of his forlornness. His existentialism leaks into the songs he writes, which in the song “Crooked Teeth”, is displayed through many of the lyrical verses.
The theme responsibility is illustrated in “Crooked Teeth” by Death Cab for Cutie. Responsibility is creating meaning for your own life. No one can define it for you or create it for you. In this song, the lyrics demonstrate this tenet. “Cause I built you a home in my heart, With rotten wood it decayed from the start.” Here the artist writes about how he took responsibility and began to create his own life. Although creating something from something that is already rotten will only decay after time. Something that starts broken can never be fixed.
Similarly, in The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault begins to create his own life, but he also begins to build his life on things that are broken. On page 41, Meursault says, “When I was a student, I had lots of ambitions like that. But when I had to give up my studies I learned very quickly that none of it really mattered.” Meursault constructed his life without the values that had once been important to him. This quote leads you to believe that when Meursault was younger, he had ambitions and cared about things, but he gave up on them and built his life with his own values outside the absolute systems.
Forlornness is conveyed in the lyrics of “Crooked Teeth.” Forlornness is the feeling of despair, isolation, hopelessness after realizing that one must create their own meaning. Being in a state of forlornness can happen whenever a part of your life is based upon something that can break down, like a relationship or an athlete that gets injured. In “Crooked Teeth”, the artist sings lyrics that say “Cause you can’t find nothing at all if there was nothing there all along. No you can’t find nothing at all if there was nothing here all along.” The artist describes here the loneliness and hopelessness he feels. He has lost a loved one, but realizes that there was actually no love. He has been alone and is alone again now. As said in the lyrics, you can’t create something if there was nothing there in the beginning. No one can experience what you do or know how you truly feel. This is attributed to the sense of anxiety one feels.
In The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault also experiences forlornness. He has a lack of caring and is lonely because he has no one. Even after he finds someone, he doesn’t even know if he loves her. On page 41, “That evening, Marie came by to see me and asked me if I wanted to marry her. I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to. Then she wanted to know that I loved her. I answered the same way I had that last time, that it didn’t mean anything, but that I probably didn’t love her.” Meursault is unable to feel emotion or actually love for somebody. He has realized that it is his own job to create his own world and identity. Because he has realized this, he is unable to feel love for Marie.
The emotional depth displayed throughout the lyrics of the song does not coercively match the tone of the music. Through the song, the music is happy and upbeat, misleading you to believe that without the lyrics, the song would be about positive and blissful subjects. The lyrics reflect the artists struggling emotional life, while the music and sound don’t reflect anything. The music is just a happy sound the band created to trick one into believing that the song is not sad, but is happy. The lyrics in “Crooked Teeth” are very unlike the monotone writing in The Stranger.
The text in The Stranger is the opposite of the lyrics in Crooked Teeth. In The Stranger, the text is very simple and monotone, making it impossible for the reader to create emotional depth while reading. This is the style of Camus’s writing and it is written in this way, for a specific reason. All the sentences are short and simple, while the opposing script, in Crooked Teeth, the lyrics talk a lot about the inability to feel emotion and the artist describes specific scenes and explains in detail.
“Crooked Teeth” by Death Cab for Cutie and The Stranger by Albert Camus both illustrated many tenets of existentialism. Specifically chosen were the characteristics of responsibility and forlornness. Contrastingly, the actually text in each of the pieces are different. In the song, the lyrics are emotional, yet still displaying existentialism, while in The Stranger; the text is very simplistic and monotone. Both of these pieces successfully display similar tenets of existentialism in comparable ways, as well different ways. Although the band Death Cab for Cutie and Albert Camus are from completely different time periods, and create different styles of literature, music and novels, both pieces compared here have still been able to relate to each other because both have the foundation of responsibility, forlornness and a perpendicular style of writing.

Paul Stacy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjbRampe4qE&app=desktop

Existential

The Stranger and “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” share existential themes including absurdity and anxiety. The jovial chorus of the song contrasts wells with the anxious tone, while the absurd lyrics connect well with the absurdity of The Stranger. Both Meursault’s existential behaviors and emotions, as well as Geto Boys lyrics, demonstrate anxious and absurd trends that compare well. Camus writes about a young man who views things in a negative way because he is unable to express his emotions. While Geto Boys writes about Scarface’s unease with his life and his paranoia of everything from being stuck in the drug game; Camus writes about not having the ability to express joy or any other emotion towards anything. The two people, for different reasons, are unable to display any positive emotions.

The song “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” has an optimistic chorus that contrasts well with the anxious tone and lyrics of the song. The focus of the song is of Scarface trying to escape the drug game because he’s so paranoid that everyone is out to kill him. At night Scarface can’t sleep because every time he closes his eyes, he sees someone, who later disappears when he awakes. He’s paranoid of every sound, “I’m popping in my clip when the wind blows, every twenty seconds got me peeping out my window.” No matter what the sound is, he feels as though he needs to protect himself because it could be someone who’s after him. Likewise, in The Stranger Meursault is asked by his boss if he would like to go to Paris to work there as well as travel for part of the year. After Meursault told him that it “was all the same” to him, his boss asked if he was interested in a change of life. Meursault responded by saying, “that people never change their lives, that in any case one life is as good as another and that I wasn’t dissatisfiedwith mine here at all.” Meursault is demonstrating anxious actions by stating that life has no meaning because everyone’s life is pre-determined. Similar to Meursault’s thoughts on people never changing their lives, Scarface isn’t getting out of the drug game, even though his life is in danger due to him staying in it. Similar to his anxious tones throughout the song, Scarface also writes about the absurdity he was going through.

Scarface went through many absurd moments when his mind was playing tricks on him, as did Meursault throughout the book. Almost every line in “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” refers to something absurd happening, but the final verse of the song really summarizes what Scarface was feeling. The final verse, rapped by Bushwick Bill, tells a story of the Geto Boys trick-or-treating. While robbing little kids for bags, an officer caught them and began chasing them. Bushwick decides to fight the officer. After punching him in the mouth, the other Geto Boys joined him on beating up the man. All of a sudden everyone disappears and Bushwick Bill is by himself, punching the concrete. This scene displays absurdity beautifully in that Bushwickimagines that it’s Halloween and he and Geto Boys are triple-teaming on an officer, when in reality he was punching concrete and “it wasn’t even close to Halloween”. Scarface’s paranoia of being killed is very similar to Meursault’s physical actions brought upon by inability to express emotions. On page 9 in The Stranger Meursault dozes off while attending his mother’s wake. When he awakens, it was his eyes that hurt rather than his heart. Rather than emotionally mourning the loss of his mother, the lighting in the room caused his eyes to hurt. In both cases, the narrator has problems coping with reality. In “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” Scarface is paranoid that someone is out to kill him causing him to hallucinate things. While in The Stranger, Meursault is unable to feel emotions causing him to physically display how he feels.

Scarface writes a song explaining his difficulties of living a normal life because of the need to peep out his window every twenty seconds. His decision to stay in the game causes him to live an anxious-filled life. Albert Camus creates an existential character who is unable to express any emotions he feels, but rather physically expresses them. Because of this, both men live existential lives in which they are separate from society, making their own decision. Their lives are filled with both anxious and absurd moments that are caused by their actions and behavior, which ultimately make it impossible for the two to deal with other people in a habitual manner.

Matthew Hopfenspirger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoNtIkRm1HE

Existentialism in “Sleeping Lessons” by The Shins

The song “Sleeping Lessons” by The Shins is existentialist. It embodies absolute systems, authenticity and individuality. This song relates to Meursault in The Stranger by Albert Camus because of Meursault’s existential aspects, especially absurdity. The repeating ringing tone in “Sleeping Lessons” gives this same feeling of absurdity that is portrayed in The Stranger. “Sleeping Lessons” discusses the existential aspects found within The Stranger through the lyrics and also through to music behind the lyrics.
A main theme in the song “Sleeping Lessons” discusses breaking free from absolute systems. An absolute system is an organized system that has an enforced code of conduct. Absolute systems limit a person’s own personal meaning to life; they hold back and restrain a person. Sleeping Lessons portrays breaking free from these restrictive absolute systems. James Mercer sings, “Jump from the book,/ You’re not obliged to swallow anything you despise,” Mercer emphasize breaking away from the norms that everyone is following. A big part of existentialism is that you create a personal meaning to life. When James Mercer says, “jump from the book” he is explaining not to be ruled by absolute systems, but rather to create personal meaning in one’s life. Meursault has a similar existential outlook on absolute systems as in, “Sleeping Lessons.” Religion is one such absolute system that Meursault refutes because it doesn’t let him control himself. When Meursault is sentenced to death, a priest tries to have him turn to God in his last little while before his death. Meursault explains, “He wanted to talk to me about God again, but I went up to him and made one last attempt to explain to him that I had only a little time left and I didn’t want to want to waste it on God.” (Camus 120) Religion tries to make meaning for life, but religion really only limits personal meaning to life. Meursault doesn’t want religion forced upon him and to create meaning for him. In the last hours of his life, he doesn’t want religion to restrict his own personal meaning. Absolute systems create a forced meaning to life, that’s why in “Sleeping Lessons” and in The Stranger they both refute these absolute systems and break free from them to create their own meaning for life.
“Sleeping Lessons” also demonstrates another underlying theme of authenticity. A person is true to his own choices and personality, despite the pressures of society. In the song “Sleeping Lessons” James Mercer expresses, “Just put yourself in my new shoes,/and see that I do what I do,” Mercer talks about doing something new, against the norm, and doing what is pleasing to him. By making personal choices and not letting society sway them, it creates a personal meaning to life. Staying true by making personal decisions and not letting society form them, shapes the world around whoever makes these decisions and makes it their own life. These personal decisions and personality make it so that absolute systems aren’t defining; personal meaning is individually created. James Mercer is telling the listener to step outside the norm, and make their own decisions to define themselves.
James Mercer expresses individuality blatantly in his lyrics, “And glow, glow, melt and flow,/
Eviscerate your fragile frame and spill it out in the ragged floor,/A thousand different versions of yourself,” Absolute systems create a strict code in which everyone follows; however, this code heavily restricts a person’s potential in life. Sleeping Lessons calls to “Eviscerate your fragile frame.” Cast away the societal norms and absolute systems; their obtrusive rules dilute someone’s true meaning. Mercer is calling for people to break free from the restraints and to “spill it out on the ragged floor,/ A thousand different versions of yourself,” He talks about creating a personal definition and not letting absolute systems taint this meaning because it forces something that isn’t there. Opening up and putting forward a genuine meaning, gives a person their own definition to life; it doesn’t let the stringent absolute systems set restrictions to it. It gives someone individuality.
​The variation of up and down ringing tones, exemplified in the beginning of the song, helps to convey the feeling of absurdity. This incessant tone shows that there is no actual meaning to life. It goes up and down to the same notes and never really goes anywhere, having no real meaning towards the song. It is a higher pitch tone and paints the picture of absurdity. Just like how Meursault in The Stranger portrays absurdity when his maman dies. Meursault expresses, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” (Camus 3) This depicts the feeling of absurdity. To a normal person, this event would cause great sadness. However, to Meursault, this occurrence is meaningless. He can’t even remember the day of which his maman died. She had lived with him and they were close, yet Meursault shows no emotion at all. This is absurd because it has no meaning to him at all and it shows that he has no real meaning to life. The back tone in “Sleeping Lessons” and Meursault radiate a feeling of absurdity and add to the feeling of existentialism.
​The Stranger and “Sleeping Lessons” both hold similar themes of existentialism like absolute systems, authenticity, individuality and absurdity. “Sleeping Lessons” focuses on breaking free from the restraining grip of absolute systems, while pursuing a personal definition to life. The harsh absolute systems choke out personal meaning and replace it with a generic meaning. Individuality helps create this authentic meaning and push back against the norms. Meursault exemplifies these existentialist themes, especially when dealing with absolute systems, by not conforming to the societal norm of religion. The tone of “Sleeping Lessons” also helps portray the meaningless theme of absurdity. It is a never ending up and down tone, which helps show that there is no real meaning. “Sleeping Lessons” and Meursault from The Stranger are both existentially themed.

Jonathan Kempf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUX9IcSzHX0

Kate Ede

The song L’Étranger tells the story of The Stranger by Albert Camus and also represents the themes alienation and the rejection of absolute systems in existentialism. In the song it tells the story of the book with a couple of references almost directly to the text. The references in this song to alienation and the general rejection of absolute systems are very clear and accurately represent the theme. This song lyrically tells a story and also represents a theme presented in many other creative works.

The song L’Étranger quite literally connects to the book The Stranger by Albert Camus in how the title of the song is the original title of the book, which is the stranger in French the language it was originally written in. To succinctly evaluate the meaning of the song a line or two from each verse will be taken. In the first verse the first two lines are “She died, she kissed me. Not sure I missed she.” These lines are references to the book in how on page one of The Stranger the first line is “Maman died today” so the she that died was the mother of the main character, Meursault. Then later the day after his mother died Meursault sees Marie, a young woman who used to work at his office, they end up going on a date and spending the night together which is the she who he kissed. Lines from the next verse that help tell the story are “Back on, daily grind.” And “Whys he know my name? Haven’t spoken much”. The first line is about when Meursault returns home after his mother’s funeral and is more concerned by the dampness of hand towels than the recent death of his mother, so he’s back, in his monotonous routine. The lines “Whys he know my name” and “Haven’t spoken much” are both talking about how one day Meursault gets home and a man, Raymond, who lives in his building that he hardly has ever talked to approaches him and treats him like an old friend which is strange behavior considering the so few amount of interactions they’ve had. From the third verse these two lines in particular help tell the story best, “I’ll give him a shot” and “I’ll decide what’s in store”. The line about giving him a shot is about a weekend trip Meursault takes with Raymond where they run into two Arab men whom are rivals of Raymond, they fight once, and then later Meursault shoots one of the men. Deciding what’s in store means he is deciding his fate by shooting this man he is deciding that he will go to jail that he will no longer be a free man. And lines from the last verse that specifically stand out are “Only wish to see a crowd. Eyes filled with anger now”. And “Fast as 1 2 3”. These lines are both very direct and literal references to the text, Meursault says on the last page of the book when thinking of his death “I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate” (123) which directly and pretty obviously connects to the lines “Only wish to see a crowd. Eyes filled with anger now.” And the fast as 1 2 3 is more of a literal reference as in the copy of the book that was studied from the last page number was 123, so this line is sort of an homage to that.

This song not only tells a stranger story than most, it tells of the themes of existentialism that are portrayed in the book. Granted, these themes are not portrayed as prominently as the story of Meursault and his untimely demise, but they are very much still there. Alienation is one of the 11 themes of existentialism and means that one is extremely alone, more than one thought, this is due to how no one can ever fully understand someone because people are inwardly infinite. Alienation is mainly represented by the second line in the first chorus which is “I’m so alone”. This line is repeated in the song and it is in the chorus which is what most people considered the main part of the song or the part that has the most emphasis put onto it because of the overarching meaning of it to the song as a whole. The idea behind this song is mainly that while Meursault was in prison he thought about his life and evaluated all of the times where something he said was taken the wrong way or the times he was misunderstood, since he was in prison for around a year or so he had plenty of time to reflect. The next theme is the general rejection of absolute systems, an absolute system is a code of law or code of conscience, it is in basic terms a set of rules for living. The first line of the first chorus is also more about the theme of the rejection of absolute systems it is “Don’t have a home”. In this line Meursault is not only talking about how he generally rejects absolute systems such as religion and family but he is reflecting on how he once had a home like he once loved his mother but with both, he doesn’t anymore. This song subtly depicts themes of existentialism while also telling the general story of an existentialist.

The song L’Étranger showcases the story of Meursault in a different medium, song, where mainly lines can mean nothing or one line could be an entire theme. The song, as previously discussed, tells the story of a man, a short period of his life, and his demise. It makes one wonder about how a medium typically filled with so much emotion, is about an emotionless man, who fell asleep at his own mother’s funeral, but some things work together, sometimes if only by a slight chance. It portrays themes of existentialism, which could also make one wonder on the same principle as the song, how could someone possibly remain nearly emotionless in a world so full of emotion. We must remind ourselves not to be like Meursault because it will eventually lead to our destruction and demise.

Anna Smith

“The General” and Existentialism

 

Dispatch is an American indie/rock band first formed in 1996.  The band’s lead singer, Chad Urmston, is known for singing both social and political protesting lyrics.  These lyrics often contain elements of existentialism, especially regarding absolute systems.  Existentialism contains many components which are all demonstrated in Albert Camus’ book The Stranger.  Dispatch’s lyrics of “The General” have overtones of both Camus’ writing and Ernest Hemingway’s iceberg theory and present themes of absolute systems, utilitarianism, and absurdity.

One of the most important elements of existentialism, and also a major theme in “The General” by Dispatch, is absolute systems.  Absolute systems are laws, regulations, or expectations that confine and limit one. Examples of absolute systems include the law, religion, or society. Existentialists break out of these absolute systems to live their lives as individuals.  In the song, the subject of the lyrics is a decorated general who has a realization that his soldiers should not be fighting in a war.  The lyrics describe “All the men held tall with their chests in the air, With courage in their blood and a fire in their stare, It was a gray morning and they all wondered how they would fare, The old general told them to go home”.  When the general tells them this, he is breaking out of an absolute system by giving his soldiers orders that oppose what he would be expected to give.  If he followed the absolute system of the military, he would not tell his soldiers to go home.   Another example of absolute systems in “The General” is in the line, which is stated multiple times, “Go now you are forgiven”.  The general is telling his soldiers that they do not have to fight and that if they leave, they are forgiven.  The listener can infer that he means that they will be forgiven by the military or perhaps God.  By telling them this he is excusing them from these absolute systems.  Absolute systems also relate to The Stranger.

Albert Camus’ writing and Ernest Hemingway’s iceberg theory link to absolute systems in their structure and style.  The iceberg theory is the style of writing in which the author gives minimal detail and information and simply tells the story so that the reader can infer what is happening.  The iceberg theory is an absolute system put in place by Ernest Hemingway.  In Camus’ The Stranger, the story of Merseault is told in a very to-the-point way that has very little detail because Merseault sees the world in black and white.  The reader is left to infer the symbolic meaning of Merseault’s actions and thoughts. For example, on page 47 Merseault narrates “My cigarette tasted bitter… She had put on a white linen dress and let her hair down. I told her she was beautiful and she laughed with delight.” Camus is barely descriptive in this section; it a simple set of thoughts from Merseault. This is how the lyrics of “The General” are also.  The lyrics tell a story in a simple and direct way.  For example, the lyrics state “He grew a beard as soon as he could, To cover the scars on his face”.  This tells the listener the straight facts and leaves them to interpret in their own way why the general wants to cover his scars.  These are just a few of the ways both “The General” and The Stranger have strong elements of existentialism and Ernest Hemingway’s iceberg theory.

Two other equally important components of existentialism are utilitarianism and absurdity.  These connect to each other because in the story told in the lyrics, the general sees that there is no meaning in the battle and that it is not worth fighting. Utilitarianism is the process of weighing one’s options to make decisions. In the song, the general has a revelation; the lyrics describe “He said, “I have seen the others and I have discovered, That this fight is not worth fighting”’.  This is a demonstration of utilitarianism because the general has decided that the cons of the battle outweigh the pros, and it is not worth their while.  He also states “Oh and I’ve seen their mothers, And I will no other to follow me where I’m going”.  The general uses this as his reasoning for why it is not worth it to battle because he has seen the enemy’s mothers.  A second reason the general states for why the battle is not worthy of the soldiers’ time is “You are young men you must be living”.  He is telling the soldiers that they need to live their lives rather than fight in a battle that is not worth fighting; a clear representation of utilitarianism.  Absurdity connects to the song in a similar way.

Absurdity is demonstrated in the lyrics in several instances and also in The Stranger. Absurdity is the idea that there is no meaning to anything in life and that anything could happen.  The lyrics state “But on the eve of a great battle with the infantry in dream, The old general tossed in his sleep and wrestled with its meaning”. In this section of the song, the general is coming to the realization that there may not be a meaning to this battle that he and his soldiers are fighting. He had spent his life becoming a hero in warfare, but suddenly realizes that it isn’t as important as he previously thought. The lyrics also describe “So take a shower and shine your shoes you got no time to lose”. This is a representation of absurdity because in the general’s realization, he sees that anything could happen so these young soldiers must live now and walk away from the battle. Absurdity is presented in The Stranger at times also. Merseault does not care about his relationships, future, or anything else. On page 41 he describes “When I was a student, I had lots of ambitions like that. But when I had to give up my studies I learned very quickly that none of it really mattered.” Merseault is telling us that he had ambitions at one point in his life, but decided that they didn’t matter after all. These are just a few examples of how absurdity is demonstrated in both “The General” and The Stranger.

In “The General” by Dispatch, elements of existentialism including utilitarianism, absolute systems, and absurdity are successfully used to tell a story. The lyrics also relate to The Stranger’s writing style and use of absurdity, and both pieces are demonstrations of Ernest Hemingway’s iceberg theory. These all come together to produce two pieces that represent existentialism and its many aspects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3JjlkfX5Gk