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.

Brendan Sileo

 

Brendan Sileo’s Thoughts on the Death Penalty

 

The death penalty should not be used as a punishment for criminals. Not because it is too harsh, but because it is inadequate. Punishments such as life in prison are more effective. It also has the advantage of being much cheaper than the death penalty. There are no reasons to use the death penalty other than because of old traditions from our countries inception.

The death penalty  has been used as a way to punish criminals who have committed terrible crimes such as murder and rape. It is seen as the highest form of punishment, with the next step down being life in prison. However, no matter how effective the death penalty seems as a punishment, it has some very glaring flaws. The death penalty should not be used as a punishment because there are worse punishments for the worst of criminals, there are no societal gains from using the death penalty, it is the most expensive form of punishment, and there is the ever present possibility of killing an innocent man or woman.

To most people, death is the worst thing that could happen to a person. You lose your life, your chance to experience the world and everything in it. According to some people, death is not actually the pinnacle of punishment. According to William Blake, a prisoner for 26 years, this is not true. He told a reporter that “If I try to imagine what kind of death, even a slow one, would be worse than twenty-five years in the box — and I have tried to imagine it — I can come up with nothing.” William didn’t even have a life sentence, and he was wishing for death during his sentence. Why would a someone with a life sentence want something different? Compared to the life of confinement suffered by prisoners for life, death would be like releasing them from their punishment. Suicide is the 5th most common cause of death in all state prisoners, and the leading cause for inmates under 35. The amount of prisoners that prefer to kill themselves instead of spending any more time confined shows how much better a punishment life in jail is compared to the death penalty. In The Stranger, the main characters Meursault is in jail for a murder and says that he “felt […] that [his] life was coming to a standstill there” and that he was often “gripping the bars, [his] face straining toward the light.” This shows the torture that prisoners go through while in jail, forced to deal with that fact that as the world goes on, their life is reduced to only a small box of cement and metal bars. It is similar to how death robs you of the rest of your life, except life in prison makes sure that you stay alive so that you know it. The death penalty, if anything, allows these criminals to escape their punishment, while prison makes them live it for the rest of their life.

One of the largest arguments in favor of the death penalty is that the possibility of death for their crimes is a much better deterrent than the threat of imprisonment. Although this may be a viable claim, it is not as true as it seems. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), there are many reasons why the death penalty is not a good deterrent. One of them is that “a punishment can be an effective deterrent only if it is consistently and promptly”. Very few of first-degree murderers are given the death penalty, and even fewer of them are actually executed, with most of them being changed to life in prison. With such a small group of people actually being sentenced to death, a criminal allowing that to control their actions would be similar to a skydiver not skydiving to avoid the possibility of being hit by a falling meteor. The ACLU also says that “most capital crimes are committed in the heat of the moment”. In such a situation that would make a person commit a crime such as murder (an extremely heated argument, drugs, alcohol, etc) they are not thinking in a way that allows them to understand the consequences. In The Stranger,  Meursault kills the Arab at a time when he is experiencing great emotional stress, which can be seen when he says “That’s when everything began to reel. The sea carried up a thick, fiery breath. It seemed to me as if the sky had split open from one end to the other to rain down fire. My whole being tensed and I squeezed my hand around the revolver.” Meursault was obviously not thinking about the possibility of any punishment, let alone the death penalty. In some cases, the threat of the death penalty actually increases the amount of murders that occur in an area. This is because “a return to the exercise of the death penalty weakens socially based inhibitions against the use of lethal force to settle disputes” meaning that when the government uses death as a punishment, it makes the idea of using lethal force to resolve arguments and disputes much easier to reach.

A common opinion about the death penalty is that it is much cheaper than life in prison, so it makes sense to use the death penalty to waste less money, however, the death penalty is more expensive than one would think. It costs millions more than life in prison. For example, the Death Penalty Information Center says that “Enforcing the death penalty costs Florida $51 million a year above what it would cost to punish all first-degree murderers with life in prison without parole.” This is because since the death penalty is permanent, and punishing the wrong person can not be taken back, there are many more trials and appeals before the actual punishment is given. This to more jail time, with some inmates on death row spending “well over 20 years” waiting for their punishment. While that is not as long as life in prison, the amount of trials that happen during this time are much higher, costing the state millions of dollars per inmate. In addition to these costs, many of them later end up either released or sentenced with life in prison anyway. Since 2000, 59 death row inmates have been exonerated in the United States alone. That’s almost 10 percent of the inmates who have actually been executed.

Human judgement is not infallible. The advantage of most criminal punishments is that it can always be reversed by releasing them from prison. The death penalty is different in that it is the only punishment that is irreversible. If the government executes and innocent man there is no taking it back. According to the ACLU, “ there have been on the average more than four cases each year in which an entirely innocent person was convicted of murder.” Many of these individuals were not found innocent until after they died. The fact that innocent people have the chance to die makes the death penalty a very difficult idea to support. Until our societies ability to determine who actually committed a murder or other crime is improved to be 100% correct, it is not ethically permissible to continue issuing the death penalty.

The death penalty is not a viable option for punishing criminals. There are too many variables to consider. With the possibility of ending the life of an innocent person combined with the incredible costs of this form of punishment, life in prison is a much better option for punishing the harshest of criminals.

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.

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

Vika Sousa

Creep

Existentialism is a system where an individual person is free and responsible for their own life.  Existentialists have free will to decide what they want to do and when they want to do it. The Stranger, by Albert Camus, involves Meursault, a character whose emotions are unknown and hard to recognize. “Creep,” by Radiohead, displays a great deal of emotion throughout the song. It has a slow beat to demonstrate the sad tone of the way the signer is feeling. The song “Creep” by Radiohead is existentially different from the character Meursault in Albert Camus’ The Stranger because it expresses powerful senses of emotion and freedom, whereas Meursault shows no emotion throughout the book and follows multiple absolute systems.                                        “Creep” is a song full of emotion. It begins with a slow beat, the drums and guitar playing at a soft tone. The music transitions into the lyrics, “when you were here before,” giving the listener the impression that the speaker is talking about a woman. The speaker moves on throughout the song with the same beat and the lyrics “you’re just like an angel, your skin makes me cry.” These lyrics give the reader an intense image of how the speaker is feeling about this individual. It gives the reader a sense of passion and engagement, then follows through with the same slow beat with the words “in a beautiful world”. The emotion catches the listener making them understand that the signer feels there is meaning in the world, and that it is worth living. The song moves to a verse with the beat moving at a faster pace as more instruments are added. The vocalist sings “but I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo, what the **** am I doing here? I don’t belong here.” This indicates the speaker feels he has no value in life and is a stranger in his own life. After the pattern plays out twice, the volume increases and grows into a shout “She’s running out the door she runs runs…” creating a sense of freedom. This individual has control of their life and is able to escape the limitations of philosophy religion and science.                   The Stranger has no sense of emotion to the character Meursault. He has lived his life as a part of absolute systems that he has no idea exist: they are inescapable. The phrase “you’re just like an angel, your skin makes me cry” is an example of the existential difference between the song and Meursault. He has no emotion towards Marie, and only talks about the physical attractions towards her.  Meursault’s is not interested in the passion and engagement. “When she laughed I wanted her again” (page 35) Meursault describes Marie and physically wanting her, not the way she makes him feel. “In a beautiful world” contradicts the aspect of absurdity. In the book Meursault would think that nothing changes and everyone just goes on with their lives. He doesn’t look at the world as beautiful, he feels there is no actual meaning of life.  Meursault is given an opportunity to go to Paris for work and thinks nothing of it. “Then he asked me if I wasn’t interested in a change of life. I said that people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as any other and that I wasn’t dissatisfied with mine here at all” (page 41). This quote shows that Meursault’s way of life doesn’t seem to matter to him. Lastly Meursault is stuck in this absolute system that he cannot escape. He is not able to become free because he is oblivious to the idea of his life being an absolute system. “She’s running out the door” give that individual their sense of freedom that Meursault is unable to escape in the book.                                                          In conclusion the song “Creep” displays emotion and freedom throughout. Its tone is slow and sad. The tone of the song is different form the tone of the book because “Creep” is full of an emotional tone, whereas The Stranger excludes the emotion. The existential difference between Meursault and the signer of the song is that Meursault is in the state of absurdity and anxiety. Meursault in the book The Stranger is unable to express his emotion and incapable to free himself from the absolute system that he is living in.

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

Taylor Hennas

Existentialist Mix tape

                Albert Camus, an Algerian author, wrote The Stranger in 1942. The book is based on an existentialist Algerian character named Meursault. The Stranger is divided into two separate parts. The first part is a first person narrative of Meursault’s thoughts before he kills an Arab man. The second part is a first person narrative of Meursault’s thoughts after he commits his crime and how his execution will go. Both parts are written with existentialist themes in mind. Existentialism is a theory in which one makes decisions that will benefit oneself, follows no system that doesn’t accommodate oneself, and believes life has no universal meaning: every life is the same and death is death. Many modern bands, like The Shins, write music about philosophies like existentialism. The Shins are an American indie band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, formed in 1996. Music written by The Shins consists of hidden meanings of how every life is the same. Similar to The Stranger, the song “Nothing At All” composed by The Shins illustrates existentialism through the principles of absurdity, alienation, and absolute systems.

Similar to The Stranger, “Nothing At All” represents existentialism through the principle of absurdity. Absurdity is that there is no actual or universal meaning to life. Every life is the same. An example of absurdity in “Nothing At All” is the first through third line, “Well there’s an idea inside of me, That we’re nothing at all. There’s nothing threatening controlling me, In fact there’s nothing at all.” This quote illustrates absurdity because ‘that we’re nothing at all.’ means there is no true meaning to life, it has no specific definition.  This example of absurdity connects to The Stranger. “I said that people never change their lives, that in any case one life was as good as another and that I wasn’t dissatisfied with mine here at all.” (43)  This quote is Meursault’s response to his boss’ offer. This quote shows Meursault’s belief in a certain way of human existence. This comment also implies that each person’s life is essentially equal to everyone else’s. These are both examples of absurdity but that is not the only principle of existentialism represented in both of these articles.

Another principle represented in both The Stranger and “Nothing At All” is alienation. Alienation is a fact that a human being is a stranger in their own life. No one can completely understand the human being. An example of alienation in “Nothing At All” is in the fourth stanza, “I’m just a shell empty as can be, Yeah, I’ve got nothing at all.” This illustrates alienation because “I’m just a shell empty as can be” means this person has no emotion. Having nothing and no emotion mean a human being can be stranger in their own life. This lyric representing alienation also connects to a passage from The Stranger. “A minute later she asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn’t mean anything but that I didn’t think so.” (36) The quote also illustrates alienation because Meursault is talking about his feelings towards Marie after she asked him if he loved her. He does not truly understand his feelings therefore he is a stranger in his own life. No one can completely comprehend Meursault’s emotional behaviors. Both examples of writing connect to alienation, but also connect to absolute systems.

The Stranger and “Nothing At All” represent a theme of existentialism through the principle of absolute systems. Absolute systems are philosophies such as religion, the law, etc. Existentialists, such as Meursault or The Shins, do not believe in absolute systems. An example of absolute systems in “Nothing At All” composed by The Shins is in the beginning of stanza two. “You got a feeling nothing here is free, ‘Cause you grew up in a mall.” The Shins are referring to growing up in an environment where laws are enforced. Nothing is free, and no single person can do whatever they want to do. This example is similar to a passage from The Stranger. “It took me awhile to realize my life would change dramatically, since this was my first time in a police station.” (62) This passage is describing Meursault’s thoughts after he shot the Arab and went to jail. This is an example of absolute systems because Meursault did not obey by the law, an absolute system, and he is being punished for it. Meursault thought existentially before he shot the Arab because he wasn’t thinking about the consequences, he did not think twice about what he was doing; Meursault just went with it.

Similar to The Stranger, the song “Nothing At All” composed by The Shins illustrates existentialism through the principles of absurdity, alienation, and absolute systems. The Shins and Meursault from The Stranger are similar because they both have an existentialist view on life. They both believe life has no true meaning, every life is the same, absolute systems are optional, and decisions that help oneself are beneficial. The Stranger written by Albert Camus was one of the first books written with an existentialist theme. Maybe most modern music, like The Shins, is based off of The Stranger?

Lauren Kaltsas

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.