| Switchfoot – The Blues Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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This is my essay/presentation on this song to my class. It had to be about discovery so that's where discovery sneaks in. But really this song is about how this world is not the end, and if it was, then it absolutely sucks :) This is a presentation script remember, so sorry for the inconvenience of reading it. “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” This is a depressing truth, but it must be heard. Everything on this earth will come to an end, and therefore all the discoveries that we make are meaningless, they have no real worth to us, no matter how much we try to make them last. According to the ‘Teacher’ in Ecclesiastes; 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains rises.6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. 9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.10 Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.11 No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. This is the harsh truth about the broken sinful world we live in. The Teacher explains himself very clearly in showing the meaninglessness of everything in this world. He writes; “Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.” I think this is saying that all the discoveries we make here are all rediscoveries, and are pointless in reality. Obviously not all discoveries are rediscoveries, but realistically their worth is nothing, because they will pass, they will do nothing for us in the end. “Is this the New Year, or just another night? Is this the new fear, or just another fright? Is this the new tear, or just another desperation?” This verse of the song uses strong repetition to prompt us to think of the worthlessness of even exciting times, such as New Year. He asks; “Is this the New Year, or just another night?” Is this night any different to any other night? We see repetition being used in two places, the word ‘new’ and the phrase “just another”. 1. Firstly, the repetition of “new” suggests feelings like excitement and anticipation, which we know are closely related to discovery. 2. Secondly, the repetition of “just another” is an effective use of juxtaposition which really seems to crush all joy and hope. He makes us wonder if it is a discovery or the same old stuff? ‘What a sad man’, you may be thinking. But I believe Foreman actually has a deep insight into the truth of the discoveries of this world. As well as the meaning to everything So then, there’s no such thing as a new discovery. But wait, this is the first 2016 New Year, right? Well, you’re not wrong, but it is the same as last year, just with a different number. And it may be a re-discovery, or even a brand new discovery! But just like any other discovery, in another six hours, you won’t be celebrating anymore, in a week, it won’t be on your mind at all, in a year, you won’t even remember who you spent the time with. If I think about it, I wouldn’t have a clue what I got for Christmas last year Let’s see, who remembers what happened on November 4, 2008? Well that was when Obama became president. I’m sure you can think of plenty of discoveries that meant something to you once, but don’t mean anything to you now… that is if you can remember them “Is this what they call freedom? Is this what you call pain? Is this what they call discontented fame?” Here we see the dissatisfaction of the earth’s meaning of freedom. The writer challenges us to re-examine the meaning of our freedom, and other things in a list, but I think that the repetition here indirectly leads us to continue asking ourselves more questions; >Is this what life is meant to be? >Is this as good as it gets? “I'm singing this one, like a broken piece of glass” I think it’s clear that he is singing as a broken man, broken by this world, like we all are. But I think there’s more to this imagery. 1. Glass is made as one piece, all held together, so when it’s shattered; each part is separated from where it belongs, where it is made to be. This is closely linked to us as people, how we were made to be with Jesus, but we were separated from Him when we decided to sin. 2. It may also be that as a broken man, a broken piece of glass, he has sharp edges that can hurt others. I think that both these verses and this song can hurt people because of the harshness of the message within them, but he seems to accept that, and I think that’s because he knows that there is more, and he doesn’t want you to miss out on discovering the true meaning of life. “Are you discontented? Have you been pushing hard? Have you been throwing down, this broken house of cards?” This verse begins to directly question you, the listener. Asking about how our toils and works end up with nothing to show in the end. All the discoveries we make end up being forgotten, they end up useless. They may bring us happiness for a while, but it won’t last forever. He asks if you have been pushing hard to make new discoveries, or maybe to make a discovery worth more than it seems to be worth. But we know as well as he does that as hard as you push, as carefully as you place those cards, the house will fall down when the wind comes. “Is there nothing left now? Nothing left to sing?” If all is pointless, there is nothing left to discover, there is nothing left to sing. Songs represent hope or joy, which Foreman is saying is all gone. “Is there any other song, to sing beside these Blues?” This is where we first see any glimpse of hope at all in this song. Although it may sound like the writer is giving up and accepting the fact that all discoveries are pointless, there is a seed of hope planted in this line. This line is a question, and a question suggests that he is unsure. He is unsure about the answer to this question. This leaves room for hope; hope that there maybe is a song to sing besides these blues. If discoveries mean nothing, where is the wonder in this world? I think Jim Carrey feels the same way when he says; "I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer" This is a really sad statement. I agree with it to some extent, but you can clearly see that he still hasn’t found the answer. Well is there even an answer? That’s where we have to search hard to find it. Many don’t find it, Jesus says it’s not easy to find (”But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:14). And even when we’ve found it, it can be hard to hold onto it; the world tries to take us away. Jesus tells a parable about a farmer sowing his seeds, and some are eaten by birds and some are choked by thorns or weeds. These seeds represent us while the thorns and birds are like the world taking us away from this truth, this answer to the meaning of life. (“A farmer went out to sow his seed... Some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up... Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants” Matthew 13:3-4,7) Foreman continues on in his song to say this: “And nothing is okay, Till' the world caves in,” This statement is huge. The first part; “and nothing is ok” we can understand is the same depressing theme as the rest of the song, but the second part; “till’ the world caves in” is key to recognising that the meaninglessness won’t last forever. The discoveries we make are still going to disappoint us eventually, but there will come a day when one particular discovery does not let us down. And that is Jesus. Discovering outside of this world is the only discovery that will last forever. “It'll be a day like this one, When the sky falls down, And the hungry and poor and deserted are found” It will be a day like this one when Jesus returns and the poor of this world will be saved. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”” Matthew 5:3 I’d like to finish by pointing out the hope in the passage we read before. The Teacher continues saying very similar stuff, wisdom is meaningless, work is meaningless, everything is meaningless for another 7 chapters, but in those chapters he goes on to say a key phrase; “Under the sun”. He says this around 20 times. This shows us that it is only discoveries that we make on this earth that are meaningless. Things that will stay on this earth are meaningless. Jesus says store up treasures in Heaven where they will last. We will leave this world the same way we entered it; with nothing. So while we continue to make discoveries in our everyday lives, don’t forget that it is only the discovery of Jesus Christ that will last beyond this life. |
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| Switchfoot – The Blues Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| @[GorkoOrooji:16882] I completely agree!! I think that this song would be the most depressing song in the whole entire world unless that line was there. It is the only hope in the whole song, otherwise we are all doomed. | |
| Switchfoot – The Blues Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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@[jal007:16881] Nice analysis I like it. Just wanted to say for line 34; "Are there any left now, who haven't kissed The Enemy? " I’d say it's a rhetorical question like they all are, asking if there are any left who haven't had anything to do with the devil. Are there any of us left that haven't sinned? Are there any of us left that don’t need Jesus? There is obviously none, because all have fallen short. This line just shows all of us (again) how we can’t live this life thinking that it’s all there is. |
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