War and Meaninglessness of Life - Research Paper Example

War and Meaninglessness of Life While “Dust in the Wind” forms part of the creative pieces of the album “Point of Know Return” composed and performed by the progressive rock band Kansas in the mid-70s, “Imagine” is a song that inspired the making of John Lennon’s 1988 documentary film. Both songs are acoustic ballads which seem to promote reflections on the meaning of life and general social change in a number of aspects. Based on the lyrical content of each piece, these creations are directed to a type of audience that consists of individuals, youth and old age alike, who need to realize the essence of living as well as the value found in taking responsibility to keep peace and not bring about any form of harm or disorder in the world. To be more specific, Mastaplann’s “Fix da World Up” of the hiphop music genre details specifically some concrete instances that contribute to world chaos. Through “Dust in the Wind”, Kansas utilizes an indirect approach of engaging the listener to a contemplative thought about man’s fleeting existence. By the chorus line “All we are is dust in the wind”, one may readily think that, since the world and everything in it is not permanent, life should be made worth living in every way before death takes over to claim it. By the course of nature, everyone and everything dies and it would make no more difference whether a person is rich or poor because at whatever state of economy or culture, death occurs and may not be ceased when it is bound to happen. Apparently, the song serves as a call toward a change of heart especially for those who are filled with greed over material wealth. As it goes “All we do / Crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see” implies that there is not much sense in toiling to for financial satisfaction or stealing and making corrupt practices for the sake of material gain since the world is a temporary place and no everlasting possessions may be acquired from it the moment one bites the dust. On the other hand, in the attempt to summon meditation to end war and fighting, Lennon writes “Imagine there’s no heaven ... Imagine all the people living for today ... Imagine there’s no countries” at the beginning of each stanza. On hearing, it seems that the ballad of “Imagine” is a spoken song with a rhythm that humbly persuades the audience to aim for peace and perceive a ray of hope in loving each other rather than being divided by individual causes. The song likely mesmerizes the listener to heed and understand how essential it is to put an end to hostilities by imagining a world without faith, without nation, and with only a few moments to spend. This situation would only take place when people are stubborn to proceed with separate ways and are reluctant to strive to unite in belief or principles that lead to happiness and improvement of well-being. Lennon’s “Imagine” proposes that war would only come to a stop when people begin to accept the truth and respond with positive action after pondering on the undesirable consequences of violence and complete disorder. In the similar manner, “Fix da World Up” (Mastaplann, 1993, track 3) concretizes resolution for a variety of social issues in and out of a society. Mastaplann raps “Fix da World Up” to convey the unwanted pregnancy of the girl named Susie, drug addiction, the constant struggle for peace between Jews and Arabs, racial discrimination, and ignorance. With its rhythm and substance, the rap artists can be felt to raise the level of consciousness of the targeted young audience by means not only of the style and lively beat, it is particularly striking how Mastaplann rappers invested craftsmanship by demonstrating wide knowledge of their environment and the prevailing socio-political events that affect both local and global domains of social change. In theme, both of Kurtis Blow’s hit “If I Ruled the World” in 1985 and the version rendered by Nas bearing the same title in 1996 share a common principle of rapping the struggle against abusive authorities. Despite certain differences in lyrical content, the chief substance of each song can be observed to bear the concept of unity, freedom of self-expression, justice, social awareness, and love in general. Both pieces seek to justify that rap culture extends its function to the art of protest in and out of the community within which concerned rap artists are involved in several aspects. As mentioned in K. Blow’s composition of “If I Ruled the World” which initiates with ‘If I ruled the world, was king on the throne I’d make peace in every culture, build the homeless home / I’m not runnin’, for Congress or the President / I’m just here, to tell the world, how my story went’, already the rapper’s aim or how he would manage to proceed from this stage becomes clear. A message of peace or unification upon a diverse culture and race is conveyed, being quite a necessity to express hope of ceasing discrimination and rigid social structure in a society where poor continue to get by a rather low quality of living. Similarly, the song points out well how a huge change or reform must be taken by the government officials for any intended progress to create impact especially upon the social security and impoverished state of economy among mass communities. During this period, the global economic condition occurred to be heading towards an increased level of decline while most public officials kept their corrupt deeds as exclaimed in ‘To fight crime and hunger and poverty / ‘Cause the African baby is dyin’ overseas / While you sucker mission politicians bustin’ out Zs .. Huh, twenty million people all unemployed / While the rich man try to play Pretty Boy Floyd / While the working class just struggles hard / Try to make ends meet against all odds’. Furthermore, the part ‘While the poor man can’t even deal with life / You know he tried to escape, and smoked the coke on the pipe’ indicates how rampant drug addiction and perilous vices were at the time. It is obvious that there were those poor individuals who had liberation sought by personal means, regardless whether such influence would uphold their welfare or not, just so they could overcome poverty, identity crisis, or any other related associated conflicts that seemed beyond imaginable remedy. No significant departure from this idea can be detected in the other piece of “If I Ruled the World” according to joint performances of Nas and Lauryn Hill. Apart from coincidence, one may find striking semblance between choruses as when Nas sang ‘If I ruled the world / Imagine that / I’d free all my sons, I love ‘em love ‘em baby / Black diamonds and pearls / Could it be, if you could / be mine, we’d both shine / If I ruled the world / Still livin’ for today, in / these last days and times’ in concrete detail which Kurtis shortened to ‘If I ruled the world.. Huh-huh, huh-huh / I’d love all the girls.. I love ‘em love ‘em baby!! Black diamonds and pearls.. ooh yeah / If I ruled the world’. Here, the noticeable intersection with phrases ‘black diamonds and pearls’ and ‘love ‘em’ sounds emphatic in an intention to signify unity between the Blacks and the Whites. While Kurtis Blow did not obtain much success with his musical career after the release of “The Breaks” and his biggest UK hit single due largely to being independent or labelled as an underground rapper, Nas took on his passion onto a degree that combines his rapping talent with acting. As a son of jazz musician Olu Dara, he was born and raised in the Queensbridge housing projects in New York City. He managed to attain a higher order of literacy which is very much recognizable in most of his lyrics though he actually dropped out of middle school. Such were the grounds which may be accounted for why in peculiar ways the lyrical content of “If I Ruled the World” by Nas can be identified with some degree of sophistication. For instance, he exhibited knowledge with ‘The way to be, paradise like relaxin’ back, latino / and anglo-saxon / Armani exchange the reins / Cash, Lost Tribe of Shabazz, free at last / Brand new whips to crash then we laugh in the / iller path / The Villa house is for the crew’ which are evidently rich with historical and societal texts of the past and current ages. References Solt A. and Egan S. (1988). Imagine [Recorded by John Lennon]. On Imagine: John Lennon [CD]. England: Warner Bros. Livgren K. (1977). Dust in the Wind [Recorded by Kansas]. On Point of Know Return [CD]. Kirshner. Mastaplann. (1993). Fix da World Up [Recorded by Mastaplann]. On Mastaplann [CD]. Philippines: Universal Records. Blow K. (1985). If I Ruled the World [Recorded by Kurtis Blow]. On America [CD]. Mercury. Jones N. et al. (1996). If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) [Recorded by Nas]. On It Was Written [CD]. Columbia Records. Read More