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January 3rd 2022
The way that music can speak to someone is incredible to me. You could feel hopeless, depressed, upset, or lonely, but a song can comfort you and make you feel heard. I am currently listening to Untitled by Silverchair on repeat. Daniel Johns’ voice is so calming. You can hear the pain in his lyrics. There is no official explanation for the lyrics of this song, but the lyrics speak to me and that is what is so incredible about music. Something so cool about music is the way that a song can have different meanings for every person who listens to it. Everyone interprets music in their own way, and relates it to their own experiences. Currently I am struggling with depression and other issues that I won’t get into. Knowing about the similar struggles that Daniel was dealing with while recording this song, makes me feel comfort in the way that someone else is like me, and that someone was able to create something beautiful. Daniel was able to turn his pain into beautiful meaningful art. This song was recorded in February 1998 for the soundtrack of the 1998 Godzilla movie. Originally, it was meant for Silverchair’s second album, “Freak Show,” but was scrapped off that. Daniel was 18 turning 19 when this song was recorded, basically very close in age to me. (At the time of me writing this, I have been 18 for a month and a few weeks). I feel the same pain that he is feeling. He is describing the things that I can not fully express that are in my mind, whether it be about depression, frustration, or eating disorders. He is taking pain and turning it into art. Not only with this song, but I find myself comforted in many other of Daniel’s works.
“Dream of content
A pain-filtered farm
All I can say
Dreams are bad
When all they do is leave the truth behind
Dreams are bad
When negativity’s a state of mind”
These certain lines from this song really stick out to me. Dreams are something everyone has, dreams of success, dreams of a happy future, etc. Dreams are usually seen as positive, because they motivate one to work harder to achieve their dream, and dreams show one’s personality. Daniel tells us that dreams are bad “when all they do is leave the truth behind.” When you wake up from a dream, you are waking up back to reality. In the state of your dreams, usually they are the place you want to be. The place you feel comfortable and happy. They “leave the truth behind” because dreams will take you away from reality. Even just daydreaming or trying to escape reality leaves the truth behind because it is an escape. This is why dreams are bad. They give you a feeling of false hope. You wake up and feel horrible because your dream can not be attained. It doesn’t have to be dreams of career, it could also be dreams of wanting to fix a certain relationship, it could be dreams of a better version of you, it could be anything. The next line, “when negativity’s a state of mind.” can mean that if your mind is in a negative place, it is hard for you to have dreams.. Dreams seem unattainable. You may start having trouble seeing yourself in the future, and lose hope; you might not have any dreams.
Although Daniel has never explained the meaning behind the song, I feel that the true meaning is about depression and an eating disorder. Again this is just my interpretation. It could have a completely different meaning. Lyrics can have so many different meanings, different for every person that the lyrics speak out to. Being able to express yourself through song is a talent that is so magical, especially when your songs touch others lives, and other generations. I am an 18 year old in 2022. Daniel was an 18 year old in 1998. We come from different decades, yet he is still able to speak to me through his songs. I am 24 years in the future but the song speaks to me as if it were made today. I see him almost as a friend but from another universe. Music is like a time machine that connects the future with the past.
here is untitled by silverchair :)
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F3RALF0XGUTZ
I've found myself in this mentality just recently to what you and the artist seem to say about dreams—
I talk this way about hope.
If you've heard the story of Pandora—
the story suggests to most people that the hope she clung to was a positive thing for humanity to keep—
didn't that jar (more commonly translated as a box) contain evil spirits?
“When Pandora opened the jar, she unleashed all manner of evils and miseries into the world – sickness, death, sorrow, strife, and many others. She closed the jar quickly, but it was too late. The damage had been done. Only one thing remained in the jar – hope
— providing a small comfort to humans as they endure their new hardships.”
What does that say about hope being the one spirit that doesn't escape?
I found this—
“—the Greek sources differ on the nature of hope. In Hesiod’s account, hope seems to be just another evil, trapped in the jar as a further torment to humanity. It’s as if hope prolongs our suffering by giving us a false sense that things might improve.
But in other versions, hope takes on a more positive role. It becomes a solace, a reprieve from the woes that Pandora unleashed. In this view, hope is what allows humans to endure in the face of hardship – it’s the one blessing among the many curses.”
There's also the zen parable—
the one about the monk, the tiger and the strawberry.
Idk lol, maybe we're onto something..
Maybe that's just my interpretation of your blog XD
This is such a thoughtful post—
I came across these ideas on my own search in philosophy. I'm fascinated that you found a conclusion on the same wavelength through a song's lyrics.