Creative artist’s basic objective in writing a musical piece is to express and communicate as well as convey certain thoughts, emotions, and states of being to his listeners. These thoughts, feelings, and emotions are results of the composer’s personal views about the world he lives in. He expresses these feelings and emotions through the musical language that he knows with directness and powerful communicative ability no other art expression can ever give meaning to.
The song “I Don’t Want To Be” by Gavin DeGraw is a song about a person who is unhappy and who desperately seeks attention, identity, as well as love and care from parents and friends.
He is a person who’s tired of his life, a person who’s long been wanting peace of mind because all through out his life, he’s been searching and looking for the meaning of his existence. The person reflected in the song is a person who is suffering from despair, anxiety, sadness, emptiness, and anger.
A person who lost self-worth, identity and meaning in life. A person who is struggling to live due to confusion and distrust in the world that he lives in, one who lost his worth after so much struggles and bad experiences.
These emotions are reflected in the following lyrics:
I don’t have to be anyone other than the birth of two souls in one part of where I’m going, is knowing where I’m coming from;
All I have to do is think of me and have peace of mind;
I’m tired of looking round rooms’ wondering what I’ve got to do and who I’m supposed to be; I’m surrounded by liars, impostors, and identity crisis;
Can I have everyone’s attention please?
There are reasons behind a person’s unhappiness and discontentment in life.
It might be that he is not satisfied with “what he is”, “where he is”, and “what has”. He may not be living according to his moral standards, expectations and his knowledge of what is just and right. He might not be the person he wishes to become thus, he is unhappy, displaced, feel neglected and in great pain.
Life is a process of self-validation, of life-long learning, of trying to overcome life’s trials and struggles. Each of us possesses capacities, potentials, and capabilities that help us combat our fears and problems. God gave us wisdom to be able to distinguish or determine the right from wrong.
All of us experience tough moments and situations in our lives that sometimes, we think and feel, we are alone and no one cares for us. It is at this point when our basis of self-worth and identity is shaken and the meaning of our personal existence diminishes. Being criticized and ignored is one of the most self-invalidating experiences because our life revolves around social relationships and self-concept. It hurts our feelings and egos when people treated us someone inferior or unworthy of their attention and respect.
Losing someone dear to us can also create extreme pain and loneliness as well as loss of primary support system. When we are surrounded by people who do not believe in us, we feel unappreciated and invalidated.
As we go through personal developmental changes in life, our intimacy need is also changed- from a need for protection and approval to the need of being fully understood, accepted, and connected emotionally and spiritually. When these needs are not met, we experience turmoil and lack of self-validation. We fail to value our self-worth and competence. We lose our confidence and self-respect and we become unhappy, hopeless, and directionless.
Generally, it is the role of parents to provide us solid psychological, emotional, and spiritual foundation. When they fail to provide us these healthy experiences, we become inferior and not confident with our selves. Skills, self-concept, self-confidence, self-esteem, as well as interpersonal skills should be honed or cultivated at the early age of an individual. When these are needs are met, certainly the individual becomes mature, confident, happier, positive and appreciative of his self and of his life. Because it is only when a person loves himself that he can love others, when he accepts himself that he accept others, and only when his needs are met can he meet the needs of others. Foremost, it is only when a person forgives himself that he can forgive others.
Almost everyone encounters or experiences a time when life is shattered by a crisis event. Very few realizes that an upsetting experience can actually have a positive outcome, that which leads to an increased personal maturity. When these experiences are dealt with appropriately, we certainly will become the person that we hope to be. And we will be happier, contented, productive, and most of all, appreciative about ourselves, the people around us, and our life. As created by God, we are architects and engineers of our own lives as we design our future ourselves. It is actually us who choose our destinies and our fates.
Song Analysis Example. (2019, Dec 05). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/paper-on-essay-song-analysis/