Ho Hey

At first I had a lot of trouble finding a song. Then, I finally decided on Ho Hey by The Lumineers. In reading the lyrics, it seems like its a song about love. It says "I don't think you're right for him" which implies that his girlfriend is with someone else and he may not be over it yet. When I went to watch the music video, it seemed completely different. It seemed to be more cheery. It followed the band singing and playing the song in what looks like an old house. There are string light bulbs around flickering to the music and the singing. There are people all dressed the same and they dance and cheer to the song at the end of the video. However, I noticed hints of things that could relate to the lyrics. I saw that there were all of these wilted flowers hanging from the ceiling at one point in the video. This could possibly be showing a love that was once there but is now gone, or wilted. The video also included a clip of someone stepping on a light bulb. This could show either anger towards their significant other for leaving them, or it could be them breaking the ties and forgetting about them. I also analyzed a Bing commercial that had the song in it. It included clips of a man travelling around the world and meeting people. He was sharing his experiences with his friends and making new friends. Then, the song struck me as kind of about travelling. With lines like “so show me family, all the blood that I will bleed,” it seemed like the song was more about life and good experiences. It still had the sense of love in it though, but the love was more about the love for life and for the people you meet and your family and friends.

Gatsby

The writers wanted to use a blend of modern music and 1920's style music because they thought that the styles would not flow but "weave" as they said. They knew that Hip Hop was all about power, money, sex, and violence. This is easy to relate to the lifestyles of people living in the 1920's. At, the time, alcohol was illegal, so often times this created many problems and created more crimes and violence among people. People who had alcohol had money and power and people were obsessed with these things at the time. So, it is easy to see how the themes of Hip Hop relate. Many of the songs are obviously inspired by 1920’s music as well. Songs such as Will-i-am’s Bang Bang, sound like they are from the time period, as there is rapping and singing to 1920’s Jazz in the background. The music also adds curiosity to the movie, as younger people are more likely to listen t Hip Hop then they are 1920’s Jazz. This will make a wider variety of people interested in the movie to see it. The music was an interesting choice. It’s rare that one hears a mix of genres such as Hip Hop and Jazz. It created its own genre almost. It has its own sound. Many of the songs in the film were very slow though. They almost had a sense of sadness or depression. This slow and sad song adds to the film very well. The story of Great Gatsby is not necessarily a happy one, although the time period was very party oriented and it was about fun and dancing. The music put into the film emphasizes the sad aspects of the movie. It highlights them and brings them to thought. If they had used 1920’s Jazz, although appropriate, would always seem upbeat and the harshness of the story and the life of Jay Gatsby would almost be lost. This music is unlike anything people today have seen. This concept is much like the music of the 1920’s. The music back then was viewed as racy and rebellious and quite odd or out of place for people. This is exactly how the music in the movie is for people today. The writers also seemed to take the time to focus on how the lyrics relate to the film. Obviously, Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black relates to the story. However, most of them seem to explain the story of Jay Gatsby and Daisy. For example, Lana Del Ray’s Young and Beautiful. This song contains lyrics telling a story of love. She contains lyrics like “he is my sun, he makes me shine like diamonds” and “will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful.” This relates to how Daisy feels about Jay. They used to love each other but then she went away and got married. The songs explain how, when she meets Jay again, she remembers everything they did together and that she still loves him and she realizes that Jay never stopped loving him. So, for many reasons, the music that they incorporated into the movie seemed odd at first but flowed well into the story and time period and created a film with its own unique mood.

Writing my Drafts

This way of writing my essay helped me tremendously. I probably would’ve started my essay the same day as I did, which is the day it was assigned. I like to start my assignments as soon as I get them so that I don’t have to worry about them as much. The difference, however, is I wouldn’t have looked at it again until the night before. Spreading it out like this allowed me to write my essay with a lot less stress and I was able to focus on my essay rather than stressing over it. Writing this way allowed me to go back and change my ideas and add on to them and still have time to think them over before I had to turn it in. The required drafts helped me a lot because it forced me to think about the essay and try to figure out what to say. This writing process also helped me to analyze a text. In the past, I have found it difficult to analyze a text, however, having required drafts and a time limit helped me to really look deeper into the text so that I could make my essay better in a shorter time period. I’m not sure what my invention process is really like. I kind of just talk into my keyboard and write everything then I go back and edit it. My writing is bigger on the arrangement part because I have to go back and erase some of my thoughts because I ramble and I have to go back and put things where they sound right in order to make my essay better. I most definitely like writing like this much better and I really love how it was spread out. I had the perfect amount of time to work on it.