Metaphors in songs

The song I have selected is called “The Trees,” by the artist Rush. The lyrics are posted below. Essentially, the entire song is one large elaborate analogy, comparing the class struggle between trees to the class struggle between people. The beginning of the song directly states an innate struggle in society: “There is unrest in the forest, There is trouble with the trees.” Then it goes on to state the actual problem itself, a desire for more limited resources, whether money, land, rights, etc: “For the maples want more sunlight, and the oaks ignore their please.”

The rest of the song simply states how the tall oaks are stealing all the light from the low maples. The low maples of course want more light, and the oaks, satisfied with their plentiful situation do not understand why the maples simply cannot be satisfied with theirs. At the end of the song there is a resolution, with the maple trees forming a union and passing laws the make everyone equal. The laws are enforced by “hatchet, axes, and saws.”

It is apparent that the author of the song took a very Marxist perspective, advocating the rights of the large working class, the proletariat, against the small elite class, the bourgeois. As trees are photosynthetic creatures, whoever owns the means of production, light, is in control of the labor. So, quite literally, the trees form a union, just as people would, to help fight the powers that be. Though not all philosophies of Marxist theory necessarily advocate a violent approach, clearly the author of this song does as the laws are enforced by the “axes and hatchets.” All in all, the author is advocating that people should do whatever it takes, most likely by means of an uprising, in order to obtain an equal society. Overall, “The Trees” song, as a whole is a metaphor that reflects the fight for power between social and economic classes, which can be applied to today’s world.

 ~~~

"The Trees" by: Rush

There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble with the trees,
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their please.

The trouble with the maples,
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light.
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made.
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade.

There is trouble in the forest,
And the creatures all have fled,
As the maples scream "Oppression!"
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights.
"The oaks are just too greedy;
We will make them give us light."
Now there's no more oak oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWHEcIbhDiw

*Iconic Images In the Education Field*

      My field of interest is teaching and the facilitation of learning, so I have selected the image of the apple and ruler. Though the actual roles these two objects play in the classroom setting has changed throughout the years, when one sees them paired together the image that comes forth in their minds is unmistakably teaching and the classroom setting.

      The apple is often associated with knowledge. Some historians attribute the apples ties to knowledge because it has been used to describe hallucinogenic mushrooms; the knowledge aspect coming from the "enlightenment" during their altered state of mind that one receives from consuming them. The term “apple” has also been used to describe other kinds of fruit, nuts, and some vegetables, like tomatoes in Europe and potatoes in France. In recent history, the apple has been a gift given to the teacher. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was common for children in some countries—including the United States—to give their teachers a polished apple, though it is considered cliché now.

      The ruler has had a very different path. Though its intended functional purpose was that of a measuring device, it also worked well as an instrument of punishment. Teachers and nuns, who were in charge of most private schools used them to whip and strike students who were bad or unruly. Now, its common association with regards to its role as an iconic image is that of a device that facilitates learning and demonstration. It is an object found in nearly every classroom and can be used to show many things, specifically mathematic/geometric concepts.

      There is a sort of irony that the ruler and apple would be paired together in this image, in the sense that the apple is a bribe, and the ruler is a punishment. That these two separate but related actions are paired together is a testament to their Machiavellian nature. After all, the teachers do have an inherent power over their students, especially in lower level education where the students have no choice but to subject themselves to their “rule.”

"Othering" in American Media

When visually representing war, writers often limit themselves to a biased portrayal of their own side; they do not mind denigrating the other side's image, but when it comes to their own, things are often sugar coated. We have all browsed through pictures of current and former wars, whether online, on the news, or in a newspaper. A factor that all of these images or composites of images (videos) share is how they choose to represent the subjects or two sides involved in a conflict. The artist/journalist chooses whether or not to show something, and how, which affects our reaction to the image. Laws established by society regarding the way war is portrayed are subconsciously applied by composers of this “war media”. In American culture, we can observe that images—still or in motion –censor the misfortunes of American war victims by “covering up” their faces and limiting the graphic content included in the frame. This censorship is done to save the American public from seeing their own people in such disgrace. It can be humiliating and at the same time painful to see a family member, friend, or neighbor in such an unrecognizable, gruesome state. At the same time, the “other” fathers, sons, and husbands are being explicitly shown in degrading images that make your stomach turn. While there are restrictions that apply only to American subjects, foreign cultures lack these, and are being disrespected through American media. Susan Sontag sums it all up when she states that "the frankest representations of war, and of disaster-injured bodies, are of those who seem most foreign, therefore least likely to be known. With subjects closer to home, the photographer is expected to be more discreet." (Sontag, p. 61-62) Clint Eastwood also plays with this issue as he attempts to consider the “other” perspective in his film Letters from Iwo Jima (2006). He makes an effort to illustrate the Japanese point-of-view of the Battle of Iwo Jima, but fails at doing so as he limits his boundaries to those set by the American society. Eastwood fulfills the expectations that Sontag discusses by graphically showing Japanese soldiers committing suicide, being burned alive, and getting blown up by grenades. On two occasions he even shows a soldier’s detonated arm gushing blood, and another’s face which had been blown off almost completely. Meanwhile, even though Americans are not the main focus of the film, they still appear battling the Japanese and never do you encounter them in images as macabre as the ones presented involving the Japanese. Even when an American soldier is being brutally stabbed by Japanese soldiers, the camera turns away before the American dies. He is never displayed dead, and neither are any Americans in this film.