stem/long stem or chaos/peace/chaos

The silence in the song “Stem/Long Stem” really drew me in and attracted me. I am not a fan of music and do not listen to it accept when forced to like when I am at work. Music really makes me uncomfortable. In the beginning of the song my heart felt extremely uneasy because of the beat. The silence that came in the middle and toward the end of the song provided a much-needed break from all the disturbances and distractions which music brings with it. This relates to life in many ways, which may be why I felt so strongly to write about this song. In life, especially working students’ lives, there is so much going on all the time, whether it’s homework or tests or work when involved with a student organization on campus. So this break of silence in the song represents the breaks that the busy person should take from the chaos happening in the world around them. This can come in many shapes and forms according to each person’s aspect of truth, culture, or religion.

The spoken word segment was also important to me because of my life experiences with the law and people in authority. I have suspended license because of a ticket I received for not having registration on my car a year ago. Actually I have accrued approximately 8 traffic tickets in the past 5 years, none of which were for moving violations. They were all for having no registration or no license. It is so frustrating that you get tickets for not having enough money to pay previous tickets. So, that is why I could totally relate to the guy speaking about waiting for trial because he had unpaid traffic tickets. I could also relate to him because I, too, waited in the holding cell behind the courtroom, waiting to go before the judge.

            

After explaining about waiting for the court in the holding cell, the spoken word becomes drowned in the return of the beat. That means he becomes drowned in the chaos again. It seems he is somewhat saved from the chaos while he is to himself in the courtroom holding cell. Maybe his name was called and this represents the chaos once he enters the courtroom, knowing he looks guilty wearing prison clothes.

            

Overall, this song really brings on the feeling of chaos followed by a time of peace, and then returns to chaos. The chaos is not overwhelming due to the break in the middle of it. To me, the song makes the point that we should take a break from all the chaos in our daily lives so that it does not become overwhelming and unbearable. Each person may have a different way to divert his or her lives from the chaos for a moment. Mine is prayer.