Swim by Jack's Mannequin: Mental Illness in Alternative Music (Song 2)

Swim by Jack’s Mannequin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5fraTwsgeg

You've gotta swim

Swim for your life

Swim for the music

That saves you

When you're not so sure you'll survive

You gotta swim

And swim when it hurts

The whole world is watching

You haven't come this far

To fall off the earth

The currents will pull you

Away from your love

Just keep your head above

I found a tidal wave

Begging to tear down the dawn

Memories like bullets

They fired at me from a gun

A crack in the armor

I swim to brighter days

Despite the absence of sun

Choking on salt water

I'm not giving in

I swim

You gotta swim

Through nights that won't end

Swim for your families

Your lovers your sisters

And brothers and friends

Yeah you've gotta swim

Through wars without cause

Swim for the lost politicians

Who don't see their greed as a flaw

The currents will pull us

Away from our love

Just keep your head above

I found a tidal wave

Begging to tear down the dawn

Memories like bullets

They fired at me from a gun

Cracking me open now

I swim for brighter days

Despite the absence of sun

Choking on salt water

I'm not giving in

Well I'm not giving in

I swim

You gotta swim

Swim in the dark

There's no shame in drifting

Feel the tide shifting and wait for the spark

Yeah you've gotta swim

Don't let yourself sink

Just find the horizon

I promise you it's not as far as you think

The currents will drag us away from our love

Just keep your head above

Just keep your head above

Swim

Just keep your head above

Swim, swim

Just keep your head above

Swim

    Swim by Jack’s Mannequin utilizes metaphors, imagery and similes to encourage those suffering through depression to press through the dark times. The speaker uses the metaphor of currents and tidal waves dragging victims into its grip to lend an image to depression. The idea of swimming through this current is a metaphor itself for working through depression or anxiety. “Don’t let yourself sink” is also a metaphor, telling the listener to not give into the illness and to keep fighting against it in order to live a normal life. “I swim to brighter days despite the absence of sun” means that he continues through his hardships despite not being able to see things getting better. There is one simile that holds importance. “Memories like bullets fire at me from a gun” means that the speaker’s memories hit him with such impact that they bring him emotional pain and put “a crack in the armor” however he rises above the pain and swims through it. Finally, imagery is used throughout the song to create a physical embodiment of depression. It’s described as “a tidal wave” and “currents” This creates a mindlessly aggressive image of depression. It pulls in anyone weak enough and they may never come back up. But, those strong enough will swim through the turning tides and eventually make it to shore. This song covers mental illness, specifically depression, as something you can fight. It’s difficult, but with enough effort, love and support, you can pull through. The singer, Andrew McMahon wrote this song while getting through a terrible physical illness, Leukemia. The disease was mentally and physically scarring and brought him through some of the darkest times in his life. However, McMahon has said that this song was one that saved him. As a fighter of the dilemma, the song paints a picture of optimism from someone who has the right to feel like the world is against him, but it’s just the opposite. The hopeful tone of this song creates a theme of triumphant return from dark times.

Goner by Twenty One Pilots: Mental Illness in Alternative Music (Song 1)

Goner by Twenty One Pilots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgmgFLV0fp4

I'm a goner

Somebody catch my breath

I'm a goner

Somebody catch my breath

I wanna be known by you

I wanna be known by you

I'm a goner

Somebody catch my breath

I'm a goner

Somebody catch my breath

I wanna be known by you

I wanna be known by you

Though I'm weak, beaten down

I'll slip away into the sound

The ghost of you is close to me

I'm inside out you're underneath

I've got two faces, Blurry's the one I'm not

I've got two faces, Blurry's the one I'm not

I need your help to take him out [2x]

Though I'm weak and beaten down

I'll slip away into the sound

The ghost of you is close to me

I'm inside out you're underneath

Though I'm weak and beaten down

I'll slip away into the sound

The ghost of you is close to me

I'm inside out you're underneath

Don't let me be gone

Don't let me be gone

Don't let me be gone

Don't let me be gone

Don't let me be

Don't let me be

(Ah, yeah)

I'm a goner

Somebody catch my breath

I'm a goner

Somebody catch my breath

I wanna be known by you

I wanna be known by you

    Goner by Twenty One Pilots is a song told from the point of lead singer Tyler Joseph’s  battling depression. The main devices used to tell his story are repetition, symbolism, metaphors and tone. Most lines are sung twice and put emphasis on the speaker’s struggle. The repetition of the phrase “I’m a goner, somebody catch my breath” along with “don’t let me be gone” shows how genuinely hopeless and helpless he feels. Repetition also is used to express the duality of the speaker, as he later repeats “I need your help to take him out” clearly having hope for recovery. The entity he’s referencing is both a metaphor and symbol for his depression and anxiety. This character “Blurryface” titles this album and embodies Tyler’s anxiety, depression and mental strife. He’s a motif, featured in most songs on the album as most of the songs help paint a thorough narrative of Joseph’s life dealing with his mental illness. Another device commonly seen in this band’s discography is tone. The song begins with soft piano and quiet vocals. From time to time the music swells but then returns to its soft nature. However, when you think the song is over and has grown completely silent, the music picks back up much louder than before, and the vocals are significantly more aggressive. This shows the speaker’s shift from sorrowful and weak to frustrated and prepared to fight Blurryface. Metaphors play a large part in characterizing the dilemma at hand. I interpret the line “Though I'm weak and broken down, I’ll slip away into the sound” as the speaker, although wanting to give into depression, will instead slip away from it by listening to music as some kind of therapy. Another metaphor used is “somebody catch my breath” which is a way to say the speaker needs someone to help him. Duality is further expressed through dialog in the line “I wanna be known by you” This is coming from Blurryface, wanting desperately to expose Joseph’s innermost fears and worries. This song tackles the topic at hand as a complete other entity rather than just a trait of a person. However unlike many songs, the illness is not presented as an unstoppable issue, but as something that can be solved through help and support from others.

Symbolism in "The Wall"

Symbolism and imagery are utilized throughout Pink Floyd’s The Wall to portray the education system as a machine whose sole purpose is to destroy the imagination of students, making each one into a uniform “brick in the wall” of society. A symbol displayed throughout the video is the mask. The students are all shown on conveyor belts or walking in organized formations while wearing a copy of the same mask. Not only are the masks identical to one another, but they are completely featureless with nothing more than what look liked burnt up holes for the eyes and mouth. These masks are a symbol representing the mindless drones the system wants the students to become. The masks, when worn, seem to turn the students into slaves, marching like army squads. The idea of bricks in the wall can be compared to same ideas of the masks. Bricks, too, are identical and interchangeable. As they are inanimate objects, they’re also thoughtless and disposable, which seems to be the ideal personality of students to these teachers. The dispensability is represented by the students willingly face planting into the meat grinder. This further drives the idea that the students do not have their own thoughts, because without a fight, they plummet to their early demises. The imagery of the students walking through a maze also shows the disposability of the students. The students are in place of the typical lab mice, which are seen as generic animals for testing. They are not excessively valued or given a particularly good life. Essentially, this shows the children as replaceable bodies, not unique or special in any way. This furthers the idea of the education system’s desire to destroy all creativity and imagination in students and turn them into cogs in the corporate machines. All of these images and symbols are used to construct the idea that teachers think creativity is useless and students should stick to doing what they’re told and follow the rules, bringing them closer to being cookie cutter students, or bricks in the wall.