Thursday, February 18, 2016
Alien Song Lyrics And Xenophobia?
Do the songs and song lyrics connect with the concept of xenophobia? If
so, how? Also, feel free to comment regarding other connections with
science fiction. Please include some references to songs and song lyrics
in your response. Please finish this blog response during class today.
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The songs certainly represent the idea of xenophobia. Some describe alien encounters, while others describe how foolish those waiting for one are. They all describe them with fear, showing xenophobia.
ReplyDeleteIn the song Mr. Spaceman by the Byrds the man sings about wanting the "spacemen" to take him away from earth. I thought this was strange because more often then not, aliens are portrayed as harmful and terrifying. Most people do not think of aliens as nice. Things that are new are easier to think of as evil and something that we need to keep away. Assimilation is hard for humans to accept. We prefer to keep our planet inhabited by things that are familiar.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThe songs connect with the idea of xenophobia more in the concept of curiosity as opposed to a fear or hatred. The Spaceman by The Killers says ‘I could leave theses star crossed world behind, but than they cut me open’, showing fear but also wanting to get off this planet. Music is a great medium for science fiction, relying on sound to enhance the lyrics. Music about sci-fi is another example of how we fear the unknown and giving examples of how we might respond.
Mr. Spaceman by the Byrds had more of a contrasting theme to xenophobia, saying, "Hey Mr. Spaceman, won't you take me along". This showed more interest in aliens than fear of them. Spaceman by the Killers was much more similar to xenophobia, explaining how an alien took them away and crushed their hopes of coming back. They're Not Here, They're Not Coming by Don Henley also connected to xenophobia when he said, "Anxious eyes turned upward... carrying our highest hopes and our darkest fears". Henley explains how looking up and seeing the spaceship instilled fear in people because it was foreign and unknown, a perfect example of xenophobia.
ReplyDeleteAll of these songs had a very spacey vibe, and all shared the common theme of xenophobia. "Those strangers that come at night" from Mr. Spaceship exhibited the theme of unknown creatures from another planet and how they are feared by many people. "next thing I knew they ripped me from my bed" from Spacemen displays a example of abduction and the absolute fear of the power of another race. All of these songs and lyrics reflected some alien race coming into our planet and causing fear. There was only one song that really showed violence towards the one thing that they fear most. To conclude, all of these songs are very good examples of xenophobia.
ReplyDeleteIn one of the songs it was describing this alien abduction and how they come every night and they leave these blue-green foot prints, but this guy wants to go with them. Within the songs I saw that people wanted to meet them and that these beings were just waiting for them, and even could be calling for them. There were also some about how they were coming down to earth and that was a theme that was seen through-out most of the songs.
ReplyDeleteA few of the songs don't show as much xenophobia, but more of their want to be with the aliens and experience something different. They are more explaining their interactions or ideas of the different aliens and planets. They tend to follow similar story telling in the songs. Other similar aspects are the mentions of outer space or some kind of spaceship. A few of the songs talk about the need to fight back, but I think that's more because of the negative interactions they believe they'd have with these other worldly beings. "Gonna need a little help tonight", brings other groups together to go agaisnt the different beings or people. Xenophobia usually includes a group of people against another group.
ReplyDeleteRocket Man by Elton John doesn't really focus on xenophobia very much. The song focuses on the curiosity of space travel which could possibly be related to xenophobia in the sense that space is unknown.
ReplyDeleteMost of the songs, with the exception of "Zombies Ate my Neighbors", portray alien life with more curiosity than fear and terror. "Rocket Man" by Elton John shows how brutal space living can be with the line, "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
ReplyDeleteIn fact, it's cold as hell". The songs show that aliens can show us whole new worlds and theories and stories, but these could cause more harm than good.
The songs we listened to in class present varying views, and many connect to xenophobia in their own ways. Mr Spaceman, by the Byrds represents a very non-xenophobic view, as the singer actually wants to be abducted by aliens, and accepts them. A common theme I noticed in these songs, however, is a belief that aliens do not exist, such as in Rocketman, and They're Not Here, They're not coming. I think this is interesting to see, as in popular culture aliens seem to be frequent is Sci-fi, but in these songs it is less frequent.
ReplyDelete"There's a space man waiting for me"
ReplyDeleteHow this connects with the concept of xenophobia is that some people want to get away. They maybe want to meet a new thing or person and that doesn't freak people out.
"Hey Mr. Spaceman, won't you please take me along, I won't do anything wrong"
How this connects to the concept of xenophobia is kind of like the same idea I said before. Some people don't have a fear of xenophobia but the line "I won't do anything wrong" means to me that he is scared of what they will do to the person they have if they do something wrong.
"Government conspiracy;cover-ups and lies"
How this connects to the concept of xenophobia is that some people do believe in aliens and that the government knows, but they think it should be kept a secrete because, if the people find out about other life, who knows how they will react. I just think people fear the unknown and then might go crazy.
After listening to these science fiction based songs I have noticed that they are almost accepting science instead of bashing it. In one song it said "mr.spaceman won't you take me along I won't do anything wrong" that is showing that they want to be a part of it instead of going away from it. Also, in most of the songs the artist was making up events to take place in science fiction ways.
ReplyDeleteThe Byrds song refers the aliens in his song as the “strangers,” suggesting a lack of knowledge about this alien race.
ReplyDeleteThe song by The Killers mentions experimentation on the narrator of the song, and that eludes to the stereotypical assumption that aliens just want to dissect on us.
There are a lot of mentions and suggestions of government conspiracies in the songs. This relates to another stereotypical assumption that aliens have come to earth before or are currently on the planet, and the government is covering them up due to the fear that our differences would cause, even if they mean us no harm.
The lack of knowledge and understanding between us and alien races seems to be a recurring theme in these songs, and that lack of understanding is a big rift between us and not only other races on other planets, but on the planet as well.
The song lyrics showed xenophobia because a lot of them were about being abducted by creatures from outer space. The lyrics all showed how all they wanted was to get back home on earth. They were scared about what there is on space. Some of the songs showed lyrics that people didn't believe that there are aliens.
ReplyDeleteThese songs do somehow connect with the idea of xenophobia. They mention all the things that would be weird to us such as the Starman by David Bowie. It kinda explains the concept of aliens coming down to earth and communicating with humans. This concept also relates with the song Mr. Spaceman by The Byrds. Another song called Zombies ate my neighbor by Single File focuses on zombies.
ReplyDeleteThe artists show xenophobia in their lyrics. In the song “They're not Here, They're not Coming” the singer sings about how people are wasting their time waiting for aliens, because they will never come. The Killers (best band in the whole world, like for real) say “It started with a low light,
ReplyDeleteNext thing I knew they ripped me from my bed, And then they took my blood type, It left a strange impression in my head. You know that I was hoping, That I could leave this star-crossed world behind, but when they cut me open, I guess I changed my mind.” Brandon Flowers talks about an alien encounter, and changing his ideas on aliens. Probably in fear.
Most of the songs played connect some how with the idea xenophobia. Each song mentions many of the weird/unusual occurrences. The Star man by "David Bowie," works at the concept of aliens far beyond us, visiting Earth and attempting at communication with humans. In the song zombies ate my neighbor and Mr. Spaceman both this share some xenophobia as well.
ReplyDeleteXenophobia is present in the songs, though it is not as negative in its content. The majority of the songs describe space and/or space beings with either an unbiased or positive eye. However, lyrically and musically, the musicians are describing things that are very alien from day to day life.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of xenophobia is present in the song Spaceman by the killers. In one part of the chorus it says, "the spaceman says everybody look down, it's all in your mind. I think this means that everybody is so worried that they are going to get attacked by an extraterrestrial monster from outer space, but in reality it's all just in their heads.
ReplyDeleteThe songs we listened to in class definitely related to xenophobia. When they mentioned aliens, it was usually in a xenophobic connotation. For example, aliens were seen as scary and strange. This can be seen in the song "Spaceman". This song talks about an extraterrestrial attack and how all the humans are worried and scared. Also, in the song "They're Not Here, They're Not Coming", the singer talks about how people shouldn't waste their time waiting for aliens to come to Earth.
ReplyDeleteThe songs and song lyrics connect with the concept of Xenophobia. These songs show our fear towards beings and or people that are different. These songs tell about men in the sky, one lyric talks about raising your child on another planet and about how the writer/singer wants to go up to meet these space men. Another talks about preparing for the Zombie apocalypse.
ReplyDeleteWith the songs we listened to I think some show more xenophobia than others. Like Spaceman by Harry Nilsson if you think about he keeps saying " I wanted to be a spaceman but now that I am a spaceman nobody cares about me." You can take this in many ways but you can also think of it as once he be came an alien no body wanted or even cared for him anymore. And, in the song "They're Not Here, They're Not Coming", the song talks about how people shouldn't wait for aliens to come to earth. Also Space many by the killers showed aliens as people hoping to disect and take apart humans bit by bit. "It started with a low light,
ReplyDeleteNext thing I knew they ripped me from my bed
And then they took my blood type
It left a strange impression in my head. "