Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Alien Song Lyrics And Xenophobia?
Do the songs and Alien 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.
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I don't really think that Mr. Spaceman connected to Xenophobia. I don't think it did because it doesn't seem like he is really afraid of or even shaken by Mr. Spaceman. This is shown when the song says, "I hope the get home all right, Hey Mr. Spaceman, won't you please take me along." This shows how the singer wants to be friends with the Spaceman.
ReplyDeleteThey do connect with the concept of xenophobia because aliens are not common or even existing life forms on Earth. Therefore, to us they are outsiders that we are afraid of because we do not know if they are good or bad. A lyric from a song played said, "Hey Mr. Spaceman won't you please take me along. I won't do anything wrong." This lyric shows how the lifeforms know that they are not bad and will not do anything wrong. However from the perspective of the Spaceman or the people living there currently, they all carry this fear that the lifeforms aren't good so they question it and are unsure. - logan lewis
ReplyDeleteMost of the songs refer to some sort of being as a spaceman. They don't describe much about the being, they only assume that it's a spaceman that can give them an adventure. For example, in the song ¨Mr. Spaceman¨ by The Byrds, one lyric reads ¨Hey Mr. Spaceman, won't you please take me along
ReplyDeleteI won't do anything wrong¨. Another song that references xenophobia is ¨Zombies ate my Neighbors¨ in which the singer states ¨there she was, glaring through olive eyes and chalk white skin.¨ He focuses heavily on her appearance.
They connect with concept of xenophobia because the songs have a resonating theme of outer space and the unknown. Some songs talked about foreign and threatening creatures which could be xenophobia, and has some of familiar ideas and concepts that we studied in the unit.
ReplyDeleteMany of the lyrics connect with the concept of xenophobia. Spaceman by The Killers contains the lyrics "It started with a low light, next thing I knew they ripped me from my bed and then they took my blood type,
ReplyDeleteIt left a strange impression in my head." This reflects an assumption that aliens would be dangerous, harsh, and cruel. Many of these lyrics reflect extrapolation, like "in the year 3535, ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies. Everything you think, do, and say is in the pill you took today" from In the Year 2525 by Zager and Evans.
I liked the commentary found in some of the songs about how you always want to be where you aren't, like in Nilsson's Spaceman: "I wanted to be a spaceman, I wanted to be it so bad, but now that I am a spaceman I'd rather be back on the pad."
Some of the songs connect to xenophobia, but Mr.Spaceman didnt.He wanted to join in, and go with the alien he didnt seem afraid, but in others they were talking about fighting the aliens. "Grab something sharp and take some cover." The singer then seems afraid and doesnt like aliens things that are different.
ReplyDeleteIn the song Zombie Ate my Neighbors by Single file somewhat connected to what we said was Xenophobia. Some parts of the song are just for laughs but there are parts of the song that does show fear of zombies coming.
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily believe that the Alien Song Lyrics connect with the concept of xenophobia as much as they do with the Frankenstein Complex for example. In the song They're Not Here, They're Not Coming it states,
ReplyDelete"Would they pile into the saucer
Find Orlando's rat and hug it?
Go screaming through the universe
Just to get McNuggets?"
which uses the Frankenstein Complex because it's saying that these aliens might doing very human things.
I do not think any of the songs related to xenophobia. They all talked about how they almost wanted to go to space. They were dreaming of an invasion or to land on a different planet. They were not scared. I thought this was very interesting. I think almost everyone is like this because every human is curious.
ReplyDeleteSome of the songs do touch with Xenophobia by describing alien like actions and the fear of the unknown. Other songs are about feeling lost in the void of space. In the song They're not her they're not coming, it talks about aleins that came to earth and the cover ups and lies that came with.
ReplyDeleteThe songs connect with the concept of xenophobia because the songs have this theme of space and of the unknown.
ReplyDeleteI actually feel that these songs with science fiction aspects only slightly brush up on xenophobia as a theme and actually explore extrapolation much more thoroughly. WIth on example being "In the Year 2525," where the song explores possible scenarios that both the Human race and the state of the Earth in general could explore in the near future.
ReplyDeleteThe songs do connect with the concept of xenophobia, but the way in which they do varies quite a bit. Some songs welcomed the concept of extraterrestrials, introducing them as a way to escape from our restrictive human society, while others immediately addressed the aliens as hostile with a call to fight. More than anything else, I feel these songs illustrate the many varying viewpoints regarding extraterrestrials and shows how some have managed to overcome xenophobia and begun to welcome change.
ReplyDeleteWhile both songs certainly have xenophobic elements, I think "Spaceman" demonstrates the xenophobia concept a little bit better than "Rocket Man". Both songs make a point of the fact that they don't want to be away from Earth and what they already know - being in space and among foreign planets seems to scare the characters in the song. In "Rocket Man", the lyrics state "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids/In fact it's cold as hell" - showing the man's disgust towards the place. "Spaceman" seems to show the same kind of attitude, hostilly beginning with "Bang, bang, shoot 'em up, destiny". Them being extraterrestrials, perhaps? This sentence potentially being a metaphor for the humans "destiny" to be to conquer the strange and different.
ReplyDelete