Thoreau's Top Songs Playlist

Thoreau’s Top Song Playlist-----

-Colors of the Wind
-I Believe I Can Fly
-Simple Things
-Get Up, Stand Up

 

Colors of the Wind by Schwartz: This song shows the importance of understanding the depths of nature.

You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know
You don't know

You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew, you never knew

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sun sweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

How high will the sycamore grow
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind

You can own the Earth and still
All you'll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind

I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly: This song stresses the importance of being free and believing you can do anything.

I used to think that I could not go on
And life was nothing but an awful song
But now I know the meanin' of true love
I'm leanin' on the everlasting arms

If I can see it then I can do it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly, I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

See I was on the verge of breakin' down
Sometimes silence can seem so loud
There are miracles in life I must achieve
But first I know it starts inside of me oh

If I can see it then I can be it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away

image: http://static.urx.io/units/web/urx-unit-loader.gif

I believe I can soar
I see me runnin' through that open door
I believe I can fly, I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

Hey 'cuz I believe in me
If I can see it then I can do it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me runnin' through that open door
I believe I can fly, I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

Hey if I just spread my wings
I can fly
I can fly
I can fly, hey
If I just spread my wings
I can fly
Fly eye, eye

Simple Things by Usher: This song reminds people to appreciate the simple things in life and live a simplistic life.

Yeah
They say money can't buy you love
They say money can't buy you love
They never seem to listen
I'm all ears

Just copped your girl a brand new Rolex
But you can never find the time to spend at home
Thinkin' it's gon' keep her happy
When time is all she wanted all along

It's the simple things in life we forget
You hear her talkin' but don't hear what she said
Why do you make something so easy so complicated?
Searching for what's right in front of your face
But you can't see it

So you think that you know what's important
Steady chasin' your fame and your fortune
But you don't know you're chasing a dime losin' a treasure
Those dollars don't make sense to me at all
Oh, it goes

Duh da duh da
You give her spending money
Duh da duh da
But all she wanna spend is time alone, tonight
Keep givin' her
The finer things but

But she don't really need that
If you don't stop you're
You're gonna end up alone
The world without love
Why would you do it?

It's the simple things in life we forget
You hear her talkin' but don't hear what she said
Why do you make something so easy so complicated?
Searching for what's right in front of your face
But you can't see it

It's the simple things in life we forget
You hear her talkin' but don't hear what she said
Why do you make something so easy so complicated?
Searching for what's right in front of your face
But you can't see it

Stop tryin' ta buy her love
'Cuz you won't ever have enough
There's always someone with more than you
You need to pay her attention
Give her what she needs

Do the simple things
Before you lose your girl to me
Yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Play on playa, yeah
Your girl comin' wit' me shorty
I'm tellin' you man
'Cuz you know

It's the simple things in life we forget
You hear her talkin' but don't hear what she said
Why do you make something so easy so complicated
Searching for what's right in front of your face
But you can't see it

You better look out
I hear you talkin', I hear you talkin'
But what are you saying?
Oh ho oh ho

Don't be a fool
You got a good thing
Man are you blind
Stupid or crazy?
You got a good thing
You got a good thing

If that's your lady
You better hold on
And give her what she want
Before she move on
Man I tell you cars, clothes, and fancy things
[Doesn’t mean a thing] if you ain't kickin' it baby

It's the simple things in life we forget
You hear her talkin' but don't hear what she said
Why do you make something so easy so complicated
Searching for whats right in front of your face
But you can't see it

Get Up, Stand Up by Bob Marley: This song talks about taking a stance and not to be afraid to stand up for what you believe in.

Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights
Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight
Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights
Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight

Preacher man, don't tell me, Heaven is under the earth
I know you don't know, what life is really worth
It's not all that glitter's is gold, half the story has never been told
And now you see the light, you stand up for your right

Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights
Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight
Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights
Get up, stand up, don't give up a fight

You see, most people think great God will come from the sky
Take away everything and make everybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth, you would look for yours on earth
Now you see the light, stand up for your right

Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don't give up a fight
Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don't give up a fight

Sick and tired of a the ism-skism game
Dyin' n' goin' to Heaven in a Jesus name, Lord
We know when we understand, Almighty God is a living man

You can fool some people sometimes
But you can't fool all the people all the time
And now you see the light, stand up for your right

Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight, no
Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight

Don't give up the fight, don't give up the fight
Don't give up the fight, don't give up the fight
Don't give up the fight, don't give up the fight
Don't give up the fight, don't give up the fight

Don't give up the fight, don't give up the fight
Don't give up the fight, don't give up a fight
I say now, don't give up the fight

So we won't give up the fight, so we won't give up the fight
So we won't give up the fight, so we won't give up the fight
So we won't give up the fight, so we won't give up the fight
So we won't give up the fight, so we won't give up the fight
I say now

So we won't give up the fight, so we won't give up the fight
So we won't give up the fight, so we won't give up the fight

You see, most people think great God will come from the sky
Take away everything, make everybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth, you would look for yours on earth
And now you see the light, stand up for your right

Stand up for your right, stand up for your right
Stand up for your right, stand up for your right
Stand up for your right, stand up for your right
Stand up for your right, stand up for your right

Stand up for your right, stand up for your right
Stand up for your right

 

My Experience Through Meditation

I recently decided to spend thirty minutes one day just silently sitting on the swing on my front porch.  Meditation is said to be very relaxed, clears your mind of stress, and allows you to appreciate the brilliance and calmness of nature.  While sitting I saw what looked like a million flies fly by.  I wonder where they are going.  They seem to content and focused on their task at hand.  It almost makes you wish humans were more like that.  I can hear their buzzing sounds with ultimately kind of frighten me.  Next are the bees.  They flew from flower to flower like children visiting each house on Halloween.  Each bee tried to outfly the one before it.  I wonder if they’re having some sort of competition.  Maybe it’s a contest to see who can pollinate the most flowers, and queen bee gives them some sort of prize.  The bees mind their own business but still scare me however.  i am afraid of their merciless stinger.  The leaves that had fallen from the tall trees also intrigue me.  Their colors widely ranged from a vibrant green to a cherry red.  The leaves leisurely drifted like feathers falling from a bird in the sky.  Each one found its own individual path to the ground, forming spontaneous piles across the grass.  Braches were left bare resembling a starving animal that was unable to store food for the winter.  The sound of the whistling air could be heard across the world and left a sense of comfort around it.  It smelt like a lingering aroma of pine mixed with the freshness of the air.  Witnessing the potent components of nature allowed me to form a sense of relaxation and bliss.  It took my mind off my problems and day to day activities that I realized weren’t as important as they seemed.  It inspired me to try to make time to mediate more often and reflect on my life.

The Hunger Games..A Transcedentalist's Story

The Movie The Hunger Games contains many aspects of Transcendentalism and Romanticism.  The plot is about the power of freedom defiance.  Each character displays acts of individualism, optimism, and self-reliance.  The main character is a fearless girl named Katniss.  After her father dies, she is forced to support the family and help them survive.  Her independent nature teaches her to rely on herself rather than others showing incredible individualism and self-reliance.  She defies the government and tries to silently rebel against them.  Her hatred towards the Capitol and actions to rebel against the government provide a sense of individualism.  Katniss then volunteers to take the place of her sister in the games to protect her despite the scary stories of the games by other people which again displays extensive self-reliance.  When Katniss and Peeta, the other tribute from her district, arrive at the Capitol, Katniss refused to receive help from her Mentor, Hamitch, and Effie and even Peeta.  When training started she did not want allies, believing she’d be just fine in the arena without anyone’s help.  Her resilience toward receiving help describes a widespread self-reliance.  However, Katniss and Peeta have a sense of optimism when the games actually begin because they escape the trilling massacre in the Cornicopia and believe they have a chance to win the games.  In the arena, Katiniss is still self-reliant and works on her own to survive.  She also learns more of the power and terror the Capitol stands for making Katniss angrier at the government.  She meets a friend, Rue, whom which she actually becomes allies with.  However, Rue dies soon after leaving Katniss heartbroken at the Capiol.  She uses individualism and even nature to rebel against the Capitol and covers Rue’s body with flowers.  Katniss bonds with the mockingjays in the arena which give her a peaceful feeling.  Once most of the tributes tragically died, the Capitol announces that tributes from the same district may both with.  Katniss and Peeta are both filled optimism since they had a chance to both end up winning the games.  However, when they become the only two tributes left, they are informed that they cannot both win.  Angry with Capitol they displayed individualism, rebelling against the government, and pretended to both commit suicide.  This brave diffidence resulted in the victory of both tributes.


Photo by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games_(film)

A Playground of Children

Recently I had the opportunity to observe young children play at a local playground.  There were about eight kids between the ages of around four and six.  A couple of children swung on the swings; another was sliding down a high twister-like slide.  Two more children were on the monkey bars trying to see who could go the farthest without falling.  One child was using the woodchips and some dirt to make some sort of tower or game (I wasn’t exactly sure).  He was in touch with nature by using dirt and even some grass he found.  Two more kids were playing hide a go seek with each other around the park.  They used nature to find new hiding places.  Each of the children had a subtle smirk on their face reminding me of their innocence.  They didn’t have any worries yet.  They didn’t know the problems of the world around them.  Each child just played happily living in the present without thinking of the past or future.  I feel that I am still a child inside.  At times, I act quite immature and still enjoy activities I liked when I was young.  However, I seem to act different than when I was young as well.  I approach problems with a more level head.  I also am more absorbed in the outside world and its problems than when I was young.  I do not mourn the loss of my childhood.  Instead, I celebrate the onset of adolescence and adulthood.  I am that much closer to growing up and being my own person.  I am excited for the future that holds more opportunities than I had as a child.  I would not return to my childhood because I would lose the freedom I otherwise would not have.  However, in my heart I will still always be a child and will always act like one sometimes.

Art of Reflections in the Water

This picture I drew captures the work of transcendentalism.  It is just a normal river with the trees in a clearing beside the river and reflected in the water.  However, the picture represents the freedom and expression hidden in nature.  The changing of the leaves show how elaborate the colors of nature can be.  Each leave becomes a unique color and shape unlike you've ever seen before.  Apart they are a beautiful brushstroke, but together they are a magnificent work of art.  The movement of trees and there leaves represent how free nature is as well.  The whistling of the wind embodies a soft peacefulness like no other.  The tantalizing aroma of pine trickles the air almost as rain droplets.  But most of all this picture has a river, a lively reflection pool.  The calmness in the water symbolizes the peace that is reaches from laying in it.  But the water itself mirrors its surroundings, showing us the beauty and terrors of nature.  It's freedom to change its "appearance" portrays the use of transcendentalism.


Photo drawn by me