Change

Through the lens of music, this blog series has primarily focused on the implicit meaning behind lyrics and how they affect our everyday lives. When we are feeling down, music is there to lift us up. When we are feeling happy, music can transform that emotion into a feeling of pure bliss. Furthermore, music has the capability of calling us into action when it comes to moments of political and social crisis.

It then goes without saying that music has the power to change the people that we are. Music is the story of humanity as it deals with our struggles, passions, and dreams. One artist that pulls all the intricacies of music together is Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon. In his song, “Change”, Hoon grapples with the reality that we all have to face – death. Since we are all going to die someday, what impact are we going to make while we’re alive? What is the meaning of life? These are the questions that have been buried within all of my blog post and they come to forefront in “Change.”

Unconventionally, Hoon opens the song with the rattling of a harmonica. This instantly pulls the listener into the song as he opens with the following stanza:

I don’t feel the suns comin’ out today
It’s staying in, it’s gonna find another way
As I sit here in this misery
I don’t think I’ll ever, no, Lord
See the sun from here

From these lyrics, it is easy to see that Hoon is in a very dejected state. Here, the sun acts as a metaphor for Shannon’s life as it starts to fade away. Shannon wrote this song after years of battle with drug addiction and it shows as he sits there in his misery (https://genius.com/14036096). However, Shannon makes an appeal to redemption when he refers to the Lord and how he will never see the “sun” from his state. By placing the words “Lord” and “sun” close to one another, Shannon makes an allusion to the afterlife in hopes that he will be forgiven.

Next, in the chorus, Shannon sings:

And oh as I fade away
They’ll all look at me and say, and they’ll say
Hey look at him, I’ll never live that way
And that’s okay
They’re just afraid to change

Here, Shannon takes notice of how most people don’t approve of his drug use. They say they’ll never live the way the Shannon did but in reality, they are the losers because they’re afraid of change (death). Shannon, on the other hand, isn’t afraid of death because he is happy with the choices he has made in life.

Shannon continues his farewell message to the world when he writes:

When you feel your life ain’t worth living
You’ve got to stand up
And take a look around and you look way up to the sky
Yeah, and when your deepest thoughts are broken
Keep on dreaming boy, ’cause when you stop dreamin’ it’s time to die

In this stanza, Shannon speaks directly to those who may be struggling with thoughts of suicide. It can reasonably be inferred that he struggled with these thoughts as well, but he makes it clear to his audience that suicide is not the answer. Life on earth has meaning because there is something beyond it. Shannon proclaims to his audience to remain hopeful even in the darkest of times because some day, maybe even after death, things are going to get better.

Shannon gives his last piece of advice when he writes:

And as we all play parts of tomorrow
Some ways will work and other ways we’ll play
But I know we all can’t stay here forever
So I want to write my words on the face of today
And then they’ll paint it

Here, Shannon takes notice that some days are meant for work and some days are meant for play. To Shannon, part of life is finding a balance between the two. Furthermore, he takes note that we’re all going to die someday so we must try our best to make our lives here on Earth meaningful. All of us have a part in contributing to the world and leaving behind a legacy for future generations to come.

So as one can see, music even has the power of influencing what legacy we will leave behind when we die. If this is the case, then each and every one of us must live our lives to the fullest. Being a college student, I still have a long way to go. However, if I could give my audience one last piece of advice it would be to do whatever makes you happy. Go after your passions and perform them to best of your capability and your life will have meaning beyond what you could imagine.

See the music video here: