Washington Irving would have definitely loved the song “Santa Monica” by late-90s rockers Everclear.  “Santa Monica” is a song about the singer, Art Alexakis, packing up and moving to California in order to relieve himself of the pressures and tribulations of his home life.  He sings, “We can live beside the ocean/Leave the fire behind/Swim out past the breakers/And watch the world die” (ll. 10-13).  With “Leave the fire behind”, Alexakis is referring to the hot, blistering mess of a life he was living.  Irving wrote about a similar feeling in “Rip Van Winkle, a Posthumous Writing of Diedrich Knickerbocker”.  Irving’s protagonist, Rip, would likely be able to identify with the Everclear lyrics.  Rip had had a rough home life like Alexakis; he was flat broke, unemployed, and had a less-than-desirable relationship with his wife described by Irving as, “Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony rolled on; a tart temper never mellows with age”(Irving par. 12).  Rip had to get away from it all, and his adventure into the Kaatskill mountains and subsequent 20 year nap represents the Romantic idea of “escapism”(Rueben).  Both Alexakis and Rip wanted to abandon the hardships of their lives; Rip chose the Kaatskill mountains while Alexakis chose southern California.

Irving’s iPod also would have almost certainly contained “Forest Whitaker” by Minneapolis rapper Brother Ali.  The song represents the popular Romantic concept of Individualism, explained by Professor Lilia Melani as, “The Romantics asserted the importance of the individual, the unique, even the eccentric”(Melani).  Ali is not a typical rapper. He is a devout Muslim, who often sings about is faith and family rather than the conventional rap topics of sex, drugs and money.  Ali also has Albinism, a condition not normally found the rap community.  In “Forest Whitaker” Ali sings, “Hey, yo, dependin’ on the day, and dependin’ on what I ate/I’m anywhere from 20 to 35 pounds overweight/I got red eyes and one of ‘ems lazy/and they both squint when the sun shines so I look crazy” and “You might think I'm depressed as can be/But when I look in the mirror I see sexy-ass me” (Ali ll.7-10, 19-20).  Ali’s message is that although he has abnormal physical features that some may consider as flaws, he is confident and comfortable with himself.  Washington Irving’s character Rip Van Winkle also embodies this notion. Described by Irving , “If left to himself, he would have whistled life away in perfect contentment”(“Rip Van Winkle” par 10), Rip certainly was not too interested in what others thought of him.  Many people would consider him lazy and irresponsible, but Rip was immune to the judgments of others.  His priority was his personal serenity and contentment, regardless of other’s opinions.  Both Rip and Ali fit Melani’s description of Individualism quite well because they both valued their uniqueness and individuality.

Irving’s use of theme as a literary device is also present in the “Rip Van Winkle”.  Theme is defined as, “Not simply the subject of a literary work, but rather a statement that the text seems to be making about that subject”(Creel).  The theme in “Rip Van Winkle” is very complex but Dave Wink explained it very well in our weekly discussion when he wrote, “He symbolizes the country’s struggle to find its identity, and he is a cautionary tale about the dangers of forgetting your past as you seek your future”.  He also explains that Washington Irving uses the character of Rip Van Winkle as a metaphor for the newly-founded America. (Wink, ”Hedges and Irving”).   Because of his symbolic writing style and use of themes, I think Irving would have had “Slow Down Gandhi” by Sage Francis on his iPod.  Like Irving, Sage Francis uses multiple themes in this song.  For example, he sings, “So look for truth. Quit seeking forgiveness/You need to cut the noose, but you don't believe in scissors/You support the troops by wearing yellow ribbons?/ Just bring home our motherfuckin' brothers and sisters”(Francis ll. 86-89).  This verse sums up the entire theme of the song: stop the populist talking about being a humanitarian and do something about it. All too often people claim to believe in popular humanist ideas, but when it comes down to actually taking action, they flake out.  Sage and Irving use their writings to convey a message.  Although the content of themes are miles apart, both men use their stories as a vehicle for a broad social statement.

 

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Unlike the avid underground hip-hop fan Washington Irving, I see Benjamin Franklin as more of a rocker.   One song I see Franklin jamming to is Ben Harper’s “Fight for Your Mind”.  Franklin was focused (maybe mildly obsessed) with the constant struggle of self-improvement in order to reach what he called “moral perfection”.   This was a common value held by people of the Enlightenment.  Professor Paul Rueben defines the “perfectibility of a human being” as “it is possible to improve situations of birth, economy, society, and religion”(Rueben).  Franklin believed this whole-heartedly and in order to improve and empower himself, he made a list of all of his character defects and methodically tried to correct each one.  He also knew that he had to take action to eliminate his imperfections, and in his Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin he writes, “As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other.”(Franklin 82).  Franklin knew what the difference between right and wrong, good and bad, but found that actually living right is much more difficult than knowing what is right.  Of course Franklin failed in his attempt be absolutely perfect, but Crystal Malm put it quite well when she wrote, “This seemed to be a painstaking task, though he took it, accepted it, and in the end he acknowledged that he was not perfect but that he had grown from the experience”(Malm “Franklin (Part 2)”) as to say it is the journey rather than the destination from which we learn the most.  I think Harper’s song would have helped Franklin out.  Aside from the wicked slide guitar solo two minutes in to the song, Franklin would have loved the lyrics that speak about taking personal action in order to self-improve.  Harper writes, “If you’re gonna step/Step on in/If you’re gonna finish/You got to begin/Don’t you fear/What you don’t know” (Harper ll.25-30) and “you got to fight for your mind/While you got the time”(Harper ll.34-35).  The song tells the listener to live with a purpose, and if you are going to do something, do it.  Don’t sit around thinking about doing it, talking about doing it, or talking about thinking about doing it, take action!  Franklin would have undoubtedly appreciated Harper’s lyrics because of his perpetual battle to take action to change himself.

Franklin’s writing style was especially effective and profound in part due to his use of parables; “"A short, realistic, and illustrative story intended to teach a moral or religious lesson"(Bedford).  He used his short tales to illustrate a deeper message to the reader.  For example, in his Autobiography, Franklin tells the story of his continuously drunk friend Collins, who failed to maintain employment and was always in need of his friend Franklin’s money.  One day, while at sea, Collins refuses to participate in helping row the boat.  Franklin has enough of it, grabs him by the neck, and throws him overboard (Franklin 34-35).  This story is meant as an example to teach the reader the lesson of temperance (strangely enough, Franklin refers to the importance of temperance later in the book) and show that laziness has its consequences.  Because of his frequent use of and affection towards parables, I think Franklin would have enjoyed listening to “The Story of My Life” by Social Distortion.  The song details a character who has wasted away his life with rock and roll, and, in a moment of reflection, regrets his past when reminiscing old times.  The song ends with, “So I sit at the edge of my bed/I strum my guitar and I sing an outlaw/Love song/Thinkin’ ‘bout what you’re doin’ now/And when you’re coming back”(Ness ll.19-23) summing up the message to the entire song: one can never go back to change the mistakes of their past, even if one regrets it now.  I’m not too sure Franklin had a whole lot of regrets, but he would surely appreciate the story-telling nature of the Social D song.

Irving and Franklin both used their writings as a medium to convey a deep message to their readers.  Both “Rip Van Winkle” and Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin entertain the reader while also (somewhat sneakily) teaches important moral and social lessons.   Things are not always as simple as they appear, and authors tend to have a way of have making us reflect upon issues not explicitly addressed.