Desperate:

an essay about the song “Desperado”

by Chris Bowdler

9th Grade English

Pine Point School

10/17/11

What were the Eagles talking about in the song, “Desperado”, specifically in the line “now it seems to me, some fine things have been laid upon your table but you only want the ones that you can’t get.” I think that this song is about someone with an addiction, an addiction to drugs. There are a lot of lines that create the impression of this topic. “Desperado”, is one of the greatest classic rock songs, but there is so much more that meets the eye.

“Now it seems to me, some fine things have been laid upon your table but you only want the ones that you can’t get,” this line from the song ,”Desperado”, makes me think, strangely of a person on drugs. “These things that are pleasin’ you can hurt you somehow,” this line really conjoins (fast) to someone on drugs. Drugs can make you feel so ecstatic(FAST) it is almost unreal. In the long run however, drugs can ruin your life and flip it upside down. “Your pain and your hunger, they’re driving you home.” This line makes me think of someone who is broke, hungry, and has nowhere to go. They have no one to turn to for help and are out on the streets In need of help. “Your prison is walking through this world all alone.” No one wants to get near them, and stays away from someone in need of help and absorbtion. They are stuck in a prison of the mind and they cannot get out no matter how hard they try. I wonder if this song was written for someone, I wonder if maybe it was a friend of Glen Fray’s, with a drug addiction.(Anaphora)

In the song “Desperado” I think that they are talking about someone talking his friend’s advice to heart. There are several different ways to look at this line, but I think that it is about a friend with a drug addiction. “You're losin' all your highs and lows ain’t it funny how the feeling goes away,” I think that this is saying that the friend has listened Glenn Frey when he says “Now it seems to me, some fine things have been laid upon your table but you only want the ones that you can't get.” He is getting help and losing his highs and the feeling of being addicted is slowly leaving him.  Desperado has broken free and is standing in the real world “it may be raining, but there’s a rainbow above [him].” If this song was a literary work, Desperado would be a textbook example of a round character.

What were the Eagles talking about in the song “Desperado”, specifically in the line “now it seems to me, some fine things have been laid upon your table but you only want the ones that you can’t get.” Did the Eagles mean for this song to be about gambling, or maybe drugs. If they didn’t mean for it to be about an addiction, what is this song about. . It is one of the greatest classic rock songs ever, but there is so much more that meets the eye. The Eagles spoke together and sung a great song and left there mark.(Polysyndeton)

Self-Assesment

One issue that I am continuing to work on in my writing is using alliteration and assonance to make my writing more graceful. One strong point I see in this piece of writing is the use of far more detailed sentences. I think one week point in this writing is my connection to the real world. For this essay I would give myself a B-.  

The Simplest Man

An Essay About Being Simple

by Chris Bowdler

9th Grade English

9/29/2011

Can you think of a song that is a clear, intelligible, and an ingenious story of life? When I hear these words I think about the song “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. This song has a slightly different meaning from the title. The song can also be related to a play called, “A Raisin in the Sun,” and one specific character in that play by the name of Travis.

When Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote the song “Simple Man” what were they thinking about? To me, “Simple Man” is a song about talking what you are given. Beggars can’t be choosers, so be thankful for what you do have, not wishing for something you don’t, because then you will spend all of your time wishing, not chasing your dreams. Life is a great thing, so try your hardest to make the most of everything you’re given. Try to be happy as often as you can. You can have very little to live for, and still be very happy. Whenever something comes your way look at it as positively as is humanly possible.  There is a line in the chorus of the song “Simple Man” it goes you should always be proud of yourself for who you are. You are not unavailing; everyone has a purpose you just have to find yours. You have to make the most of everything that you are given, and don’t be afraid to live life to the fullest, that is what I think Lynyrd Skynyrd is trying to say in their song “Simple Man.”

When I listen to “Simple Man” I think of the character Travis from “A Raisin in the Sun.” He is very young at heart, he has very simple needs, and he doesn’t ask for much, he just gives a lot back. He gets very happy over small things, a smile, a joke or just a hug from his mum. There is a line in “Simple Man” “Won’t you do this for me, son, if you can,” I think that this line can be related to Travis. Travis loves his mother with all his heart, and he would do anything to make her happy. He’s always happy no matter what happens, and he always wants to spread that happiness.  He knows that his family is underprivileged but he doesn’t let that slow him down. He can’t stay mad for at someone for very long. When he got in an argument with his mum he was giving her a hug almost immediately afterward. Travis is a remarkable, simple young man, with a large and loving heart.  

“Simple Man” is a song that is about making the most of the joys of life. There are not many songs that have the same love for life that you feel in “Simple Man”. I cannot think of a song has as positive a meaning as “Simple Man” there is not a negative line in the whole song. When I listen to this song I just have a positive, warm feeling sweep over me, and it just makes me love this song.

Dreaming a Dream Deferred

Connecting life to “For A Dancer” and “ A Dream Deferred”

by Chris Bowdler

9th Grade English

9/29/2011

“For a Dancer” is a very emotional song written by Jackson Browne in memory of his close friend. There is a line in the song that is at the heart of all others “In the end there is one dance you'll do alone.” I can tie in a poem to this song, “A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes, they are very similar and you can connect them in many ways. Both of them focus on one problem that people have, isolation. So many people are isolated from each other.

Langston Hughes wrote a poem called “A Dream Deferred,” which can be connected with the song “For a Dancer”. When a Dream is deferred it is forgotten, there is nowhere for the dream to go. In the song Jackson Browne’s friend felt like he had no one to turn to for support.  what happens to a dream deferred,and “I don't remember losing track of you,” both of these works of art are asking a question, what happened? Jackson Browne is wondering what happened to his friend. While Langston Hughes is asking what happens when a dream is lost to the heavens.  Everyone has to do something they don’t want; sometimes they have to do it alone. Jackson Browne’s friend had to go through life bullied. Langston Hughes doesn’t want his dream to be deferred, but it is. A dream was lost and so was a friend; they are now somewhere, dancing alone.
When I think of For a Dancer and the line “in the end there is one dace you’ll do alone,” I think of a word that relates to my life as well, individuality. Individuality is a word so often said but so frequently expressed by most people.]allit it means, in short, to be, and to express yourself. Or to dance your very own dance as it were. Jackson Browne’s friend danced his own dace, he was bisexual, and because of this no one respected him for who he really was, no one except for Jackson Browne. I sometimes feel people don’t always respect me for who I really am. People who I know are sometimes thought as strange or aloof. They are not respected for who they truly are. If you think about it from a personal perspective, do you really want to dance alone, or with your friends,? As long as, you “Just do the steps that you've been shown,” you will always be your own person. Make sure you keep the dance your own.You need to consciously consider the catastrophe that Jackson Browne must have had in his life when he wrote this song.]Allit The Meaning in The song “For a Dancer” is always keep your friends as close as possible to your heart.

To understand what he means by “in the end there is one dance you’ll do alone,” you’d have to ask him, but you can still try to interpret it. I think that there is such a deep meaning in the song For a Dancer that you need to relate to it yourself to understand the true emotion in the song.