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.