Synesthesia and Song Writing
For this project, I revised and analyzed two songs that I had written a while back and made two art pieces, one for each of them. I painted to each song and then looked at each piece and related it to the specific song. I also made another art piece, which was used for my social studies portion. It represents seven significant years of my life, sorted chronologically and shown through color. I chose a historical event for each year that related to my own experiences as well.
Move, Float, Feel
I worked on an industrial painting to represent the song written called “Move Float Feel”. It's all about standing up for what you believe in. The song is about a woman who had heard all her life that she wouldn’t amount to anything, and that if she didn’t follow the direction she was getting from this man, she was bound to fail. Yet, she still ended up going down the path less taken and found that the result was for the better. He would use their relationship as something to hold against her, and he would take things out on her, so she left. The song is her way of telling him that he needs to stop the hypocrisy and fix things within himself instead of trying to change others.
While this song is not as subjective as my other pieces, there are enjambments thrown about and even some abstract lyrics. An example of an enjambment would be, “ I’m sorry, it’s a shame/that you couldn’t teach me how to love”. The colors I see in this song are all quite dark, cold colors (with the exception of brown). Navy blue, which represents sincerity, trust, loyalty and wisdom, definitely signifies her personality, as well as the brown I also see. The brown has been known to stand for reliability and dependability--something she always was, but never got in return. Then there is the last color I see, black. Black has many, many meanings, ranging from evil to sophisticated. But what it stands for in this song, is rebellion. The protagonist I’ve created has used her courage to make a name for herself and does not have any intentions of listening to this man anymore.
Lion heart, Hummingbirds Part
Lion heart is basically about young love, which is described through the finger painting that I used to portray the song. In a whole, it goes through the motions of losing someone, a girl used to know like the back of her hand. Now, when she sees him, there’s not even a glance her way. He wasn’t afraid to have a sensitive, vulnerable side when he was with her. He wasn’t hesitant to tell her if he was scared or worried. They grew apart, and as he got older there was a sense of masculinity forced upon him. It caused them to grow apart, and he eventually found another girl. The girl who grew up with him knows he is pretending to be something he isn’t, and she wishes he’d open up to her again.
The repeating chorus, “Lionheart, hummingbirds part”, means that a pure thing, such as admitted fragility, is much stronger than when it is veiled. To have a lionheart is to be somebody of courage and bravery. And to me, the fast, fluttering tendencies of hummingbirds resembles anxiety and scattered thoughts. The song ends with the line, “Our youth has lost it’s spark” which symbolizes that she is finally accepting she cannot get her best friend back. She realizes she may never have closure. The song is pale and mustard yellow, pale pink, and orange. Yellow is often associated with joy and energy, and used to show honor and loyalty. This may explain how the girl has stayed loyal to her best friend, even after he left. Pink is used for femininity and innocence and tenderness. Orange is used at times to help someone look at the bright side of things, and it is seen as impulsive.
For my history portion I evaluated six years of my life and chose a color for each. Below are my explanations and reasoning for each, as well as the historical event, and how that relates to what I went through that year.