Inspirational Song

I have to do journal assignments for my American Lit. class which is great because I love to write, but never have time to. Here’s my first journal entry. Let me know what you think.

American Lit. Journal Entry #1

What is the most inspirational song you know? Write at least one stanza (verse) of the song (the part that means the most to you personally) and paraphrase it. Does the song have a spiritual meaning to you? What is it?

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Keane: Crystal Ball

Who is the man I see
Where I’m supposed to be?
I lost my heart, I buried it too deep
Under the iron sea

Oh, crystal ball, crystal ball
Save us all, tell me life is beautiful
Mirror, mirror on the wall

Lines ever more unclear
I’m not sure I’m even here
The more I look the more I think that I’m
Starting to disappear

Oh, crystal ball, crystal ball
Save us all, tell me life is beautiful
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Oh, crystal ball, hear my song
I’m fading out, everything I know is wrong
So put me where I belong

I don’t where I am
And I don’t really care
I look myself in eye
There’s noone there
I fall upon the earth
I call upon the air
But all I get is the same old vacant stare

Oh, crystal ball, crystal ball
Save us all, tell me life is beautiful
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Oh, crystal ball, hear my song
I’m fading out, everything I know is wrong
So put me where I belong

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The song that currently inspires me most is Crystal Ball by Keane. It has a hauntingly beautiful melody and mysterious, romantic lyrics.

This song seems to be about a man who is taking a closer look at who he is and where he’s at in life and isn’t finding any meaning or substance in who he has become. He’s wishing he could see into the future in order to know that he’ll find his place in the world. The highlighted verse beautifully describes how it’s becoming more difficult for him to dicern who and where he should be in life and as a person. He doesn’t feel as if his life has meaning which makes him feel like he doesn’t matter and doesn’t really exist. The more he contemplates this the more this feeling sinks in.

I do feel spiritually connected to the song. I love the song because I feel like I can relate to it. For me, it expresses feelings and thoughts that I’ve had in the past, and that I’m sure many others have felt or wondered to some extent at some point in their life. Introspective questions of who we truly are, of whether we’re pursuing the right path, and of whether or not our life has any true value to ourselves, others, and the world at large.

Personally, I think the expectations of society usually provide the framework or foundation for who we shape ourselves into and that at some point we begin to create our own personal values. We wonder about what truly defines us, what matters to us, what we stand for or have contributed to, and we question our own existance and its relevance. If we’re unhappy with what we discover, we either give up and waste away or we grow up and start taking steps to live a life of meaning.