The Themes Of Lealan And Lloyd's Our America

With their witty and compelling book “Our America,” LeAlan and Lloyd show how the voices of underrepresented African Americans contribute significantly to our understanding about American racial relationship. I want to deliver their political messages to both the authorities and the general audience. By presenting double-meaning songs which could be absorbed in various depth level, my soundtrack will illuminate both the book’s main theme of reality, hope, inequality and give voices to African Americans.
The themes of reality and hope appear inside the innocent narration of LeAlan and Lloyd about their lives in Ida B. Wells. It appeared with filth, violence, drugs, and broken families. LeAlan ’s mother had bipolar disorder, and his father neglected …show more content…
Similar to people’s experience in Ida B. Wells, “Beat It,” is a story of a teenager, tempting to make sense of the world from his observation of community violence. Instilled in the stirring rock sound of Eddie Van Halen’s guitar, Ida B. Wells violence appeared. Imitating Jimi Hendrix’ style in his “Star-Spangled Banner” version, Eddie draws polyrhythmic ferocity, and amplifies the piercing sound of machine guns in his electric guitar. This complex ferocity reflects how black kids like LeAlan and Lloyd experience, living in the ghettos where the sound of gun shooting becomes so commonplace. The song lyrics, “You Wanna Be Tough,” mirror how LeAlan and Lloyd ought to mask themselves, with knowledge about violence and drugs, in order to look “tough” and to survive in Ida B. Wells. As LeAlan commented, “If you play childish game in the ghetto, you’re gonna find a childish bullet in your childish brain” (p.33). This attitude of being a survivor also expresses in the lyrics, “Don 't Wanna Be A Boy, You Wanna Be A Man.” The lyrics reverberate with LeAlan ‘s statement about his masking. Still, “Beat It” also contains gospel impulse. The song shows how people connect their experience within a community and find redemption. The lyrics “You Wanna Be Tough, Better Do What You Can,” the word “tough” can be simultaneously interpreted with double meaning. First, it reflects the blue reality where African American, …show more content…
The song main theme of running away from the dark side lurking inside yourself resonates with social response about Eric’s death. The song is centered around the back beat, performed by drummer Andrew Tolman and the low, hollow voice of lead singer Dan Reynolds. The rhythm echoes the lyrics “I wanna shelter you,” which link to when some residents in Ida B. Wells guard their children indoors. Still, hiding away from the neighbors did not relieve the stress residents here struggled with. In contrast, Sewell shared that living in the shelter cost his family to live in the anxiety, not knowing whether something wrong would happen. This feeling is portrayed in the later lyrics, “There’s nowhere we can hide” and “It’s dark inside.” Additionally, with its element of improvisation, the song shows that the experience of fear is towards the whole community. Indeed, the background music in “Demons” is the noise of the fans. The song progresses faster along the beat and intensity of the noise, which is similar to the way African Americans adapt themselves to cope with brutal reality. This structure manifests how one voice may ignite a moment, and lead to the responses of his