Universal Themes

1
Universal Themes

• In Contemporary Music
• English 11
• Mrs. DiPaolo

2
Dust in the WindKerry Livgren Kansas

• Life is meaningless
• People are insignificant
• Nothing we do matters
• We all long for our lives to have meaning

3
Dust in the Wind

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Money
  cant buy time)
• Mezzo Cammin by Longfellow (Time passes
  quickly)
• Poetry of Stephen Crane (There is no meaning to
  life)
• Ecclesiastes

4
Dont Fear the ReaperBlue Oyster Cult

• Suicide is brave and glorious
• Suicide reunites you with your dead lover
• Nature welcomes death
• We all long to be with the ones we love forever
• Nature teaches us about our existence

5
Dont Fear the Reaper

• Annabelle Lee, and The Raven by Edgar Allan
  Poe (death can reunite us)
• Leaves of Grass by Whitman (idea of the natural
  life cycle)
• Ethan Frome-Edith Wharton (lovers try to commit
  suicide)
• Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
• Miss Jane by Ernest Gaines (Tee Bobs suicide)

6
Running on EmptyJackson Browne

• Life is full of frenzied, meaningless activity
• We seek meaning from our friends
• We all long for our lives to have meaning

7
Running on Empty

• Macbeth by Shakespeare (Life is meaningless our
  activity is senseless) It is a tale told by an
  idiot full of sound and fury, signifying
  nothing.
• The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald (loveless,
  meaningless lives
• Mezzo Cammin (time passes quickly)

8
There We AreJames Taylor

• We are alone in the universe
• The best you can do is find the perfect lover
• We all long to have deep, meaningful relationships

9
There We Are

• The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne (Romantic love
  is supreme)
• A Man Said to the Universe by Stephen Crane
  (There is no God)

10
The RiverBruce Springsteen

• We tend to become like our parents
• Our environment shapes us
• Bad choices limit our options
• Life kills our dreams
• We all seek meaningful
• destinies

11
The River

• Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (Life kills our
  dreams)
• The Great Gatsby (We become what we observe)
• The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne (Bad choices
  limit our options)
• The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams (Life
  kills our dreams)