Title: Poem : Song
1Poem Song Comparison
If Vs Somewhere in the Between
2Thesis
- While quite different in lifetime and lifestyle,
Tomas Kalnoky of Streetlight Manifesto and
Rudyard Kipling both wish their audience to see
the beauty in life and to overcome whatever
obstacles that are presented to them in their
life.
3Rudyard Kipling
- Kipling was born in Bombay, India in 1865. His
most famous works are The Jungle Book and Kim
among many other poems and short stories. He also
was the first English language author to receive
the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kipling said that
his youth in India greatly affected his writing,
as did his early adulthood in England.
4Tomas Kalnoky
- Tomas was born in 1980 and his family moved to
the US from the Czech Republic when he was five.
He also spent some time living in Greece, but
left because he did not wish to serve in the
military. Tomas has been the frontman for a
number of bands. He left the band Catch 22 to
attend the Savannah College of Art and Design,
and afterward formed the band Streetlight
Manifesto.
5If Rudyard Kipling
- If you can keep your head when all about you
- Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
- If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
- But make allowance for their doubting too,
- If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
- Or being lied about, dont deal in lies,
- Or being hated, dont give way to hating,
- And yet dont look too good, nor talk too wise
- If you can dreamand not make dreams your master,
- If you can thinkand not make thoughts your aim
- If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
- And treat those two impostors just the same
- If you can bear to hear the truth youve spoken
- Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
- Or watch the things you gave your life to,
broken, - And stoop and build em up with worn-out tools
If you can make one heap of all your winningsAnd
risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And
lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd
never breath a word about your lossIf you can
force your heart and nerve and sinewTo serve
your turn long after they are gone,And so hold
on when there is nothing in youExcept the Will
which says to them Hold on! If you can talk
with crowds and keep your virtue,Or walk with
kingsnor lose the common touch,If neither foes
nor loving friends can hurt youIf all men count
with you, but none too much,If you can fill the
unforgiving minuteWith sixty seconds worth of
distance run,Yours is the Earth and everything
thats in it,Andwhich is moreyoull be a Man,
my son!
6Somewhere in the Between Streetlight Manifesto
- You were gone when we found you
- You were practically surrounded, you were trapped
- But the opposition stalled, their blood ran cold
- When they saw the look of love in your eyes
- Maybe the times we had, they weren't that bad
- And everything else was part of the plan
- We sang (I don't know where we go from here")
- This is the alpha, omega, beginning and the end
- And we all just idolize the dead
- So you were born (So you were born), and that was
a good day - Someday you'll die (Someday you'll die), and that
is a shame - But somewhere in the between was a life of which
we all dream - And nothing and no one will ever take that away
- You had a love and that love had you
- And nothing mattered, you were fine
- And some will complain, they're just bitter, what
a shame - They know that loving and losing is better than
nothing at all - Maybe the times we had, they weren't that bad
Yeah, the times we had, they were not that
badAnd everything else, that was part of the
planAnd we sang, "I don't know where we go from
here"This is the Alpha (Alpha!), Omega (Omega!),
beginning and the end!And we all just idolize
the deadSo you were born (So you were born), and
that was a good daySomeday you'll die (Someday
you'll die), and that is a shameBut somewhere in
the between was a life of which we all dreamAnd
nothing and no one will ever take that awayAnd
someday soon my friends, this ride will come to
an endBut we can't just get in line again.
Song
7- Tomas Kalnoky and Rudyard Kipling write with very
different writing styles, but the motif of these
two works is very similar. Tomas experience with
leaving Greece to avoid the unwanted time in the
military is exemplary of the theme of his song.
The words But somewhere in the between was a
life of which we all dream, And nothing and no
one will ever take that away, tell the listener
to live their life however they want, and to
follow dreams with the time they have. Kiplings
If, uses very different examples to spur the
reader to accept life, but certainly does project
the same message. Kalnokys fervent belief in a
carpe diem mentality has led Streetlight Manifest
to being one of the most highly acclaimed ska
bands of their time. Kipling himself does not
specifically profess a mentality like Kalnoky,
but If shows that Kipling at least wished
others would be able to live to achieve their
dreams, regardless of obstacles in their way.
Neither Kiping nor Kalnoky use many literary
devices in their lyrics, but the grasp of simple
language is quite persuasive. However, because
Kiplings poem is written as advice, it is the
easier work to understand and more people can
relate to it.