Album Art

Here is my album art. The thinking behind it is that the disorganized style and different colors give an idea of the chaos that was happening in Animal Farm and 1984. The style is that of graffitti, which makes one think it might be something found in a back alley or the inside wall of a rogue prole dwelling, just before they got caught by the thought police.

Big Question Thoughts

As I was reading 1984 and thinking about my big question "How does being under a totalitarian regime affect the actions and thoughts of the constituents", I have seen that fear is the biggest motivator for many of the decisions that Winston and Julia make. They have to hide their subversive actions from the government and anything they do that could be construed as anti-establishment must be done is the dark or in one of the few places in the world where there is no telescreen, such as the clearing where they first got a chance to talk alone. Even the room which they thought was safe turned out to be monitored and owned by the Thought Police. This just goes to show that in such a regime, you should always be afraid of even the most unsuspecting people and places. You never know when they might be watching.

Final Song

#5) 1984 - David Bowie
http://grooveshark.com/s/1984/2W3Lo2?src=5


"Someday they won't let you, so now you must agree 
The times they are a-telling, and the changing isn't free 
You've read it in the tea leaves, and the tracks are on TV 
Beware the savage jaw 
Of 1984 

They'll split your pretty cranium, and fill it full of air 
And tell that you're eighty, but brother, you won't care 
You'll be shooting up on anything, tomorrow's never there 
Beware the savage jaw 
Of 1984 

Come see, come see, remember me? 
We played out an all night movie role 
You said it would last, but I guess we enrolled 
In 1984 (who could ask for more) 
1984 (who could ask for mor-or-or-or-ore) 
(Mor-or-or-or-ore) 

I'm looking for a vehicle, I'm looking for a ride 
I'm looking for a party, I'm looking for a side 
I'm looking for the treason that I knew in '65 
Beware the savage jaw 
Of 1984

Come see, come see, remember me? 
We played out an all night movie role 
You said it would last, but I guess we enrolled 
In 1984 (who could ask for more) 
1984 (who could ask for mor-or-or-or-ore) 
(Mor-or-or-or-ore)

1984 1984 1984 (more) 
1984 1984 (more) 
1984"

This song may seem like a cop-out, since it's based directly on the book, but I think that's part of the beauty of it. This song talks of Big Brother and how he is controlling all the people by "splitting your pretty cranium" which is an interesting way to talk about brainwashing, and "filling it full of air", or useless information about how Big Brother thinks things should be.

4th song, I choose you.

A wild fourth song appears!
It uses lyric.
It is very effective.


4) Free Somehow - Widespread Panic
http://grooveshark.com/s/Free+Somehow/3EZ6Lf?src=5


"I wanna be free right now
Voices inside my head
I know I'll be free somehow
Quietest voices said

Oh staying awake a while
Old movies in black and bliss
Lost and still found somehow
In a place like this a place just like this

Little windows of fantasy
Her eyes telling what she sees
Stepping back from this world for now
I think that I'll be coming 'round
I think I should be coming 'round

Wanna be free somehow
See the forest for the grass
Wonder through it all
Through the looking glass

A smile appears in the tree branch there
Take the hatter's words in jest
Don't wake her up she could be dreaming you
Just taking a little rest a couple of moments rest

Kids remembering just to be make it up as they go
Oh stepping back from the mirrors and smoke
And I think that I'll be coming 'round
Think I might be coming 'round
I guess that I'll be coming 'round

I wanna be free somehow
Voices inside my head
Oh I got to be free right now
The quietest voices said

Settle in for a while
Some things we'll never miss
We're lost and still found somehow
What are you doing in a place like this?
Nice girl in a place like this


Like she's watching a comedy
She's laughing in her sleep
Drifting out of my body now
Don't think I'll be coming down
I don't think I'll be coming down
Don't think I'll be coming down"


This song relates to 1984. When I hear this, it makes me think of Winston's times with Julia when they go to the little clearing in the wood to be alone and get out of the city. Even though it's just one time, it's a huge act of rebellion, and it really opens Winston's eyes to what life could be like.

Guess what?

I found another song for my playlist!

3) "Another Brick in the Wall" - Pink Floyd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqCHNuPWeKE

"We don't need no education 
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teacher leave them kids alone
Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall
All in all you're just another brick in the wall

We don't need no education 
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teacher leave us kids alone
Hey! Teacher! Leave us kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall
All in all you're just another brick in the wall"


This song, especially the line "We don't need no thought control" makes me think of 1984. Particularly because our protagonist, Winston, feels that he hates being watched all the time and buttonholed into exactly what the government wants him to do, so he feels the need to rebel in at least small ways, so he doesn't get majorly punished.


In other news, I finished Part I last night, and seriously didn't want to stop reading it.

Songs

For this project we are required to come up with a "soundtrack" for the books. I have only two songs so far, but I will soon have more.

1) "Portrait (He Knew)" - Kansas
http://grooveshark.com/s/Portrait+He+Knew/3Sa2se?src=5

"He had a thousand ideas
You might have heard his name
He lived alone with his vision
Not looking for fortune and fame

Never said too much to speak of
He was off on another plain
The words that he said were a mystery
Nobody's sure he was sane

But he knew
Knew more than me or you
No one could see his view
Where was he going to?

He was in search of an answer
The nature of what we are
He was trying to do it a new way
He was bright as a star

But nobody understood him
His numbers are not the way
He's lost in the deepest enigma
That no one's unraveled today

But he knew
He knew more than me or you
No one could see his view
Oh, where was he going to?
And he tried
But before he could tell us he died
When he left us the people cried
Where was he going to? Oh....

He had a different idea
A glimpse of the master plan
He could see into the future
A true visionary man

But there's something he never told us
It died when he went away
If only he could have been with us
No telling what he might say

But he knew
He knew more than me or you
No one could see his view
Where was he going to?
But he knew
You could tell by the picture he drew
It was totally something new
Oh, where was he going to?"

This song relates to Old Benjamin, the donkey. The song is talking about a person who knows more than everybody else about life, but either does not know how to communicate the ideas or refuses to tell anybody else what he is thinking. This sounds like Old Benjamin to me, because he understands what is happening to the farm better than any other animal, but he refuses to say anything except "Donkeys live a long time".

2) "Hot Zoo" - Adrian Belew
http://grooveshark.com/s/Hot+Zoo/2IuBBL?src=5

"Pay here chimpanzee
Don't park under the aviary
Walk through heatwave afternoon fast food, hot zoo

Do the shuffle to the buffalo
See the mad monkey by the lonely pay phone
Let's go fishin' in the air conditioned dark
Man, look at the bite on that great big bark

Waste here, souvenir land
Don't feed, nobody your hand
Rest room photograph pachyderm cat house, hot zoo

Three sleepy zebra in their living room suits
Joke with a crazy cockatoo
Big giraffe in their injured party hats say
"Are you gonna watch our customary nap?"

Eat here, a dinosaur egg
Don't touch, the tarantula legs
March like army ants itchin' for a PX, hot zoo

I dig iguana in their outer space duds
Sayin', "Aren't you glad we only eat bugs?"
Closing time, quick! close those gates
Capture a few of these human apes

Exit here, kangaroo
Don't forget to come back soon"

This song is talking about a zoo that exhibits humans, and I think that it is reminiscent of the early years of Animal Farm, when it was a paradise for the animals and the humans were merely a joke if they communicated with them at all.

Big Question

How does being under a totalitarian regime affect the actions and thoughts of the constituents?

The above question will be my "big question", or guiding thought, for the study of the George Orwell books Animal Farm and 1984. I have just finished reading Animal Farm and started on 1984, so expect a post about Animal Farm soon.

In the meantime, here's an animal.