Song Analysis: President

Artist: Wyclef Jean Album: Welcome to Haiti/Creole 101 Title: President

Wyclef Jean, a hip-hop singer, formerly with The Fugees, is a Haitian-American. He is named after John Wycliffe, a 14^th century English theologian who tried to reform Catholicism. The song “President” came out in 2004, around the time of the U.S. Presidential election that pitted John Kerry against George W. Bush.

Yea, election time is coming
Who you gonna vote for? Yea…

[Wyclef puts a critical question in layman’s terms – “Who you gonna vote for? The common man isn’t asking who has the best energy policy or who has the superior ten-point plan for education. He’s simply asking around, “Who you gonna vote for?”

[Chorus]
If I was president, I’d get elected on Friday
Assassinated on Saturday
Buried on Sunday
They go back to work on Monday
If I was president (If I was president)
If I was president (If I was president)
If I was president (If I was president) yea…

[Wyclef is hypothesizing about what would happen if a black man like him were elected president. This question is even more relevant today than it was four years ago, as we are now facing the very real possibility of a black president. He doesn’t say that America would never elect a black president. But he says that he would be elected one day and killed the next. It is a cynical view, but when one considers the history of racism in the U.S. and the short-lived presidency of John F. Kennedy, the nation’s first Catholic president, it doesn’t seem that implausible. He knows that we are a fickle country. And we are also a country where disagreements often end in violence. I love the line, “They go back to work on Monday.” It is a reminder that as Coolidge said, “The business of America is business.” Nothing stops the corporate machine, not even the death of a president.]

[Verse One]
Instead of spending, billions on the war
I can use that money, so I can feed the poor
Cuz I know some so poor, when it rains that’s when they shower
Screaming “Fight the power”
That’s when the vulture devour

[He is talking about the war in Iraq, a costly endeavor which is draining the monetary and human resources of this country. How can we spend so much on a useless war when people in our country are homeless and hungry? Can you imagine being so poor that your only chance to shower was standing in the rain? I think here vulture refers to people who prey on the poor like thieves and bad cops.]

[Chorus]

[Verse Two]
I know some soldiers, that sleep but they can’t dream
Wake up with screams, sounds of M16’s
So take this Medal of Honor, for you bravery
I wish you the best care, for you and your family

[Many soldiers are returning from Iraq and the forgotten war in Afghanistan with a host of physical and mental problems. What good is a shiny medal when your mind is not intact?]

[Chorus]

[Verse Three]
But the radio won’t play this, they call it rebel music
How can you refuse it? Children of Moses
Tell the children the truth, the truth
It’s not all that bling that’s diamonds
Tell them the truth, the truth
Most of y’all wear cubic zirconium

Tell them the truth, the truth, YEAH!
Your soul is worth more than diamonds

[Wyclef predicted that this single would not be popular on commercial radio. He was right. When is the last time you heard an overtly political song on the radio? (John Mayer’s milquetoast “Waiting on the World to Change” doesn’t count.) When he calls on the “Children of Moses” he is referring to Jews, specifically the powerful Jewish figures in the music industry. Cubic zirconia are cheap diamond substitutes formed from zircon, Zr, rather than carbon.]

If I was president
All blacks would have reparation no segregation
Feed the nation so there’s no famine
Muslims, Jews, Christians, would all hold hands
Every week on the beach, party by the sand
Word up, take trips on Air Force One
Only to bring the homeless with no sneaks the Air Force Ones
Better schools in the hoods, better teachers in the classes
Making money paying no taxes
Find the best scientists, tell them come up with the answer
I want the cure for AIDS and cancer
But I gotta watch my back
The sniper’s on the hill, with the still
Waiting to JF kill

[Reparations are payments given to an injured party to compensate them for damages. Many people have suggested that either the U.S. government or American corporations ought to pay African-Americans reparations for slavery. Air Force One has two meanings. One meaning is the private plane reserved for the U.S. president. The other is a popular sneaker manufactured by Nike. I do like the idea here of teachers not having to pay taxes. J. But a president who promoted policies such as this would earn a lot of flak and could even be a target for assassination, i.e. “JF kill.”]

[Chorus]

I feel the rain coming
Let me play my guitar for them right now, let’s go
Refugees
YEAH!

[Wyclef often uses the term “refugee” to refer to himself and other blacks. As mentioned before, he was once part of a group known as “The Fugees.”]

Nitrogen Cycle Poem

The Nitrogen Cycle

It starts with a bolt of lightnin’

And it’s a cycle that involves nitrogen

And then it resumes

In the roots of legumes

Bacteria fix N2 in the soil

And fungi that live on food spoiled

Then out comes new NH4

That’s ammonium if you keep score.

In come two types of bugs

So cool we should give them all hugs

First they make compounds called nitrites

Every day and all the nights

Then they make things called nitrates

In every one of the fifty states.

Then what do they do?

Why they go and make N2

That’s the last thing I must explain

Then the cycle begins again.

Viva La Vida

Viva La Vida
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
[If I wrote this song, I would probably give it the title “When I Ruled the World” because that reflects the gist of the song and it is a line repeated throughout the song. “Viva La Vida” is Spanish for “Live the Life.” The speaker describes having tremendous power. He says that he could control the oceans. It seems to me an allusion to Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) who parted the Red Sea. Incidentally, the lead singer of Coldplay, Chris Martin, named his son Moses. This is like a rags-to-riches story in reverse. The character went from a position of power to a lowly job as a streetsweeper.]

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy’s eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
“Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!”
[The character recalls having the power to make his enemies suffer. It seems like he led a revolt against a monarch. There is irony in the last line of the stanza. The people see that their king has just died but express hope that the next king will fare better. Yet as Dr. Phil says, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. If the last king died in a revolt, what reason does the next king have to hope for a long life?]

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

[Looking back, the speaker feels that it all happened so fast. It was if one minute, he held the keys of power and the next he was in a kind of prison of poverty. The idea of castles standing on pillars of sand highlights the transitory nature of power. Just as a building on a weak foundation quickly sinks, a person with power can quickly fall into poverty. The pillars of salt may be a reference to the story of Prophet Lot, peace be upon him, whose wife turned into a pillar of salt in the Bible. I believe her transformation was a punishment for lacking faith. Maybe he is saying that when people lose power, it is a punishment for their lack of faith.]

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my Mirror my Sword and Shield
My Missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
Once you go there was never
Never an honest word
That was when I Ruled the World

[This stanza is more cryptic than the previous ones. Jerusalem is, of course, the primary city of the Holy Land. Some of the most sacred churches in the world are in Jerusalem. I don’t know how to interpret “Roman Cavalry choirs.” When I hear the song, it sounds to me like “Roman Catholic choirs” which makes more sense as there are choirs in the Catholic Church. From my knowledge of Roman history I do not recall the Roman Cavalry having choirs. Why would soldiers mounted on horses need choirs? The line, “Be my Mirror, my Sword and Shield,” suggests to me two possible interpretations. One would be that it is a request to the woman he loves to be a mirror to him, like his other half. The second would be that it is a prayer asking God to be his Sword, to ask God to defend him and protect him.]

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn’t believe what I’d become

[The wind here may represent change or time. Time is like a current carrying people along.]
Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?

[He is describing losing his power and sinking into obscurity. Just as he replaced the previous king, he becomes replaced by another ruler.]

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my Mirror my Sword and Shield
My Missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won’t call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

[In Christian theology, St. Peter is the gatekeeper of heaven. The speaker seems to regret his life and worries he will face retribution in the afterlife.]

Ohhh
Ohhh
Ohhh
Ohhh

Hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my Mirror my Sword and Shield
My Missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won’t call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

[Song by Coldplay - The group comprises vocalist/pianist/guitarist Chris Martin, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Will Champion. Lyrics courtesy of lyrics.astraweb.com, a fantastic free site for contemporary lyrics.]

Answer to Previous Post

The reason why Diet Coke floats while Classic Coke sinks is because it contains aspartame, a less dense sugar than high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the sugar in Classic Coke. Aspartame is also much sweeter than HFCS so it takes a much smaller mass to get the same level of sweetness.

For more details, check out http://whyfiles.org/071questions/5.html.

Why Does It Float?

Consider the following simple experiment. Get a can of Diet Coke and a can of Classic Coke. Diet 7Up and & 7Up will work as well. Fill a large pot or basin with water. Place both cans in the water. Something interesting happens. Diet Coke floats while Classic Coke sinks. There is a simple explanation for why this happens. Why does Diet Coke float?

(Image courtesy of University of Wisconsin, 2008)

Dancing in the Dark

 

This song was written by Bruce Springsteen in 1984. 

It’s a great song that I’ve heard many times but never gotten sick of.  I was surprised to hear it tonight on “A Capitol Fourth,” the celebration of Independence Day from Washington D.C. Taylor Hicks performed it but he did it in such an upbeat manner that I think he doesn’t truly understand the song. Also, it seemed very out of place to me in “A Capitol Fourth” alongside such patriotic classics as “This Land is My Land,” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The song first appeared on Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” album whose title does sound patriotic until you realize that the song “Born in the U.S.A.” is really about a lost man who has nowhere to run. But that’s another song for another time.
 
I get up in the evening
And I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man I´m just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby I could use just a little help
[It sounds like the character works third shift in a factory. It’s a dead-end job 
that wears him out. He’s frustrated and has no one to listen to him.]
 
-Chorus-
You can't start a fire

You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
[When a relationship starts, people speak of “sparks flying.” I think that’s what he’s talking about. He wants someone new in his life. He sees himself as a tough guy. The phrase “hired gun” is synonymous with mercenary, a man who fights for anyone with the cash to pay him. As for “dancing in the dark,” I go back and forth about the meaning of this. I’m inclined to say he’s talking about sex. But the word “just” makes that seem wrong because people rarely say, “we’re just having sex.” It’s quite possible that he’s literally talking about two people moving to the music in a shadowy room.]
 
Message keeps getting clearer
Radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place
I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man I ain't getting nowhere just living
In a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere
Baby I just know that there is
[He’s expressing dissatisfaction with his life. He focuses on the superficial – his clothes, his hair, and his face. But his problems are not just skin deep. He realizes that he’s not achieving anything – he’s “getting nowhere.” The line, “There’s something happening somewhere,” recalls to me a classic American quote by H.L. Mencken, "Puritanism - the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” He knows that a better life than the one he is living is possible but he doesn’t know how to make it happen.]
-Chorus-
 
You sit around getting older
There's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulder
Come on baby the laugh's on me
[These lines are pretty self-explanatory. He’s getting older and he feels like his life is a joke.]
 
Stay on the streets of this town
And they'll be carving you up all right
They say you gotta stay hungry
Hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
I'm dying for some action
I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write
This book
I need a love reaction
Come on now baby gimme just one look
[Clearly the speaker lives in a rough neighborhood as those on the streets are being assaulted. The part on staying hungry suggests to me self-help gurus who say that to succeed, you must have ambition and desire. I’ve read that some people think this song is about someone struggling to write a hit tune. If that is true, I wonder why the lyrics say “write / This book” and not “write / This song.” But how often do working-class men in rough neighborhood write novels? The character seems more like the type that would write a song rather than a book. But nowadays just about anyone can write a book – no offense to any struggling writers out there.]
 
 
You can't start a fire sitting 'round crying
Over a broken heart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire worrying about
Your little world falling apart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark

Even if we’re just dancing in the dark…

[The new bit here is where he says, “You can’t start a fire worrying about/ Your little world falling apart.” I think he’s talking about how love has the potential to turn your whole life upside-down. He’s saying that you can’t start a relationship if you’re afraid of changing the world around you. The song is about being stuck in a rut, feeling hopeless, and looking to love as the answer.]

P.S. I had a terrible time trying to get the format right on this post and I’m still not happy wth it. If anyone knows how to fix it so it’s easy to read, please help me.

Answer to Theological Puzzle

A while back I posted the following puzzle: Who has said that there is no God but Allah and that Prophet Muhammad is His Messenger but is not nor has ever been a Muslim?

The answer is Allah. In the Quran, Allah says, “GOD – there is no deity save Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent Fount of All Being.” (2:255, Ayatul Kursi, The Sign of the Throne) So that takes care of the first part, saying that there is no God but Allah.

Then in Surah Ya-Seen, Allah says, “Verily, thou art indeed one of God�s message-bearers, ” speaking  to Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him (36:3).

But what about the claim that Allah is not Muslim?  Of course Allah attests to the truth of Islam, however one cannot call HIm Muslim.  If  He were Muslim,  He would have to  pray. But  to whom would He pray? To Himself? Also, what sense would there be in fasting for a being that needs no food?

Therefore, Allah is the only one to say the Kalima without being a Muslim.