Joy, Sadness, Anger, Family, and Sexuality (in that order)

Music and Emotions go hand in hand. I feel you as though you cannot have one without the other.   When a performer really taps into what he really  feels, that is when true pieces of art come out. This is when a listener can relate and learn. The music that people listen to can really be great insight into what that person feels on a regular basis.

"Anonanimal" by Andrew Bird

                                          

"Anonanimal" was the first song I ever heard by Andrew Bird. It's actually a great memory for me. About two years ago I was really interested in longboarding videos, so I started watching this documentary of sorts on YouTube. I got to about the third video when the camera was following this man riding down a curvy road (about 4:17 in the video,) and I couldn't help but feel like that would be the coolest feeling, just gliding through the air. That's the feeling that pure joy is to me. It's something unquestionable and much more heightened than happiness, and it's something you will remember the rest of your life.

"Fred Jones Pt. 2" by Ben Folds

I know, I know. Another Ben Folds song. But this song brings out some of the saddest feelings for me. This song basically says how impersonal this world is and it gives you a picture of what the end of the "American Dream" looks like. It gives me a sick feeling knowing that I could invest everything I have into something that I have passion for, and in the end just be spit out like I had done nothing. Being a Business major this song speaks to me way too clearly. It says we are merely cogs in a machine and as soon as we wither or lose our old status, we are removed and replaced by someone or something newer and better, and only have our bitter memories to hold onto. 

"Mutherfuker" by Beck

"Mutherfuker" is a direct icon to hate and anger to me. The reason why I put this video on instead of just the audio with a picture is because when it gets to the chorus, the road that the little futuristic car is driving on turns blood red. That's what I see when I hear this song. The person that angers me the most and I have the most hate for in the world comes to mind and I wouldn't mind bashing their face in. 

"Hey Mama" by Kanye West

                                       

This is a love song written from Kanye West to his diseased mother. Kanye's mother and father divorced and Kanye spent most of his childhood with his mother, who raised him all the way into the man he is today. In a way this is kind of a song from all sons to their mothers. I love my mother, and her as a foundation lets me know that my family is strong. In my opinion, mothers are the catalyst to start a successful family.

"I Want To Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles

The Beatles were always famous for their very thought provoking lyrics and "I Want To Hold Your Hand" is no exception. There are several different ways to decode what this song really means, but I perceived it as a glimpse through the eyes of a lesbian woman in the 1960's. Now I know that sounds weird but back in the sixties it was highly frowned upon to be a homosexual, people had a high chance of being murdered if they were to openly act upon their own feelings, reasoning for the term "Don't Ask Don't Tell." "Oh please say to me you'll let me be your man," is a great expression of what I feel like a lesbian woman would feel in the sixties, since society has warped her mind so much, even she wants to be a man, just because she wants to be able to hold her loves hand in public.

Foundations and Locations

Hello there! My name is Jonathon Tyler Cox. I was born in Indianapolis, IN, but was raised in the small suburbia of Zionsville, IN. A lot of my identity has been shaped by the confounds of my hometown. I've had the same friends since I was just a toddler, and I've lived all 18 years of my life there.

                                                            Animal Collective- Brother Sport

Animal Collective is one of my favorite bands and this song is off of their album Merriweather Post Pavilion. This song says who I am in a way that isn't very obvious through lyrics or melodies. Something about this song grew on me the second I set ears on it. It gives a fairly complex vibe and is very conflicted throughout various parts in the song, which is symbolic of my life in very significant ways. Beautiful in some aspects, while sharp and dissonant in others.


                                                       Ben Folds- "Rockin' the Suburbs"

A song that comes to mind when I think of my sheltered lifestyle and being ruled by mundane tasks is Ben Fold's "Rockin' the Suburbs" off of his album Rockin' the Suburbs. Where the name sounds a bit too obvious of a pick for a white kid from the the depth's of the suburbs. But what's so awesome and what makes me feel so connected to this song is all the sarcastic knocks on society and the criticism Ben provides on the  common reaction to problems that being "middle class and white" creates. Growing up I grew up in a family with a father that would commonly use the term "suck it up." So hearing a song like this is a great refresher of the perception my father and I both share. "Y'all don't know what it's like being male, middle class, and white" is by far Ben Folds most hilarious and sarcastic attempt at being a whiny brat from suburbia and that's something I grew up dealing with in my time in Zionsville and it's just a great refresher having such a great song that embodies the exact feelings I have on the town I grew up in.

                                                                                                 
                                                   John Chibadura- Zuva Refuka Kwangu

This is the only song I know by John Chibadura and it's one of my personal favorites. I don't understand any parts of the song besides the chorus. It translates into what John Chibadura would do on his dying day. It is a fairly cheerful song so I would like to think that this song is also a symbol of having no regrets at the end of your life. That's how I would like to live my life; no regrets.

Dirty Projectors - "Rise Above"

This song is so raw and doesn't really care about anything but getting it's message out. It is very rough and at sometimes tough to listen to but for some reason it really speaks to me about my own personal values. It doesn't directly talk about specific values to hold, but the repeated line "rise above" is the message emphasizing either the resistance of being oppressed, or for me the message is to rise above the things challenging my already existing values.

And that's just a fraction of the music that has been important in my life.