Thoughts on Writing

Writing That Moves Me

I often find writing that moves me in songs. My love for music is partly because of the artistic way emotions are expressed. Songs are easy to remember and sing along. A song called “Nutshell” by Lane Staley from the band Alice in Chains gives me chills whenever I hear or read it. This song not only has a deep meaning behind the lyrics, but has a written format that I find interesting.

First of all, this song expresses very strong emotions of despair. You may be wondering why I would pick a sad song to appreciate, but there are many reasons. One of them is that the song talks about suffering life that surrounds us, but being yourself and fighting on is the only option because we can’t quit life. My favorite part of the song says, We chase misprinted lies. We chase the path of time. And yet I fight…” Everyone needs happy songs and sad songs because we aren’t one or the other all the time. “Nutshell” can relate to me because during a certain time in my past I was this depressed and felt this exact same way. Even though the lyrics are harsh they are honest at the same time. Imperfection is in our lives and sometimes it brings us down but we have to keep going and never give up. The lyrics are comforting to me because they let me know that someone else had felt the same way. The lyrics are somewhat haunting and sung slowly along with music that seems to embody the depressing feeling the words portray. I believe that this song was written so that the writer could pour out these feelings of sadness and at the same time put more encouraging phrases about fighting for life’s battles and being one’s self. Another reason is that others could relate and share the burden of hard times in life so that by reading or hearing this song it would provide comfort.

Although this song has an important meaning, the structure of this piece is also favorable to me. It coincides with the way it is sung out loud. This song contains a trope called situational irony. This is because the negative phrases that express hopelessness are followed by phrases that express strength. This was an unexpected turn that caught my attention in the lyrics that I noticed the first time I read them. Other structural details like the way it was put in order to read or sing gives this piece more emphasis on the meaning of the words. Parallelism of the words “yet I fight” in verse one may be used to show that the person wants to reiterate that he isn’t giving up despite the way he feels. My favorite part of the song is an example of antithesis. It reads, “If I can’t be my own, I’d feel better dead”. This is an extreme statement that being true to himself is very important to the writer.  Repetitive schemes are also present in this piece. The writer uses alliteration throughout both verses which creates a rhyming feel to the piece. This makes it flow and is appealing to people listening or reading. This song also contains tautology because the first two lines of the second verse have the same meaning but are worded differently. Repetitive technique in this song makes it stronger and more passionate in the point that it’s trying to get across. The writer of the “Nutshell” lyrics uses literary techniques to express emotion and to evoke a reaction from his audience.

In conclusion, this song has meaning to me because of life experiences and it appeals to my taste in style concerning writing. It is a song about the lead singer of Alice in Chains who was addicted to heroin and the media made it big news. “Nutshell” was produced by the feelings he experienced during this time. The title was probably used as a metaphor of being trapped. Everyone has their own low part in life. I want others to read this song and feel the same intensity so that maybe it can make them feel the way I did which is the feeling of being strong through hard times and that others know despair too so there is no need to feel alone. The writer of this song did a great job with putting his own feelings on paper. That is why I can relate and compare my own feelings with his. This to me is an example of good, powerful writing when the writer can make me take all the negative emotions and turn them into something positive.