When a Car is More Than Just a Car Essay Example for Free

When a Car is More Than Just a Car testifyThe first time I heard the song, Fast Car by Wyclef Jean, I really handled it because it was catchy. After listening to it a few to a greater extent times, I realized t here was a lot of crockeding to it. To me, the main goal of this song is to teach the young listeners a difficult lesson to be metrical before they do something that could potentially ruin their lives. Also, Jean is showing his listeners there is help forbidden there and tomorrow is non promised ein truthbody needs take prefer of their available resources so they do not harm themselves. Basically, Jean wants e rattlingone to be cargonful with the life that they currently bind rather than wasting time here on earth. Jean explains his story by using a type of music that go out deal to young people without making them feel like they are being sc aged(prenominal)ed. He also relates his versifys to famous people such as Kanye West, Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Sean Be ll, Left Eye Lopez, and an innocent 16 year old girl by using this type of song writing style, young people will listen to the song and learn from it rather than avoiding the topic. The first indite of the song is allduding to Kanye West having a major car accident.He was driving home from a recording studio in Los Angelos at three in the morning when he fell asleep at the wheel. He totaled his car and broke his jaw severely. After this accident, Kanye wrote a song called Jesus Walks. It was straggle of the album called Through the Wire, which Kanye West actually produced while he had wires holding his jaw together(Kanye West). The first meter of Wyclef Jeans song says I heard a man say Jesus walks, me myself I heard Jesus talk. This line shows how Jesus is real and how both West and Jean gull personally had encounters with Him. The next lines say, Cause when I heard his beat I felt Jesus force, I heard it Through The Wire that he make it out the coma, from a fast car. This line shows Wests devastating accident and the aftermath of it. Kanye was in a coma and nearly died because he failed to be responsible with his car. The purpose of verse one is to show the listeners that driving at late hours of the night or while tired is not safe. It is better to plosive somewhere rather than risking a life by driving a car. West was lucky to survive his accident not all situations welcome favourable outcomes however.West dealt with a lot of pain personally, while other peoples problems involve their enemies. The second verse of this song is about Tupac and Notorious B.I.G., who is also known as Biggie. Tupac and Biggie had a feud that went on for days before anything was foole about it. Biggie was a bad boy, and Tupac was an outlaw. This is explained in the song when Jean writes, Some of us are tough Boys, Some of us are outlaws. Biggie took the name Bad Boys when he and his producer decided to pair up to make music. Tupac was considered an outlaw because he did not necessarily have any place where he belonged. One day, during November of 1994, Biggie shot Tupac multiple times in the lobby of a recording studio in New York and stole a large amount of jewelry. Everyone suspected Biggie, just he denied it and never got the full blame for it (Huey).During the song, Jean says, Unsolved mystery, the killer gets away. It is very clear he is talking about the incident between Biggie and Tupac. Eventually, their dispute carries on into Vegas and LA, where Tupac is murdered in his SUV from a shot by a coterminous car. The song also explains this because Jean talks about the drama moving on to Vegas and LA and driving a fast car. This rivalry was out of control, oddly when Tupac was eventually murdered. Everyone thought the world would become a better place because people would learn from the situation. This was not the case, however, because the rivalries got bigger and America became more violent in the 20th century. Jean is once again trying t o show everyone the importance of our lives he does not want anyone to get into trouble so badly that their lives are ultimately end by the violence. The chorus speaks the loudest in terms of meaning of the song.The first half is, you dont got to be no billionaire, to get a ticket up to the moon. We all know somebody up there, you need a helping hand, look, Im right here. Basically, Jean means everybody goes to the moon, or heaven, one day. However, a person does not have to be rich to take a trip up there. We all know people who have passed away and gone to heaven it is never easy to say goodbye to people who leave Earth. He wants everyone to know that there is plenty of help on Earth. Jean does not want anybody to mess up their life to the take that it isnt worth it to fix it. This part of the song has the most symbolic meaning. Cars defend the journey of life from birth to death, just as they help you travel from one place to another. Jean uses the verses to show literal meani ngs of why we need to be careful with cars he uses the chorus to show the symbolic meaning associated with fast cars and why they have the ability to be so dangerous. Also, he prefers not to have any hardships to control his listeners lives either.The verse goes on to say, to help you see clearly now. Jean wants to be the helping hand for everybody. Why die, when you could fix your problems and live as a happy individual? The whole purpose of the song is to be smart and not let our cars or problems control us. The bridge of the song emphasizes the dangers of cars. A person might be drinking or not in the right mental state to drive, however if they pick up their friends to drive, most of them will probably get in the car. Paul Simon comes into the song at this point and says, When that fast car picks you up, you will have no choice. You may hear the tires screaming, but you will have no voice. But as the fast car picks you up, you will weep and smile. And see heaven in the headlight s, mile after, mile. This is a very good representation about what life is really like. People dont want to stand up to their friends because they will be the only one. However, making the choice to not speak up might cost a person their life.Even if it does not ultimately end their life, they will feel herb of grace as they see heaven in the headlights, mile after mile. People know they are making a mistake by getting in a car with people who have been drinking. Yet most people just go along with it in order to fit in. The danger with cars is they do not seem like artillery units and people are not very careful with them because they see them as a toy. They can be a weapon though because they can easily hit somebody and injure them or the people in the car. After this song, hopefully everybody begins to see the importance in rubber eraser and good decisions. Jean is not even close to done he keeps bringing in more examples so he can really get is message across. The third verse of this song references the Sean Bell shooting that occurred in November of 2006. Bell held his bachelor party at a Queens Strip ca avertet in New York City. He was drinking and then got into his Nissan Altima with two of his friends.He began to drive and he ran into a New York officer. The rest of the officers thought Bell was a danger so they began to shoot at his car. They killed Bell while injuring two of his friends. All together, they shot 51 times. The officers involved in the incident were indicted, charging the two who had discharged the bulk of the shots, Detective Michael Oliver and Detective Gescard F. Isnora, with first-degree manslaughter, and the third, Detective Marc Cooper, with reckless endangerment (Sean Bell). This is explained in the song when Wyclef Jean writes, what would you do after your bachelor party? In the bar celebrating with all your homies, and over fifty one shots but you aint ready to die. Jean shows how everybody has a bachelors party and makes bad decisions, but that does not mean he or she deserves to die, or wants to die. Bell made a bad decision by getting in his car when he was under the becharm of alcohol, however he did not think it would cause him his life.Jean is showing his listeners a lesson through Bells story. He is showing the importance of responsibility, especially when people are under the influence of alcohol. Nobody wants to die, especially right before their wedding. Jeans lesson is to be careful and mindful of our actions. The fourth verse of the song is about a member of the hip-hop band, TLC. Her name was Lisa left eye Lopez and she was on a spiritual trip to Honduras to get her life in order (TLCs Lisa Left Eye Lopes dies in wreck.). Jean explains this by saying, Everybody needs some TLC, so she headed to Honduras for some TLC (Tender Loving Care). Lopez died an innocent death. She was a rider in a van she died instantly, while the other seven passengers were uninjured. Jean states, Well she was a passenger, never a driver, in that fast car.At this point in the song, Jean turns to people who are trying to save their lives, yet they still suffer deaths. Lopez was on a journey trying to figure out her problems, but she was killed by a dangerous fast car. She was not ready for heaven, but she ended up taking her trip early. The fifth and final verse of the song is about an innocent 16 year old girl who just had her sweet sixteenth birthday party. She was crossing the street when she was hit by a car and died. The verse says, Sweet sixteen, I see her leaving the scene. Crossing the street, she wont see seventeen. The person that hit her was under the influence of alcohol. Just as Jean says, Blink of an eye, DWI. Hit and run, the assailant flees, in that fast car. This verse goes along with the chorus very well because the girl was innocent, not ready to die, and she probably was not going through anything difficult that caused her to want to end her life.Instead, she was the v ictim of a fast car and bad decisions that ultimately ended her life. This song is full of meaning and lessons that meant to be passed on to the reader. Jean is looking out for his listeners while he sings this song. My favorite part will always be, You dont got to be no billionaire, to get a ticket up to the moon. This line defines the song it is all about safety and using street smarts so we do not die prematurely. I like to be adventurous and live my life to the fullest, but safety always comes first. I would feel marvellous if I left my family behind by making a bad decision we have to think about our own safety, as well as the way life would change for our loved ones if we took our trip to the moon. This song made an impact on my life, and I hope it changes other peoples lives too.Works CitedHuey, Steve. The Notorious B.I.G. Bad Boys Forever. Bad Boys. 2002-2010. http//www.badboyforever.com/artists/the-notorious-big. 21 Feb 2011. Kanye West. Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune. n.d. http//www.chicagotribune.com/topic/entertainment/music/kanye-west-PECLB004230.topic. 21 Feb 2011. Sean Bell. NY Times Online. NY Times. 28 July 2010. http//topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/sean_bell/index.html 21 Feb 2011 TLCs Lisa Left Eye Lopes dies in wreck. CNN Entertainment. CNN. 26 April 2002. http//articles.cnn.com/2002-04-26/entertainment/obit.lopes_1_watkins-and-thomas-tionne-t-boz-watkins-rozonda-chilli-thomas?_s=PMSHOWBIZ. 21 Feb 2011.