The two songs I will be talking about today are extra interesting because one served as inspiration for the other. “Day N Nite” by Kid Cudi is one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite artists. “My Mind Playin Tricks on Me” by the Geto Boys is just a random song from 1991 that I found and started listening to. After finding out that “My Mind Playin Tricks on Me” served as inspiration for Cudi’s “Day N Nite”, I listened to them both back and forth a bunch of times to hear the similarities. They’re both really great songs and I can definitely see Cudi’s style in the Geto Boys’ song.

Kid Cudi wrote “Day N Nite” about his uncle’s passing. They were fighting at the time of his passing which Cudi says he hasn’t forgiven himself for. The song definitely shows that pain he was feeling. In addition to that, he then said this about the song:

“A lot of people don’t know this but Geto Boys’ ‘My Mind Playing Tricks On Me’ is the song that inspired ‘Day ‘N’ Nite.’ ‘My Mind Playing Tricks On Me’ is my favorite song in the world. I love it so much I wanted to make my own version of it. And then ‘Day ‘N’ Nite’  came out of it.”

So much like ‘My Mind Playing Tricks On Me’, ‘Day N Nite’ shows the singer’s psychological struggles. The full name ‘Day N Nite (Nightmare)’ comes from the fact that the album Man on the Moon has a motif of dreaming. So Cudi’s mind in this song is a nightmare that he needs relief from, which he also talks about, much like the Mac Miller songs in my last post. It could also be considered a metaphor for how others perceive you compared to what you feel inside. The lyrics that represent this are:

“Day and night (what, what)
I toss and turn, I keep stressing my mind, mind (what, what)
I look for peace but see I don’t attain (what, what)
What I need for keeps this silly game we play, play…

…’Cause day and night(day and night)
The lonely stoner seems to free his mind at night (night)
He’s all alone through the day and night (day and night)”

Similarly, the Geto Boys’ song talks about mental struggles and the trials of life on the street. The title of this song comes from Scarface’s grandmother, who when asked what she was mumbling to herself, said, “Nothing, my mind’s just playing tricks on me.” The song has been sampled by several other artists including the Notorious B.I.G and Ice Cube. An example of lyrics that show the mental struggles faced by the artists:

“At night I can’t sleep, I toss and turn
Candle sticks in the dark, visions of bodies being burned
Four walls just staring at a…

I’m paranoid, sleeping with my finger on the trigger
My mother’s always stressing I ain’t living right”

You can see the parallels between the two songs with the use of the words “I toss and turn”. Overall, they’re both really cool songs even if you don’t read into the meaning, but I think it makes it super interesting to know where they came from.

Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘n’ Nite” was Inspired by Geto Boys’ “Mind Playing Tricks on Me”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_Playing_Tricks_on_Me

I would consider the most formative experience of my life so far to be going to an extremely conservative and religious school from preschool to seventh grade. The key factor to understand here is that my family was not religious or conservative in the slightest. We lived in a small town and rather than send me to a public school 25 minutes away for preschool, my parents chose to send me to this Christian school and it stuck for a few years. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but looking back, I can see a lot of who I am rooted in the lessons I learned from this school, for better and for worse.

I believe that one’s religious education will affect them for the rest of their life.

I believe this because, although I have always known anxiety, one of my earliest memories is being taught that it was my responsibility to get my loved ones to know Jesus and to keep them from spending eternity in hell. I can remember sitting in the pews of the little church every Wednesday, year after year, shoulder to shoulder with classmates who all seemed to be used to hearing this news. I remember  intense, graphic descriptions of burning alive, the video playing on my classroom projector showing a person shooting himself and proclaiming that mental illness was a sin that would lead you to hell, and the overarching message: You must save them. You must lead them to Jesus. I remember fighting back tears as I thought of my mother, my favorite person in the world, my best friend, and most importantly, a woman of no religious affiliation. I will never forget the anxiety I felt as I sat in bed each night clutching my illustrated preschool Bible, waiting for my parents to come in and say goodnight, worrying and wondering about what I could say that night to keep them from this awful fate. I will never forget the pressure I felt weighing down on my little seven year old shoulders.

I believe this because I did not understand what was so different about my education. I was too young to articulate how I felt, or to understand that it was wrong that it was making me feel that way. I was too young to comprehend the wrongness of the anxiety I felt before every music class concert, hoping that each song would be the one that would save my family. It wasn’t all bad- I had teachers and friends that I loved and that overshadowed the fear enough for me to not talk to my parents about it. Looking back, I see that it was weird. I didn’t learn about evolution until I switched schools in 8th grade. My aging Bible Studies teacher gave out his phone number to middle schoolers. Once a week in chapel I was taught that mental illnesses and homosexuality were sins, that a woman’s place was to serve her husband, and more.

I believe this because the thought of religion now turns my stomach, and because I feel guilty for the drama of that statement. When I daydream about marrying my boyfriend, the thought of getting married in a church seems incredibly wrong. When the topic of religion or prayer comes up with my friends, I itch to leave the room. I feel uncomfortable when someone tells me they are praying for me, even if I know it’s out of love. And when I picture myself back in that tiny church, in that tiny town, my palms start to sweat.

I don’t have anything against religious people. In fact, I am happy to know that it makes them happy. Many of my close friends are religious and I feel glad that they don’t have to feel the way I do about it. The way that a child is taught religion will affect them for the rest of their lives. Maybe they will find comfort in it during troubling times, or maybe they will turn and run the other way. Every experience in my life has together made me the person I am today, but I feel that I wouldn’t be the same me if I had gone to a different school for those formative years of my life. I feel like a completely different person than that young girl from my past, but occasionally I catch glimpses of her in me and can’t help but feel that the root of my anxiety and distaste for religion lies in that school.

I believe that one’s religious education will affect them for the rest of their life.

The price, quality, and accessibility of healthcare unfortunately differs greatly between groups and is reflective of other, more broad inequalities as well. This can include people of certain racial or ethnic groups, religions, socioeconomic status, etc., and with certain mental health conditions, sexual orientations, and so on. Not only do disparities present themselves in quality of care and access to things such as health insurance coverage, but the wide gaps between groups also show a health disparity. This means that there is a preventable difference in the amount of disease or violence between groups in society. So not only are typically disadvantaged groups more prone to health burdens, but they are also more likely to struggle to get care.

One specific example of how illness may disproportionately affect certain groups is the COVID pandemic. Data indicates that Black, American Indian, Hispanic, and low-income groups were much more likely to become ill and be hospitalized, and significantly less likely to receive the vaccine. So, in comparison to a very large number of cases, deaths, and population numbers, the numbers of distributed vaccines to these areas are very low. Because of the inequitable access to healthcare, these marginalized groups have lower level of protection against illness. This lower level of protection puts them at higher risk for illness and continues the cycle.

However, these problems existed well before the pandemic. This has continuously been a trend that needs to be addressed for the sake of not only our minority groups, but for the whole country. If it is not enough to care for the groups that are suffering without health coverage, it is worth noting that this limits the health of the whole country and may lead to huge economic losses. With the population growing, it is extremely important to address this issue now.

People who are uninsured are largely minority groups, but it is a problem that can affect anybody. Being uninsured leads to a lack of medical care and overall poorer health, higher mortality, and higher disability rates. I feel it is very important to have compassion and not consider yourself better or more hardworking than someone because you are healthy and insured, but instead consider the circumstances that they have found themselves in. Understand that things like poverty and healthcare are cyclical, and it is a hard cycle to break. Compared to other countries, I believe that our nation’s healthcare system is a complete joke and there is much that could be done to mend the issue that would be better for everyone individually as well as the economy. I will be discussing things that could possibly be done in later posts.  Overall, I do believe in the possibility of a world where everyone has equal access to healthcare and no one has to go broke because of a hospital visit.

https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/disparities-in-health-and-health-care-5-key-question-an

One of my blog posts from last semester was all about Mac Miller. In that post, I talked about a brief history of his life, his discography, a few of my favorite albums and songs, and his impact on the music world. Today I will be talking about two particular songs from the album GO:OD AM from 2015.  Mac calls GO:OD AM “the first album I recorded while being happy in a long time”. These are two of my favorite songs ever and pair together very well. The songs are “Ascension” and “Weekend (feat. Miguel)”.

Both of these songs are in stark contrast to Mac’s earliest works which are happy and lighthearted. “Weekend” and “Ascension”, while fairly upbeat, both touch heavily on death and drug use. Listening to this song knowing that he would pass away from a drug overdose just three years later makes them hit even harder. You can really see his struggle with working through his depression and contemplation about life and the future in these songs.

Ascension is an incredible five minute song that I think is about Mac’s own struggle with his mind and thoughts of changing being overruled by his substance abuse. In albums previous to this, he went from a jokey kid to a seeming to be in a very dark place. GO:OD AM is revered as a symbol of Mac entering a new phase in his life but I think that “Ascension” is a testament to the fact that his struggles were very real and evidently never really went away.

“To look into my parents eyes when I’m scared to die
My eyes same color as a cherry pie
Woah, see I’m terrified
Crucifix heavy, who gon’ carry mine?
Yeah, what’s with all this talk about Hell and Satan
And sleep deprevation
If this is planet Earth, than my hell’s a basement
Ascension
A brand new me”

These lyrics show a fear of the inevitable end of life and how drug use may impact that, and shows a desire to become a “brand new” him (at least in my opinion). “Ascension”, paired with “Jump” and “Festival” show a metaphor for entering Heaven, but that’s a whole different theory and songs.

“Weekend” is a super-upbeat song that if you didn’t listen to the lyrics would probably not seem sad at all. It talks about a phenomenon that I believe most of us can relate to on some level- living for the weekend.

“Everythin’ good by the weekend (yeah)
Everythin’ will be good by the weekend (alright, by the weekend)
We goin’ out tonight, yeah, we goin’ out tonight…”

On a darker level, it seems to be about breaking up the monotony of life and dealing with pain through substances, and to always be chasing the next high to deal with the lows that the week bring. To me, this song symbolizes the wasted week days piling up in to years as he chases highs on the weekends and is ultimately left unsatisfied.

“I been havin’ trouble sleepin’
Battlin’ these demons
Wonderin’ what’s the thin’ that keeps me breathin’
Is it money, fame or neither…

…Wonderin’ well, wonderin’ how I got this high
Fell and asleep and forgot to die,”

I encourage you to listen to both of these songs and give them your own comparison.

The civic issue I feel passionately about is the issue of universal healthcare. Throughout these blog posts, I will discuss what exactly the issue surrounding healthcare is, who is primarily affected by it, how it may affect our community, some potential solutions, etc. I will start off by laying out some of the basic arguments surrounding the issue of universal healthcare.

I feel like participating in THON has led me to be more enlightened about how incredibly expensive healthcare in America is, and how it often causes people to go into debt. I have heard first hand from families who have been given two million dollar hospital bills that they would not have been able to afford without help from Four Diamonds. Four Diamonds is an amazing organization and I really appreciate being able to do philanthropy through THON, but it makes me wonder about people who do not have organizations like that to help them out, and how they may afford their hospital bills, and about people that do not have any access to health services at all.

The biggest reason that many people may not be able to seek out medical service is inadequate health insurance. There is great disparity in health conditions and life expectancy between classes that goes back to unequal distribution of insurance and large out of pocket costs. Since people with low incomes are typically uninsured, they may avoid going to get medical care. All of this just contributes to the cycle of poverty and keeping people stuck in it. Additionally, over one half of uninsured people are minorities.

Some people argue against free/universal healthcare. Some believe it would unnecessarily raise taxes, cause the US to become a socialist country, increase US debt, etc. However, I believe that the increasing life expectancy and quality of life for a large group of people, along with other benefits, greatly outweighs possibly cons. A Harvard study cites a 40% increase in death rates among people who are not insured. Ensuring universal healthcare for everyone would undoubtedly save countless lives. The US is a very wealthy countries with a higher GDP than countries that do provide universal healthcare, such as France. With that in mind, it seems logical that the US should be able to provide healthcare for all of its citizens.

I think the most common argument against this is that people should pay for their own healthcare and not be handed it by the government. If one person is capable of working hard and paying for their own healthcare, why should someone else be able to be handed it, off of the other person’s tax dollar? This argument, much like discourse surrounding homelessness, disregards the fact that poverty is cyclical and it is very difficult to escape. Someone with a disabling disease is likely not going to be able to get a job with healthcare benefits and will then suffer much more from their disease. It is important to accept that we must have compassion for our fellow humans and want to help those facing difficult circumstances. Healthcare is a universal right.

https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-health/interventions-resources/access-to-health

https://healthcare.procon.org/

Last semester, I chose to do my passion posts on my favorite musical artists, profiling one each week. I want to keep with the theme of music that speaks to me personally by talking about a few of my favorite songs and their personal meaning to me each week.

One of my favorite days of the year is the day when Spotify releases my yearly Spotify Wrapped. My friends and I always compare ours and I think it’s so much fun. I think you can read a person very easily based off of their top music choices. I love seeing my top song and how many times I listened to it. Unsurprisingly, my top three artists were Mac Miller, Kanye West, and Kid Cudi. But since I’m moving on from my favorite artists to my favorite individual songs, my top five songs for the year were ” Freakin’ Out On The Interstate”, “By and By”, “Lovin’ Me (ft. Phoebe Bridgers)”, “Make Her Say”, and “Elsie’s Baby Boy”. I will get into each of these songs eventually, but today I will be talking about two songs that go perfectly together in my mind:  “By and By” by Caamp and “Rivers and Roads” by The Head and The Heart.

The reason these songs go well together is that to me they’re both folksy, melancholy, sad songs that aren’t overtly sad. I have disagreed with a lot of my friends before about whether these songs and others are sad or happy songs, and it seems it really depends on the person. I think it depends on where you are in life. For me, especially before leaving for college and leaving my friends or family behind, these are two songs that are guaranteed to make me cry.

You really should listen to the songs to truly understand their tone, but to start with “By and By”, the chorus is, followed by my favorite part of the song:

Now I’m thinkin’ about her everyday
On my mind atypical way
Are you a life force? (2x)

And it’s so easy
To be blinded by the light
To feel lonely in the night
This blowing in the breeze babe
I got dust in my eyes
And rust in my mind
I’ll be home come next spring
Won’t you say you love me later, by and by

And “Rivers and Roads”:

A year from now we’ll all be gone
All our friends will move away
And they’re goin’ to better places
But our friends will be gone away
Nothin’ is as it has been
And I miss your face like hell
And I guess it’s just as well
But I miss your face like hell

Both of these songs remind me of being homesick and missing something. They are both great songs and I would encourage you to give them a listen!

“We’ll be alright…” The people’s favorite, Harry Styles. Albeit basic, Harry Styles truly does have feel good music and is a truly inspirational person. With only two solo albums, Harry Styles has a massive fanbase and has stirred up society’s opinion on masculinity with his out-there fashion taste. Harry Styles has music ranging from dance-party to deep reflection, and is someone who will likely continue to have a huge effect on the music world.

Harry Edward Styles was born in 1994 in Worcestershire, England. Harry loved music from early on and was the lead singer of a band he formed with his schoolmates. In 2010, he auditioned for the X Factor and was combined with four other young men who would form the boy-band sensation that was One Direction. The band released 5 studio albums before disbanding. In 2017, Harry released his first single, “Sign of the Times”, followed by his self-titled album and 2020 album Fine Line. He has also debuted in the film world, including the movie Dunkirk.

While Harry Styles does have only two solo albums, I consider both of these albums to be no skip albums (containing no songs worthy of skipping). Harry Styles overall has a more melancholy vibe, with songs such as “Meet Me in the Hallway”, “Two Ghosts”, and “Sweet Creature”. My personal favorite from this album is “Kiwi”. These songs include lyrics such as “We never learn, we been here before/Why are we always stuck and running from/The bullets?” and “We’re just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me/Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat”. Soulful, painful, heartbreak, and beautiful are all words that come to mind. Contrarily, Fine Line, with songs like “Golden”, “Adore You”, and “Canyon Moon” is more energetic and fun, although it too has its soulful moments. I think I would put “Canyon Moon” as my favorite because it is such a happy, feel good song. Stand out lyrics from this album include”And it kills me ’cause I know we’ve ran out of things we can say” (I told you it had its soulful moments… “Falling” is beautiful but extremely depressing) and”And it kills me ’cause I know we’ve ran out of things we can say”.

In addition to his musicality, Styles has also made a great societal impact. He has become a figure against toxic masculinity and has really become known for his unique and eccentric style. He wears glitter, pearls, nail polish, and the occasional dress. His Vogue cover was controversial for that very reason. He says, “To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes.” I think this is very admirable for someone who is constantly under scrutiny, and he has definitely become a role model for people to express themselves, and he looks amazing doing so.

https://www.biography.com/musician/harry-styles

One picture can carry an incredibly impactful message. This particular image is from 2020’s protests following the death of George Floyd. The picture shows a young person kneeling in front of the police force. This image is impactful through the isolation of the protestor, the group of officers, and the kneeling in background that work together to argue the impact that these protests had and their severity. It is symbolic of an “us vs. them” mentality that was especially high following the George Floyd tradgedy.

The isolation of the girl is key in the impact of this image. The way that they separated from the crowd shows their bravery and shows the importance of standing up and being a leader. On the other hand, it also shows vulnerability. In separating themself from the crowd, this young person is essentially becoming a target. This reminds us of the severity and emotional impact that the death of George Floyd had on the masses. It was so intense that it caused people to step up to become targets themselves to ensure that it would not happen again. It is also important to note that they are wearing a mask which is symbolic of the changes that 2020 brought.

The wall of police officers is also significant here. The way they are so tightly bound together and armed is a strong contrast to the separated and unarmed protestor. This is representative of the brutality used by police officers and of the way that they protect one another. This can be literally protecting each other from harm but may also be representative of defending an officer who committed a racially motivated crime. This also goes to show how severe and brutal these protests were.

Finally, the background is significant. The protestors are all kneeling and many are shown with their hands up in pleading. This conveys surrendering and peace. However, the police officers still are heavily armed and many have their weapons drawn. The protestors kneeled to convey that they were not acting violent towards the police officers, but the police officers often showed brutality in return. This was due to the violence committed against George Floyd who did not fight back.

This image argues that civilians/protestors are separate from the police force. It conveys this message of peaceful protestors compared to a violent police force by highlighting an isolated protestor, the wall of police officers, and the kneeling protestors in the background. This image is significant because it was brought on after the death of George Floyd and shows how one life can make a big difference.

“I’ll try to find where my voice went, and I’ll stop breaking my own heart.” I first stumbled on the incredible voice of Peter McPoland while scrolling through TikTok. I had never heard of him until I saw a video of him singing a snippet of his original song “Romeo & Juliet” and I immediately looked him up to see if it released as a full song. It was, and I started listening to it all the time in addition to his other songs. This was about 6 months to a year ago, and over the course of that time he accumulated the majority of his followers. It is really cool to find an artist when they’re small, and watch them grow and look forward to seeing them grow even more.

Peter McPoland is 21 years old and is from The Woodlands, Texas. He was born on November 3, 2000 (happy birthday!). His band in high school won a Battle of the Bands and even played Warped Tour in Cleveland, OH. Since moving to Rhode Island after graduation, Peter has gone solo and began posting videos on TikTok that gained him popularity. He joined TikTok in April of 2020 and his first video was a cover of “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion. Peter began posting songs on Spotify in 2018, beginning with “Lady Bird”. This song was followed by “Sally Forth”, “I Love You Too”, and “Romeo & Juliet”, which is one that gained him more popularity. In 2021, he released “Eloise”, “(Here’s to the) Prom Queen”, “i can’t sleep, happy  birthday babe”, and “Shit Show”. He has grown from a couple hundred thousand followers when I discovered him myself to about 1 million listeners, which I think is really awesome. He has signed to Columbia Records recently and I think he will continue to gain popularity with his unique music.

Peter’s music could primarily be described as folksy, and I think it is very unique and fun to listen to. His voice is so beautiful and all of his songs have catchy tunes and lyrics. His songs have lyrics like “Some day down the road, I hope to be your Romeo/I’ll climb the wires to your landline/While you’re crying on the telephone” and “Shallow was the one in the crack on the tile/As she dropped a bottle, frightened by the cry of the wind/”He will come in time,” she would say, once in a while/And she hoped that the screen door would sing again”.

I can’t wait to see how he continues to grow in the future and I encourage you all to check him out!

https://artists.teamwass.com/music/peter-mcpoland/

The shift I will be exploring is how we see women portrayed in film over time. Throughout history, women have been consistently underrepresented in film and portrayed only in certain roles. There has been progress made throughout history in giving women more roles in Hollywood, but more importantly so, roles of substance. This is important to explore because the representation of women in film affects how we see ourselves and what young girls grow up dreaming to be.

For a long time, the production of film was an industry dominated by men. Consequently, women had no say in how we were represented in these movies. Women did not often have roles in movies, and when present, were generally shown in submissive and nonprofessional roles. Older movies show women as mothers, wives, homemakers, and sex objects. This has improved more recently, especially with more women entering the production industry. Women need to continue to be given roles of substance and portrayed as serious roles.

It is important for us to understand this story and how it has changed in order to grasp how society really perceives women. How women are represented in film is just a visual portrayal of how they are seen in society. It is important for us to realize how these representation affects a woman’s view of herself, and especially how it can impact young girls in our society. When I was growing up, Disney princesses were making the switch from damsel in distress (Sleeping Beauty, Snow White), to more positive role models like Mulan or Rapunzel. This is important to me because I was lucky to grow up with positive role models and to always have it drilled in my head that I was intelligent and could do anything I wanted to, even if the media didn’t always show me that. However, a little girl growing up seeing women only portrayed as maids, secretaries, or accessories to men might not grow up with the understanding that she is someone of substance.

My primary research question here is “How has the portrayal of women in film changed over time?” Further questions include:

How have we made progress in giving women roles of substance?

How does race play into this underrepresentation as well?

How does this reflect society’s views?