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What the World is Made of

Just You and Me

By Michael L. MartinPublished 4 years ago 4 min read
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What the World is Made of
Photo by Zachary Smith on Unsplash

For the Vocal challenge, “2020 Anthem,” I chose the song, “Anthem,” by Greta Van Fleet. Not only due to its seamlessly fitting song title but because it truly fills my soul with hope, my heart with love, and my mind with peace. “Where is the music? / A tune to free the soul.”

In a time of disheartening dismay due to a worldwide pandemic, and disunity within a nation as social injustices and systemic racism are forced to the forefront through police brutality and civil unrest; there are not many positive tension-relieving mediums to turn to. “With the news there’s something everyday / So many people thinking different ways, you say.”

But then I remember the music. The music. A simple answer to some of the most complex and difficult questions people have ever had to ask themselves. “A simple lyric to unite us all, you know.”

Hasn’t the music always said it all for you. For me it has. For every emotion there is a song to match it- and in my experience the music has often come to me effortlessly and without anticipation. “To save yourself in your own time / You’ll have to stay and open up your own mind.”

Like after an argument with my amazing fiancée. I’ll take a car ride and hear Chrissie Hynde sing to me, “So if you’re mad, get mad, don’t hold it all inside, / Come on and talk to me now.” Hearing The Pretenders, “I’ll Stand By You,” on the radio just moments after a verbal disagreement with a loved one can have a profound impact on how one reacts to the situation. An anxious feeling of time fleeting, mixed with tender placidity, overwhelms me after I listen to the lyrics, “Hey there, what you go to hide? / I get angry too, well, I’m alive like you.” And then I can calmly drive back home and peacefully make amends.

Or for instance, on that dreadful day in August, 1997. As I left my job at the Colebrook Cemetery, where I had just witnessed from across the I.G.A parking lot New Hampshire State Troopers Leslie Lord and Scott Phillips shot down and killed by Carl Drega, AC/DC’s, “Shoot to Thrill,” was playing in my old beat-up ‘83 Mazda B-2200 pickup. Hearing Brian Johnson belt out the words “Shoot to thrill, play to kill / I got my gun at the ready I’m gonna fire at will,” in his raspy energetic voice was usually something I loved listening to in my teenage years. But after helplessly watching a madman with an AK-47 stand over a motionless human being and fire a few more rounds into him, what it was saying was frightening to me.

Or perhaps those summers back in Sunapee, NH, when I landscaped at guitarist Joe Perry’s place in my mid-twenties. It seemed every time I left for the day an Aerosmith song would come on. Weeding out the rock garden and balling up tiny wads of grass to stick in the ceramic gnomes’ pipes. Perfectly blending my art and yard skills to cut an Aerosmith “A” into the swath of tall grass at the front edge of the deck. After a couple hours of lawn maintenance I’d gather up the tools and move on to the next job; and there was Steven Tyler on the radio screaming that high pitched, “Dream on! Dream on! / Dream until your dreams come true.” Whether it was a slap in the face telling me I’d never own a place like that, or a sign to keep me reaching for my goals, it didn’t really matter, because either way it was there- saying it simply- saying it all.

Now, in 2020, as we face the harsh realities of political dissension and social injustices amid the Covid-19 Pandemic and systemic racism, along with southwestern wildfires, I turn to a band that captures the essence of the old masters of poetry with lyrics longing for a harmonic world, and that emulates the masters of classic prog rock with psychedelic keyboards and power chords. “In all the noise facing everyday / The colored world has turned into a grey, you say....And every glow of the twilight knows / that the world is only what the world is made of.”

To sum up the year 2020 at its mid-way point, I give you...“Anthem,” by Greta Van Fleet, in hopes to unite a nation by protecting the weak and innocent individuals through informing and educating the masses. “And from the void, the place in which we came / Can we step back and see we want the same / Oh Lord.” If there is one thing that has always brought the people closer together during any circumstance-

it is the music.

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About the Creator

Michael L. Martin

Born in Michigan, raised in New Hampshire, and residing in Arizona. 2007 Graduate of the University of Arizona (English and Creative Writing). 2001 and 2005 Hearst Prize for Poetry Winner. Brand new Dad.

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