One of the things that struck me about the lyrics of "Shark" by Ash was their repetition of certain words. It was disturbing that these were aggressive and forceful words, so I (Jon) decided to try the same technique I used earlier in this blog to look at the lyrics in Wordle.net. As can be seen above the lyrics are disturbing. "Violent" and "mind" are the two most used words in this song. I think we have to convey the despair of this song, the need or the wish to resort to violence as frustration. That doesn't mean that they like violence, but we can understand it as an expression in some young people. It is the only way they feel they can get noticed. Does it mean that they are saying their minds are led by violence, or reacting to it? "Wanna" and "know" are the next most common words. Are they asking why society rejects them and makes them violent? Or are they saying they don't understand the violence accepted by society? We have heard a lot recently about young people dying in Afghanistan...they are our age. Perhaps young people just want to have a right to say in how they live and die?
