There are some things that have a commentary on life and society, but do it in an obvious way. Things like music, art, literature and other art forms allow the artist to put the societal problems they see into their own expressive forms.
Michael Blume’s “The Same” does the same thing, playfully focusing his commenting on society’s materialistic values.
Sometimes it is only through seeing a piece of work, reading it, or listening to it repeatedly to truly understand the problems they bring up.
The chorus reads:
“We all live such lonely lives
Material plastic ties
Commercially satisfied
From birth till the day we die
And I forget to pay attention
You would think I learned my lesson
But the years go by and I don't change
I just complain and stay the same
I stay the same”
These 9 lines say so much about us as a society, bringing up three problems quickly.
The first four lines bring up the dependence society has on materials, so much so that it becomes the only thing we care about, enough to make life as a whole a lonely thing.
Within the next five lines Blume addresses both a lack of attention and the stubbornness of the human race. As he says, people will complain about the same situation, often that they have gotten themselves into but not do anything to fix the situation.
My brother had introduced me to this song on a long car ride to a Niskayuna tournament and as I added it to my library and continued to listen to it repeatedly, Blume’s message became clearer and clearer. His song is a blunt commentary on societal problems to a catchy tune.
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