Michl 1

David Michl
ENG 21011
Prof: Christine Olding
17 September 2015

Musical Literacy Narrative

A person encounters many different socializing factors as they grow from a child to an
adult, shaping who they end up becoming as a person. Parents, both close and distant family,
friends, social groups, peers, and personal culture are all prime examples of the most direct
socializing factors for a growing child. For those who are lucky, music plays a large role as one
of these socializing factors. Personally, music has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can
remember. From listening to the music, to interpreting the music, to eventually learning how to
perform music, it has been with me for my entire life. From this, Ive grown to have a deep
respect and love for music, of all forms. The following songs are some that I feel encapsulate
major social or emotional changes I underwent to grow, and overlying concepts in my life that
identify me as an individual.
The Anthem Good Charlotte
Good Charlotte was my first favorite band at all of 8 years old. I would listen to their
CD The Young and the Hopeless 3 times a day, specifically the song The Anthem. At first, it
was just because I really liked the song. As time progressed, I really started to digest the lyrics of
the music and apply the concept to my life. The main message of The Anthem is to be an
individualistic person with personal goals, interests, and views. Diverging from the monotonous
mainstream perspective was the primary directive, and I took that to heart around the age of ten.

Michl 2

I no longer went with the grain of what was normal. I began to have personal goals that
differed than my peers, and never let any opinions change that. Becoming an individual had been
the new standard of normal I set for myself.
Possession Whitechapel
Up until the age of about 13, I listened to primarily punk music. However, once I got into
my middle teenage years, I started listening to heavier music such as metal, deathcore, and such.
Whitechapel was such a new concept of music. The inclusion of highly volatile or angry lyrics,
ominous stylistic choice, and dark messages was something that was both alien and partially
concerning. At first, it was hard to get used to, but as time progressed, I really could start to
relate to the angry, fast-paced music. Songs like Possession gave me a musical outlet for some
of those teen-angst angry bouts. Nowadays, whenever I think of the birth of my love for metal, it
goes directly back to Whitechapel. Whitechapels lyrics have evolved with time to reflect the
decomposition of society into a degraded, broken concept, which is something I find both true
and observable. (For reference to their political viewpoints, refer to Our Endless War
Whitechapel.) Whitechapel had become the bridge for me to leave my limited circle of punk
music and explore a whole new world of music.
Get to the Choppa Austrian Death Machine
Around 2009, the youth group I belonged to went to Alive Festival, a 5 day long music
festival with every genre of music. It was here that I had seen my first-ever metal concert:
Austrian Death Machine. This band was unknown to me up until 30 seconds before the set had
started, so I hadnt come to the festival to see the by any means. Austrian Death Machine is a
parody metal band that combines brutal music with a glam-like stage performance and song

Michl 3

lyrics that make reference to a menagerie of Arnold Schwarzenegger films, including all his
famous one-liners. During the entire show, there was a man dressed as Arnold himself on stage
fighting the creature from the 1987 movie Predator. For being my first metal concert, Austrian
Death Machine put on one of the best shows to date, and was the start of a long line of concerts
Ive gone attended, all in hopes of seeing a show as phenomenal as theirs had been.
Such Small Hands La Dispute
During my sophomore year of high school, a groups of friends and I had gone to New
Orleans for a week as a missions trip for our church. On the long (17.5 hours, to be precise) drive
back to Ohio, a friend of mine had shown me the music video for Such Small Hands by La
Dispute, a band that I had never heard of. Immediately, I fell in love with the music and lyrics of
La Dispute. The music was more like spoken-word poetry, something that I had never heard
before. With this, a newfound love for this art style (both the music and standard poetry) that was
centric on life experiences and the melancholy stories of both the artists and their subjects. I
didnt like the songs because they were sad: I liked them because they were so realistic and
relatable. The range of topics that La Dispute writes about is vast, but the main outcome of their
music for me was a deep appreciation for music as a whole, not just the music of La Dispute. I
had become enamored with feeling the music, instead of just listening superficially.
Just Drive Four Year Strong
Just Drive serves somewhat of a dual purpose for me. On one hand, the song lyrically
depicts the concept of living ones life to the fullest extent. Enjoying everything you do, always
moving forward, and never looking back. Conceptually, this is arguably one of the most
important and powerful mindsets a person can have, because you only get one life to live. On the

Michl 4

other hand, this song holds high sentimental value to me. Every time my best friend and I would
drive somewhere, this would be the song we played during at least part of that drive. Every time
I hear Just Drive it makes me appreciate my best friend and everything hes done to help me
grow as a person, so that I can live my life to the fullest extent.
The Lines Beartooth
During my late teen years, I started struggling with my faith in God. I had grown up as an
active member in church from the ages of 7 to 17. However, I had hit a boulder in the path:
scientific data. Once I had started studying sciences independently, my whole system of beliefs
were shaken, because I had learned that nearly everything in the Bible can be proven wrong
using basic scientific analysis. However, I wanted to keep my faith. So, I decided to step out of
organized religion, bust still live my life directed by the principals of being a good person. The
song The Lines perfectly sums up what it felt like to struggle with religion when no answers
were provided, but still following God. In fact, a lot of Beartooths music is centered on
independent religion, which I find to be incredibly relatable.
The Castle Builders La Dispute
The song The Castle Builders has a very simple message: move past your failures and
forward for the sake of both yourself and your loved ones. Lyrically, La Dispute delivers some of
the most relatable messages and feelings to the listener, with this song being no exception. This
song embodies the concept of moving forward from mistakes, which is something that I really
had trouble with for a long time. Ive grown to live with the concept that failure is unavoidable,
but it is nothing more than another chapter in the story of my life. Moving forward past ones

Michl 5

mistakes is what separates success from failure. I believe this is a concept that everyone should
keep close in mind.

In Between Beartooth
Until recently, I had some very bad self-esteem issues. My losses felt monumental, and
my successes felt insignificant. No matter what, nothing ever felt right with my life. Something
was always holding me back in some way. It took me far too long to become disillusioned and
realize the thing holding me back was myself. I realized that my worst enemy was myself, and
getting past these pessimistic behaviors was the only was to be happy and feel content with
myself. The song In Between perfectly captures what its like to be a pessimist who transforms
into an optimist. The song illustrates how everyone has their high and low points during life, but
its up to ourselves to makes sure we can get up from said low points. This song has driven me to
have high self-efficacy to do well in my life and overcome both my horrendous past attitude and
anything that would impede me from feeling successful now.
Sometimes words cannot convey what a person is thinking, feeling, or experiencing.
Thats where music comes in. Music can act as a medium that can take random sounds and
words, and transform them into a powerful idea or feeling that could not be expressed with ones
words alone. I feel this is the main way that music has helped me grow over the years. Theres so
much that I feel, but cannot say. So much that I think, but cannot articulate into words. Music
provides me with a way of communication that crosses all languages, ages, and mindsets. Music
is a universal language that nearly everyone can relate to on some levels. These aforementioned

Michl 6

artists (among dozens of others) have given me a second voice of sorts, and in so, a way to tell
the story of my life without actually speaking.

Song Listing:
Musical Literacy Narrative Tracks