7-1 Project Final
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School
Southern New Hampshire University *
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Course
123
Subject
Arts Humanities
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
docx
Pages
4
Uploaded by EarlBook11534
The song
Like A Stone,
by Audioslave. I first heard the song when I was very little, and my
parents were playing it on the stereo system in our living room. The complexity of the lyrics and
all the different ways that you can interpret the meaning behind the song are the characteristics
that stand out to me the most. The part of the lyrics that state “And on my deathbed I will pray,
To the gods and the angels, like a pagan to anyone, who will take me to heaven” is a reference to
a non-traditional way of thinking there is only one God or deity. I relate to this because I too feel
like there is no one singular way to reach “Heaven”. I feel like most people tend to think it is a
love song. When I was younger that is what I thought it was about. However, as I have become
older and listen to it often, I feel it is about religion and going home to “Gods” house. The book
he references that is “full of death” is the bible. Where he states that he will pray to anyone who
will take him to heaven, gives the thought that there is a possibility that there is not just one God.
For me I feel that they were successful in portraying what the song is about to me. And if others
would take a deeper look into it they would understand what it is really about as well. Everyone
in the world has some sort of believe of a higher power and I feel like this song speaks to more
than the typical Christian followers.
The song is about religion or a god and going to heaven. When someone first hears this song,
they may think that it is a love song. However, if you listen to the lyrics a little closer you will
hear that it is about death and the afterlife. I believe the artist intended to convey the message
that there may not only be one way to reach heaven, and to give hope to those of us that may not
have a definitive religion or belief. With as many religions that there are, there is no way to know
if you have chosen “the right one”. We as humans tend to follow the things that feel right to us. I
feel like he had a very interesting way of expressing this message to his audience.
The creative expressions in this song speak to everyone that is religious or on their journey to
find God or their higher power. Situations differ between each person, however odds are that
each of us can relate to at least one part of this song, as well as any other song we listen to.
Music is a powerful cultural expression. There are so many different genres, and millions of
different songs, and each one has the ability to change your mood in an instant. The tone, tempo,
and lyrics tell you a story, and how that story felt to the person telling it. It also makes you feel a
certain way and think about certain situations or events in your life. Each person has their own
personal connection to music and specific songs.
Who was Audioslave trying to reach as their audience?
Was Audioslave trying to open their audiences eyes to the possibility of there being more than
one way to reach heaven?
What was the meaning behind the song Audioslave was trying to convey?
How has music influenced my values?
How does the expressions of music shape other peoples values?
What values have been shaped by the expression of others?
To answer the questions about peoples values and how they are shaped by the expressions of
others you would have to look at each persons backgrounds and culture.
To answer the questions above, we would have to look from the perspective of an
anthropologist and humanities.
Another way that we can find these answers are to search for them on the internet, or if possible
the creator themselves. Sadly the creator of this specific song has passed away so we are left to
speculate as to some of the answers.
There is a video where Chris Cornell states the song is about “some guy sitting in a hotel room
contemplating death and where you go and what it means and all the different possibilities of
that, and then kind of coming up with an image that he liked. Like going with the philosophy of
well maybe when you die if you have been good enough in your life, you get to go somewhere
you remember that was really cool.”
I don’t know if death would be considered a cultural shift, however this is the event that I believe
influenced the creation of this work. Everyone wonders what happens to us after we die. So to
find comfort in death there are a bunch of thoughts about what happens to us when we die. Most
being that we will return to our creator.
Every human is unique in some sort of way. People want to tell their stories. Whether it be some
horrible war, or their journey to finding peace within, there is a cultural work for everything, they
all tell a story.
Music has an enormous impact on all cultures. There is music everywhere. Church, Restaurants,
Television, Radio, etc. The act of human creative expression is impacted by the culture we live in
by influencing the artists intentions behind the work. What they are trying to convey.
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The experiences we have in our day to day lives makes up our story. That is the story we want to
tell. Being able to express our story in our own way helps us feel important. Like our story will
live on long past the time we have left this world.
RESOURCES:
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/audioslave/like-a-stone
https://youtu.be/eb9Mgtw9c04