Unseen Richmond: Undecided
by orion merson
As U Wave
HalfNoise
As U Wave
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HalfNoise
Last night, your rhythms talk
And, If I can believe it I might, well I'll try
Hold on, you're going down slow
Oh no, I don't know
You're going down so slow, oh no
As you wave your hands goodbye
As you wave your hands goodbye
And dreaming was easier with you
But sometimes, this life leaves you blue
It's the rhythm in your heart
It's the rhythm in your heart
That leaves me down again
It's the rhythm in your heart
It's the rhythm in your heart
That leaves me down again
As you wave your hands goodbye
As you wave your hands goodbye
As U Wave
-
This is where our story begins:
A son leaves home with bright eyes and high hopes for the future as his parents watch him wave goodbye with a bittersweet feeling in their chests. They’re sad to see him go, but they’re so proud of him- how could they not be? He’s always shown such potential ever since he was a child. His attitude was positive, his grades were near-perfect, and the parents both had well-paying, steady jobs under their belts. College was never not an option for him. They had told him from a young age that, in today’s economy, a degree is what makes success. And with the knowledge that he is taking the first steps of the big journey that he’s been preparing for all his life, the son sets out.
-
(As U Wave is a song with what some may read as romantic undertones, but here I chose to let it represent a parent’s melancholy feelings as they watch their only child leave for college “as [he waves his] hands goodbye” on the way out. The rest of the song speaks of life leaving the speaker “blue” as they admit that “dreaming was easier” with the person they are referring to, in this case a couple of parents lamenting at having an empty nest.
This mural was chosen to represent the lingering innocence of childhood, as the figure hugging the fish reminded me of a child clinging to a stuffed animal for comfort.)
Halo
Cage The Elephant
Halo
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cage the elephant
Every time I get away
You find a way to reel me back in, aah
Tell me that you love me
Hold me tight so we can always be friends, aah
I swear
I said it before and I'll say it again! Aah
Every time I get away
You find a way to pull me back in, aah
Why does it take so long?
Why does it feel so wrong?
Why does it take so long?
You knew I couldn't help myself
I had to lay low
Got so high, couldn't help myself
I lost my halo
Took me by the hand and said remember all the good times we had, aah
I remember how you took my favorite knife
And slipped it under my skin, aah
I swear
I said it before and I'll say it again! Aah
Every time I get away
You find a way back under my skin
Why does it take so long?
Why does it feel so wrong?
You knew I couldn't help myself
I had to lay low
Got so high, couldn't help myself
I lost my halo
All my life with a skeleton
I had to let go
Got so high, couldn't help myself
I lost my halo
I lost my halo
I lost my halo
Halo
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The son figures out that, even though he’s been preparing for this his whole life, he’s not exactly sure what to do now that he’s here. His grades are fine and the people are fine, but what about him? He had declared a major in business because that’s what his father had recommended, but how is he supposed to tell his parents that he dropped the business major in favor of being undeclared because the stuff he was learning made him want to rip his hair out? Suddenly any career paths his parents had suggested for after graduation are out the window, and he can’t help but feel like every second he spends undeclared is a second towards his education that he’s wasted. Everyone around him has goals and ambitions, but he has never really given any of that stuff much thought because he always thought he’d just do what his parents suggested. When people ask his major, “undeclared” slips out of his mouth with a casual shrug, but every time he says it, the word sounds like “undecided” and “incapable” and “unpassionate” to his own ears. One on hand, the independence he has gained here has made him feel more alive than ever. But on the other hand, he wants nothing more than to get out.
(Halo, in this story, serves to represent the son’s struggle with his own passions and his guilt for possibly disappointing his parents. He has been raised to see college as a necessity, not an option. Therefore, he is stuck in this back and forth pull of staying and being unhappy, or dropping out and being a failure. The son feels as though he’s “lost [his] halo” after dropping his major because he’s lost the thing that he believes will make his parents be proud of him, and fears that they will begin to see him differently once they find out. The “you” in the lyrics represents the college experience rather than a person, and the son’s desire for it to all work out shows even though he knows it won’t. The lyrics as the song comes to a close state “I had to let go…so, I couldn’t help myself, I lost my halo”, signifying the son’s acceptance that he needs to leave.
This mural shows a figure standing with its arms outstretched with no one and nothing around it, and I chose this to represent the son's desire to find something to keep him here, but also the loneliness he feels when he realizes college is just not for him.)
New Person, Same Old Mistakes
Tame Impala
New Person, Same old mistakes
-
Tame Impala
I can just hear them now
"How could you let us down?"
But they don't know what I found
Or see it from this way 'round
Feeling it overtake
All that I used to hate
One by one every trait
I tried but it's way too late
All the signs I don't read
Two sides of me can't agree
Will I be in too deep?
Going with what I always longed for
(Feel like a brand new person)
But you'll make the same old mistakes
(I don't care, I'm in love)
Stop before it's too late
(I know, feel like a brand new person)
But you'll make the same old mistakes
(I finally know what it's like) You don't have what it takes
Stop before it's too late
(I know) There's too much at stake
Making the same mistakes
(And I still don't know why it's happening)
Stop while it's not too late
(And I still don't know)
Finally taking flight
I know you don't think it's right
I know that you think it's fake
Maybe fake's what I like
The point is, I have the right
Not thinking in black and white
I'm thinking it's worth the fight
Soon to be out of sight
Knowing it all this time
Going with what I always longed for
(Feel like a brand new person)
But you'll make the same old mistakes
(I don't care, I'm in love)
Stop before it's too late
(I know, feel like a brand new person)
But you'll make the same old mistakes
(I finally know what it's like) You don't have what it takes
Stop before it's too late
Man, I know that it's hard to digest
But maybe your story ain't so different from the rest
And I know it seems wrong to accept
But you've got your demons, and she's got her regrets
And I know that it's hard to digest
A realization is as good as a guess
And I know it seems wrong to accept
But you've got your demons, and she's got her regrets
But you've got your demons, and she's got her regrets
Feel like a brand new person
So, how will I know that it's right?
In a new direction
So, how will I know I've gone too far?
(Stop thinking that the only option)
Feel like a brand new person
I finally know what it's like
(Stop thinking that the only option)
In a new direction
So how will I know I've gone too far?
(Stop thinking that the only option)
And I know it's hard to describe
(Stop thinking that the only option)
So how will I know that it's right?
New Person, Same Old Mistakes
-
Sometimes being a drop-out feels like he’s failed at something, but his counselor keeps telling him to remind himself that it’s not failure, it just a different path than what most people expected him to take, and there’s nothing wrong with that. He’s still not entirely sure where he wants to go or what he wants to do, but he does know that he’s young and excited about the world again, and that a college degree isn’t everything. No one likes to talk much about the other options, so he never knew about how many choices he could have had after he graduated high school. He was never told about the community college down the road that he could take classes with while he saved up money for his own place, or about the opportunities available in his hometown for a job right out of high school, or about the endless success stories of people with no degree at all. But now that he knows all these things, the world seems a whole lot bigger. His classmates try to tell him otherwise, and tell him that he's making a mistake that will cost him his success, but he knows they're just misguided. Yes, his parents might be upset at first, but he’s sure he can convince them that he’ll be okay. He knows it’s only because they worry, but it’s only because they haven’t heard his new plan. College might be the key to some successes, and but won’t be the key to his.
(The son in the beginning of this song fears that his parents will confront him and ask “how could you let us down?” when they find out that he is dropping out of school. The song has parts during the chorus which mimic a kind of call and response pattern, and I will let this represent his conversations with his peers. His peers try to reason with him that he’ll “make the same old mistakes” outside of college and beg that he should “stop before it’s too late”, but the son replies that he “[doesn’t] care, [he’s] in love” with the idea of being his own person with his own decisions. Despite the fear of his parents’ reaction at the beginning of the song, the rest of the lyrics show how relieved his is after making his decision to drop out. He explains that it may be “hard to digest” but he feels like a “brand new person” after all of this, and knows that even if his parents are upset at first, it’s his life and he needs to live it for himself.
The mural here depicts a figure on a bike, which I chose to stand for the son's decision to set out on his own outside of higher education and to see the world in a new way. He is about to start a totally different journey than the one he started at the beginning of the story.)