The text I chose for my inquiry was the song 'Girls/Girls/Boys', by Panic! at the Disco. I decided to closely read the lyrics and see what the major and minor themes were, and I found that several intertwined. What themes could there be in this song?
Well, two major themes are love and acceptance, which really go hand-in-hand. In the song, love is the driving force behind the narrator's somewhat contradictory actions. He wants to protect his former girlfriend from people who might harm her ('But if you change your mind, you know where I am/Yeah, if you change your mind you know where to find me'); however, he's also in two minds about what she's done ('But I don't ever wanna be your boyfriend'). He cares about her a lot, going as far as defending her bisexuality ('Girls love girls and boys/And love is not a choice'). This is similar to real-life defense and support of the LGBT community, such as legalizing same-sex marriage.
This song could be the anthem for every bisexual woman across the world. Love isn't a choice, sexuality isn't a choice...this song portrays that through the narrator's thought processes.
The second major theme, acceptance, is also shown throughout the song. The narrator, despite his differing views on his girlfriend's choices, comes to accept the fact that she has a girlfriend ('They're close to finding out about your girlfriend...Girls love girls and boys'). He also accepts that love isn't a choice, due to his girlfriend's girlfriend and the fact that he's still in love with her (maybe because of their breakup).
Both of these themes are shown in the real world, especially on the topic of the LGBT community. Love within said community has been portrayed multiple times in the media (Cam and Mitchell on Modern Family, for example), and people are gradually coming to terms with it- an example of this is the seventeen states that have legalized same-sex marriage. However, others take a different view on the topic, such as the thirty-three states where non-heterosexual marriages are still illegal. A connection can be made to these states and the people persecuting the narrator's girlfriend ('They're close to finding out about your girlfriend').
Love isn't a choice, and that's a beautiful thing. If people would just realize that there's no stigma attached to not being straight, the theme of acceptance (if not necessarily love) would be widespread. We could learn to at least tolerate those who make different choices than us, like the narrator learns to.
Link to lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/panicatthedisco/girlsgirlsboys.html
This is a really insightful post about a topic that's so controversial, even though it shouldn't be. I like that you realized that the singer is talking about something personal (an old relationship) and something that has to do with our society (sexuality), and they they both relate to acceptance and love, since he's willing defend her since he still cares about her, but also because he thinks it's okay for people to be gay or bisexual.
ReplyDeleteThank you. :)
DeleteI am a huge supporter of LGBT rights (for many reasons which I won't discuss here), and when I found out we were doing a close-reading inquiry for whatever we wanted, I was like "Here is a chance to write about a topic I am passionate about!" So I chose this song because it defends LGBT rights and because I like it.