Emotions are the lines of life that keep us anchored to our souls. To put it in a nutshell, we all feed upon our emotions. Positive, negative, or whatever emotion it may be, every human being that inhabits the earth, lives on these phenomena. However, as humans are mere slaves of desires and relationships, they are easily drawn into the negative aspect of this emotional spectrum. ‘Despair’, which is the grief caused by the loss of someone you love or by the severe shattering of your over-expectations, is an ideal example of such gloomy feelings. This may sound rhetoric, but people can be lured into unreturnable dark pits, driven by the said melancholy.
But is it truly unreturnable? Isn’t there a single ray of hope at healing from so very states?
As its name implies, Tragedy +Time is a punky masterpiece that revolves around human despair and how time deals with its consequences, accompanied by a message to catch sight of a better tomorrow. Written and produced by the American rock band Rise against, the single is from their album The Black Market. This album is focused on addressing the dark subject matter, which is a departure from Rising Against’s usual discography.
The track unrolls with detailing, how one is submerged in a depressive state, because of the unexpected dark affairs he/she had to encounter. How the victims put on brave faces and pretend that everything is alright, just for the sake of living but underneath those masks, they gravely suffer.
When people undergo such wounding situations, they become easy targets of despondency and overthinking set-ups. These sentiments take a huge toll on humans’ mental health and the result is you end up falling into perils of unstable minds. It also explains when driven by the unbearable sets of gloomy emotions, how people showcase their pain and agony by different methods. They can be pushed to even suicidal situations, just by a simple action. For instance, when the song says,
“Above the crowd, feet dangling from a rooftop
She waits from ledges for a voice to talk her down”,
It emphasizes that the person has lost the will to live now and to end her pain she has concluded to commit suicide. She is just waiting for someone from the hundreds of crowds to stand up and reach out to her and say, “Don’t do it!”. Although she is all prepared to let go, still will try to hold on to that last straw of hope. This is what despair does to mankind. It takes advantage of the pain and adverse situations, then roots out every inch of prospects of life. The way, composers have brought out the tragic emotions, in the beginning, is commendable.
Despite the negative tone in the start, the rest of the song is penned on, to see the bright side of the whole situation whilst experiencing the torture. How to make use of the advantages of the gloomy situations, be strengthen up than before and to glimpse for a better future. When we come across such hardships and sorrowful encounters, we think about nothing but the mere pain. But what we must keep in mind is that this phase will also slip away someday. Besides, how harsh it may sound, these endurances will shape us well for tomorrow.
“So don’t look back, let it shape you like an ocean
Even the deepest scars in time will fade”,
Time is the best remedy for deep wounds; given the time the pain and the scars will cease away, but their touch will always remain embedded to your soul.
In general, the chorus part of the song is composed to keep up your hopes high about the day we all can find consolation again. It feels like Rise Against is attempting to give a glimpse of a beautiful future to all the victims and survivors out there. They are chanting, “We are holding on to laugh someday”, to remind us that even amidst the painful, troubled periods, we should not let go of our sanity, in the hopes of having those better times, someday. In the latter part of the song it states,
“Despite the overwhelming odds tomorrow came”,
and
“we all learn to laugh again”.
After all, those suppressions and troubled times mingled with psychotic thoughts have come to an end, the survivors have reached the horizon. All those years of quiet waiting have not been in vain. By these after most chorus parts, composers have hinted that every single line above is not just a pep- talk, it is a promise that everyone can dream and achieve. That day may not be gain in overnight, just the same keep hanging on to the thread of faith of yours.
Overall, this song is like a silver lining in a dark cloud to all the individuals in our society, who have undergone distressful, traumatic experiences. With its forthright, skillful composition, this song surely leaves an undeniable emotional sensation in the listener’s mind. Starting off with a powerful guitar tune, it gradually becomes more serious with a positive tone as in accordance with the more- optimistic lyrical composition. Rise Against main singer and frontman, Tim McIlrath croons along to the music, exuding an upbeat feel to this heart-rending topic. From the very beginning, where the song starts to unveil with words that exhibit tragic emotions, it gradually converts into lyrics with more of a buoyant touch. From the lyric, “We are holding on to laugh someday”, to the finishing line, “We all learn to laugh again”, they give the message that although you are covered with heaps of misfortune and gloom, one day you will finally be able to move on and be all smiles. Without a doubt, the clever composition, a gracefully written melody, and powerful vocalization all pitched in to give out the emotional message about despair, pain, and hope, loud and clear.
We may feel like trauma and anxiety are eating up our insides alive, but we should never give in to our raw emotions. Let us remember the phrase, ‘let bygones be bygone’ and lock up all the ex-gloomy thoughts and experiences in the past. “When faced with tragedy, We come alive or come undone”. Emptiness, worthlessness, and mental stress are inevitable in such miserable conditions. Yet it is in our hands to be fair-minded, on behalf of the losses and the hardships we faced. Tragedy will be healed by the time. A little more patience is all we need.
By Rtr. Nishakya Liyanarachchi
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