Skip to main content

Guest Post: The Meaning of String Theory: a song-by-song analysis by Robyn Kessler

This post was originally posted on the Hanson.net forum by Robyn under his screen name @robinbond. When I asked Robyn if I could link to the post on my review of the album, he pointed out that the post was on the Members Only side, which would have been inaccessible for non-members. So we decided to repost Robyn's analysis on my blog as a guest post where everybody will be able to read his insightful, detailed analysis. Thanks, Robyn, for letting me share it!

There's a boy I used to know - Reaching For The Sky (AMBITION SEARCHING FOR ONE’S PLACE IN THE WORLD)

If I could turn the world to a melody I think so many troubles would cease to be - Joyful Noise (MOTIVATION)

Look at what you're doing. Where's the love? It's not enough; it makes the world go round - Where's The Love

(ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This is the line drawn in the sand that turns a boy into a man - Dream It Do It (PROCLAMATION)

It's gone so fast... In a MMMBop it's gone - MMMBop (USE THIS MOMENT or else it's gone... compare with message of Tonight)

Now that I've started there's nothing standing in my way - Chasing Down My Dreams (DETERMINATION)

I'm caught up in a dark emotion; I'm giving you all that's left of me - Tragic Symphony (DESPAIR / FEELING SPENT)

I should have gotten out when I thought I could - Got A Hold On Me (QUESTIONING CONTINUING)

YEARBOOK is the song that the whole show hangs on... which is (I think) why Hanson said that this show answers a question they've been asking for a long time... actually, everyone has been asking Where did Johnny go? -- if we take Johnny as a personification of the hopes and dreams we had of who we would become, the song's place in the show makes sense. Considering  the lines selected. Yearbook is actually a framework for the whole String Theory story. The lyric in the song “sometimes I think I hear him calling out my name; sometimes I wonder maybe we’re to blame” speaks to the fact that only we can take responsibility for the person we became. That said…

Where did Johnny go? – Yearbook (SEARCH FOR IDENTITY / OUR PLACE IN THIS WORLD )

No straighter path than to struggle, ‘cause when we rest we fear and it draws them near - Siren Call

(ENCOUNTERING OBSTACLES)

When I'm alone in a cold dark room, there's still someone that I can tell my troubles to - Me Myself And I (FINDING HOPE)

Those around him said with spite "risk of failure isn't worth the fight - Reaching For The Sky Part 2  (ENCOUNTERING PEER PRESSURE)

I heard them say that dreams should stay in your head ... I started feeling like I don't want to fight... and we won't go down  - This Time Around (OVERCOMING NEGATIVITY)

Only you know what you lost - Something Going Round (IDENTIFYING THE ROAD TO RECOVERY)

Tomorrow the march will begin again; Every time you fall face-down in the dirt, I never knew before - don't be afraid “ - Battle Cry (PERSEVERENCE)

You're in for a big surprise - you can't stop us now - You Can't Stop Us (COMMITMENT)

A high-flyer's what I want to be... I'm gonna run away and learn to fly like you... you can't bring me down… what

am I supposed to be? - Broken Angel (SETTING GOALS)

We dreamt a dream, then lost our way, in the dark of night, at the break of day; How did we go wrong? Where

do we belong? - What Are We Fighting For? (REFLECTION)

I've been losing for so long I can't begin... you're so insecure, you're hurt right down to the core - you're only

stuck in your pain – Break Town (ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF CONTEXT)

Yesterday was just fine but the future's all I've got time for... my feet can't move to where my heart just ain't - No

Rest For The Weary (FOCUS)

I was born to be someone no-one's ever been before - I Was Born (HAVING A UNIQUE VISION)

Always had a taste for another thrill; when I hit a wall and I'm put to the test - Sound Of Light (PUTTING

VISION INTO PRACTISE)

Don't care what has come before; tomorrow's an open door; Don't wait for tomorrow, cos it just might be tonight – Tonight (CARRYING THE VISION FORWARD INTO FULFILLMENT)


Robyn Kessler is the admin of Hanson South Africa and a great supporter of the Take The Walk campaign. Check out his Facebook Page and his Twitter account.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hanson Day 2019: a Recap

Registration To everyone’s surprise, registration opened before the event had even officially started, on Wednesday afternoon. I don’t know if that was planned, or if it was a last minute decision, but it was a good idea regardless. It’s obvious that more and more people are arriving to Tulsa earlier in the week, so it makes sense to try and register as many attendees as possible, as soon as possible. So by late afternoon on Wednesday I had my bracelet, my tickets and, most importantly, my EP. I’d lugged my trusted old MacBook Air and an external CD drive all the way across the Atlantic with the sole purpose of being able to listen to that EP straightaway so I headed back to my hotel room for a very exclusive Listening Party. ( Check out this blog again soon for a full review of the EP .) Storytellers Setlist This year’s Storytellers was effectively an acoustic show, centred around the Underneath album. It’s a golden combination for me, as I discovered the b

A BTTI 2017 Post-Mortem - Part 1: Dissecting the Shows

It was only going to be a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience: the solo sets had sold it to me, and besides, I’d never seen Hanson play with the full band. A one-off. Yes, it was only going to be a one-off. Well, that was 2015. On a grey and wet British New Year’s Day, I boarded a Jamaica-bound flight, ready to do it all again for the third time in 2017. Those who have read my blog posts from BTTI 2016 might remember that I wasn’t exactly awestruck by last year’s event: I’d found the shows lacking something, not to mention I'd been left seriously disappointed by Isaac’s solo set (for an Isaac ‘girl’, this is a serious matter). Aside from having fallen in love with Jamaica, I guess my mixed feelings about 2016 were part of the reason for wanting to go back: I had such fantastic memories of the 2015 shows in Cancun that I wanted another taste of that experience. I knew BTTI was more than a holiday with friends: it was a chance for me, as a European fan, to load up on Hanson conc

Is this In Real Life? A review of Hanson's 2019 Fan Club EP

I was in my hotel room in Tulsa when I first listened to the EP. I’d ferried my trusted seven year old MacBook Air all across the Atlantic, complete with an equally old and battered external CD drive, with the sole purpose of ripping that CD the moment it was in my hands and listening to it in religious contemplation. Compromise The first song in the EP, "Compromise" starts with a piano and guitar intro, and instantly puts me in a state of acoustic bliss that reaches its nirvana as Isaac’s voice comes on some twenty seconds later. Before you can scream ‘Isaac lead’,  Zac takes over vocals on the second verse,  with the final part going to Taylor. After my initial split second of disappointment, it made complete sense: it’s a song about compromise, shared among the three brothers and layered with their trademark harmonies in between each verse. What is that if not a perfect example of musical compromise? Thematically, my first thought was that the lyr