Hope is My Philosophy

I will love you more than me and more than yesterday.
If you can but prove to me, you are the new day.

Sounds like a pretty straightforward love song, right? The audience is the speaker's beloved, and all the speaker has to say is, "Hey, I love you."

Thoughts that we as humans small could slow worlds and end it all
Lie around me where they fall, before the new day.

That's from the exact same song. So now you probably think I've got it all wrong. Honestly, I'm not sure...

Express just combined with the lovely Chamber Ensemble of Glenbrook South at the Techny Concert, (for anyone who cares, we worked on FANTASTIC SONGS this year) and we sang John David's "You Are the New Day." When we first received the music, our choir director told us that he honestly didn't know what the song meant. After spending more and more time on it, I began to realize that the meaning is so much more complex than just a simple love song. Our guest conductor, Mrs. Moe, told us that it's very likely that each person who knows this song will find different meaning in it. She told us her interpretation, and one of the members of our choir also shared her ideas. I, too, began to find meaning in this song.

The different (extremely abridged) interpretations:

•The speaker is loves his or her live, even knowing that humans are small and powerless.
•This is a proclamation of love to another person. The speaker feels that nothing else matters beside spending a whole lifetime with the person he or she loves.

To me, this song is a surge of gratitude. Some lyrics are frightening: "When I lay me down at night, knowing we must pay," and "We... could slow worlds and end it all," and "One more day when time is running out," and they make me think about how finite and fragile our lives are. Even so, the speaker loves the life he or she has had, and realizes that although his or her only power is to hope for more days, that's enough, because just being able to continue living is what the speaker desires.

I'm mildly obsessed with this song.

So, here are the lyrics, and here is the best version I could find on YouTube. I want you to experience this beautiful piece, and tell me what it means to you.

Thank you!

Art.

I just finished reading Shakespeare's Hamlet.

THAT is a work of art.

However, I also watched (most of) The Fellowship of the Ring last night at a friend's house. (except for the thirty minutes in the middle where I fell asleep. NOT MY FAULT! He put on the extended edition), and I consider that, too, is a work of art.

They're both classic works of literature, yes, but the makeup, costumes, sets, special effects, cinematography, and score in the Fellowship of the Ring contribute just as much to its "art" status as the script. Similarly, the lighting, staging, and acting (among other components) bring Hamlet to life as a play and, yes, give it artistic value.

So, film and theatre qualify as art. Okay, painting, photography, sculpture, and music are all "art," too, right? But wait...

What are the limits to what can be considered "art?" Is every poem, painting, drawing, or photo a work of art? Is every song a work of art? I'm pretty sure this piece qualifies as art, but I have reservations about calling this one "art." Then there are unconventional forms of expression that some people may or may not artistically value, like interior decorating, dance, cooking, or even makeup.

So, what am I deciding? To the artist, if you have the creativity to express something unique or beautiful or unsettling or just interesting, your art can come in . To the beholder, you can decide what is or is not art. This means that there will always be conflicts, because not everyone sees the same way.

How would you define art? And, with that much said, what are some of your favorite works of art? Please share :)