Essential question
How does music help us remember people we are close to, or those we have lost?
|
|
overview
In the final scene of the film Furious 7, longtime friends Brian O’Conner (played by Paul Walker) and Dom Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) arrive at a fork in the road. Toretto heads back to his “fast and furious” lifestyle, but O’Conner chooses the divergent path, away from danger and adventure and toward a quieter, more stable life with his family. The emotion of the scene is heightened by Charlie Puth’s “See You Again,” a sentimental song about families, friendship, and difficult goodbyes. The scene is fictional, the song, less so.
Puth composed “See You Again” in memory of actor Paul Walker, who died in a car accident in November 2013 shortly after filming Furious 7. He wrote it in response to a call from film producers at Universal Pictures and soundtrack editors at Atlantic Records for songs that would pay tribute to Walker’s life. The winning song would be played at the end of the film.
At the time, Puth was relatively unknown in Los Angeles, and had little hope his song would be chosen. Yet, while the Furious 7 producers received submissions from several famous artists, the melody and the message of “See You Again” stood out. “The first time we heard it we knew this was the end song,” said producer Neal Moritz in a Los Angeles Times interview. “It had a sense of longing and sadness but it was also uplifting as well.”
Part of the sentimental pull of “See You Again” might have stemmed from Puth’s personal experience–he too had lost a friend to a car accident. But while the lyrics acknowledge loss, they also remain, as Moritz points out, “uplifting” in their acclamation of the power of memory and the possibility of reunion. Puth recalls, “I thought to myself, ‘What would [film co-star] Vin Diesel’s last text message be to Paul Walker the moment he died?’ I decided it would be ‘I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again.’ ”
The final version of “See You Again,” which also features several verses by rapper Wiz Khalifa, topped the Billboard charts for 12 weeks. The music video eclipsed previous Youtube viewing records, and became the most-streamed song in a single day on Spotify.
Let's use “See You Again” to consider the emotional power of song, and explore ways music might help people think about loved ones. Discover other songs that have been written in memoriam to people, finally contemplating how songs might remind them of their own personal friends and loved ones.
Puth composed “See You Again” in memory of actor Paul Walker, who died in a car accident in November 2013 shortly after filming Furious 7. He wrote it in response to a call from film producers at Universal Pictures and soundtrack editors at Atlantic Records for songs that would pay tribute to Walker’s life. The winning song would be played at the end of the film.
At the time, Puth was relatively unknown in Los Angeles, and had little hope his song would be chosen. Yet, while the Furious 7 producers received submissions from several famous artists, the melody and the message of “See You Again” stood out. “The first time we heard it we knew this was the end song,” said producer Neal Moritz in a Los Angeles Times interview. “It had a sense of longing and sadness but it was also uplifting as well.”
Part of the sentimental pull of “See You Again” might have stemmed from Puth’s personal experience–he too had lost a friend to a car accident. But while the lyrics acknowledge loss, they also remain, as Moritz points out, “uplifting” in their acclamation of the power of memory and the possibility of reunion. Puth recalls, “I thought to myself, ‘What would [film co-star] Vin Diesel’s last text message be to Paul Walker the moment he died?’ I decided it would be ‘I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again.’ ”
The final version of “See You Again,” which also features several verses by rapper Wiz Khalifa, topped the Billboard charts for 12 weeks. The music video eclipsed previous Youtube viewing records, and became the most-streamed song in a single day on Spotify.
Let's use “See You Again” to consider the emotional power of song, and explore ways music might help people think about loved ones. Discover other songs that have been written in memoriam to people, finally contemplating how songs might remind them of their own personal friends and loved ones.
Songs to jog the memory
|
|
|
Think about the ABC song!
- In what ways do you think the ABC song might help children remember the alphabet?
- Do you think a song can help people remember other things, like places and people? Can you think of any examples of this type of song?
- Have you ever used a song or music to help you remember something?
see you again - charlie puth
The video for this song has been viewed more than 1 billion times on Youtube. What do you think might have made it became so popular? “See You Again” was written for Paul Walker, an actor from Furious 7 who died in a car accident in 2013. After the accident, there was a competition to write a song that would pay tribute to him. Among many contestants, singer/songwriter Charlie Puth won the contest, and his song was featured at the end of Furious 7, the last film in which Walker starred.
- Why do you think the producers of Furious 7 felt a song would be a good way to memorialize Paul Walker?
- Do you think a song is an effective way to remember someone who is gone and/or to celebrate that person’s life? Why or why not?
- Can you think of another song that also serves to remember someone?
|
|
|
OHIO - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
|
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming
We're finally on our own This summer I hear the drumming Four dead in Ohio Gotta get down to it Soldiers are cutting us down Should have been done long ago What if you knew her And found her dead on the ground How can you run when you know? Gotta get down to it Soldiers are cutting us down Should have been done long ago What if you knew her And found her dead on the ground How can you run when you know? Tin soldiers and Nixon coming We're finally on our own This summer I hear the drumming Four dead in Ohio |
|
ACTIVITYListen closely to the words. What do you think this song is about? What does it seem to memorialize?
Musician Graham Nash discusses the origin of the song “Ohio.”
Get out a sheet of paper for a free writing exercise. The goal of free writing is to abandon the idea of a finished product (grammar, structure, etc.) and record thoughts as they happen. Write for a 3-5 minutes about a song that reminds of them of someone, someplace, or an event, real or imagined. |
KENT STATE SHOOTINGThe Kent State shootings were the killings of four and wounding of nine other unarmed Kent State University students in Kent, Ohio, by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970. The killings took place during a peace rally opposing the expanding involvement of the Vietnam War into neutral Cambodia by US military forces as well as protesting the National Guard presence on campus. The incident marked the first time that a student had been killed in an anti-war gathering in US history.
Twenty-eight National Guard soldiers fired approximately 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others. Students Allison Krause, 19, Jeffrey Miller, 20, Sandra Lee Scheuer, 20, and William Schroeder, 19, were killed and nine others were injured, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis. All died at the scene except Schroeder, who was pronounced dead at Robinson Memorial Hospital shortly afterward. Krause and Miller were among the 300 students who gathered to protest the expansion of the Cambodian Campaign, which President Richard Nixon had announced in a television address one week earlier. Scheuer and Schroeder were in the crowd of several hundred others who had been observing the proceedings at distances of more than 300 feet from the firing line; like most of the observers, they were watching the protest during a break between their classes. The fatal shootings triggered immediate and massive outrage on campuses around the country. More than 4 million students participated in organized walk-outs at hundreds of universities, colleges and high schools, the largest student strike in the history of the United States at that time. The student strike of 1970 further affected public opinion at an already socially contentious time over the role of the United States in the Vietnam War. |