Seafoam Green
Leola, Pennsylvania
2019, Senior, Performing Arts
Reflection
Reflection
Although I noticed many past entries were centered on listing facts in song form, I wanted to take a more metaphorical, emotional approach typical of my songwriting style. I tried to use personification heavily to connect to people personally, as if the sea is just one of us. I also employed a certain level of ambiguity and the use of double meanings to increase the song's impact. For instance, "Our looming cloud" could be our greenhouse gas emissions as well as our ignorance. "The dead know we're wrong" is a reference to not only the marine organisms that have died due to human interference with the oceans, but also past generations of civilians and scientists who would be troubled by the rapid change happening now to our oceans. "A thousand shells / With nothing inside" also refers to these killed sea creatures (which could be mollusks, crustaceans, sea turtles, etc.) The phrase "Sea turtles choking on our birthday parties" refers to the fact that sea turtles sometimes choke on balloons--but also how every passing year we fail to take action, though we celebrate in oblivion, is deadly to our ocean ecosystems. In general, I did my best to find a balance between poetic language and literal calls to action. I wanted to focus on how ocean life is dying under our noses while we don't even notice, and to prompt people to act on this issue. My last three lines perhaps summarize this message the most clearly and emotionally.