“Feels like Summer” – Childish Gambino

When I think of Childish Gambino I typically think of his song, “This is America” or “Wildfire.” Both of these songs are energetic and have a lot of personality to them. This song, on the other hand, is more peaceful and I would consider it to be indie. It does not remind me of anything other music that he has made that I have heard. When I found out that this song was a song about climate change I looked it up to listen to it because I like some of Childish Gambino’s songs so I thought I might like this one too. When I listened to it I realized I had actually heard the song before. Even though I had heard it before I had never thought that it would be a politically charged song. 

While I do think this song is relatively easy to interpret I think it will be one of those songs that you do not think to be a political song, but after further interpretation you can see that it is a political song. The lyrics say exactly what he wants to say about the environment. He talks about how people are feeling during climate change and how it “feels like summer” all of the time. 

I think it will be interesting to know what the current state of society was at the time of the release. I think this song will lead me into specific topics of climate change during this time. I want to find more about environmental issues and maybe see the progress that has been made. I also think this will lead me into more RNB music. Childish Gambino has a wide variety of music so I think his “chill” aspects of this song are an interesting contrast between what he is saying about climate change and what is actually happening. 

After some research some of the things that I found about climate change in 2018 consisted of many government projects that are worsening our environment. For example, The Interior Department granted a permit to an oil company to begin offshore exploration in the Arctic Ocean. Also, Trump’s EPA decided to replace the Clean Power Plan (the Obama administration’s climate protection initiative) with a plan that would make the air dirtier and people sicker. There were also reports from the WWF that said between 1970 and 2014, the average populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians declined by 60 percent. Overall, the climate crisis has been declining and Childish Gambino thought it was a good idea to bring it to the attention of the public in 2018.

Personally, I believe that climate change is a very big issue and I am very passionate about the subject. I have thought about going into the environmental law field for a while, though I do not have the science background for that. I would like to study this song because I want to learn more about the environmental issues and where progress has been made and I think this is something that will happen if I continue to do more research about why Childish Gambino wrote this song. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1B9Fk_SgI0 

 

“Salt”- Bad Suns

Bad Suns is a band I have listened to, and loved, for over a year now. I do not remember when I heard about what the song “Salt” is about but I remembered it would be a perfect song for this project. “Salt” is about the transgender community and not feeling like you are a part of your own skin, and having issues with gender identity. I think this song will be a bit more challenging because it is a more underground band and the lyrics are more up for interpretation. This song is considered a protest song because it brings light to the subject of transgender and those who have issues with gender identity. This is a topic that is less talked about which also makes this song a bit more difficult. 

I think by looking at research with this song, I will be able to learn more about the LGBTQ timeline in the US, and where we have come and where we have to go as a society. The lead singer of the band said he wrote the song to better understand a close friend’s relationship with the situation. In terms of history, in December of 2014, Washington D.C. became the 3rd US region to ban conversion therapy for minors. Also, nearly 1 in 10 transgender people were assaulted in between 2014 and 2015. 

Personally, I think it is important to understand what is happening in the parts of your society and I am not fully aware of what happens in the LGBTQ society. As a society, they are very overlooked and continue making progress and then having rights taken away so it is important to advocate for them. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ-12-sFpLs 

Something that concerns me about this project is that during the discussions we have in class, I have my own ideas but I also feed off of the conversations of others. I like to bounce ideas off of others with topics like this and I am afraid I will not come up with my own ideas.