The two songs that I chose to look into for this assignment are “Icky Thump” by The White Stripes and “The Pretender” by Foo Fighters. First off, Icky Thump intrigues me as its lyrics can easily be connected to immigration and Trump and it’s such a strong rock sound. I think that this song will be somewhat easy to do lyrically, as opposed to “The Pretender”, which doesn’t have as clear a theme that jumps out at the listener the way “Icky Thump” seems to have, at least from my perspective.

The social issue being addressed by “Icky Thump” is immigration, and with “The Pretender” it seems to be protesting the corruption of the government/political system as well as references to the military, seemingly it is against blindly sending people to fight for our country when the people in the positions of power really don’t care all that much about these people who put their lives at risk while they sit comfortably in their office.

I think that “Icky Thump” will lead me to researching how immigration is treated in the states and possibly find other songs about the issue, if I am able to find them. As for “The Pretender”, I think that it will lead me to research a plethora of information about stories of corrupt politicians and them not caring about or helping the people under their rule. Both selections are loud, in-your-face rock songs with strong & heavy guitar riffs, a staple of rock as we have come to know it.
I am trying to connect “Icky Thump” to the time of Trump’s presidency and his decisions about immigration and discussions of the wall, etc., even though the song was actually released in 2007. Still, there were bills being passed in regard to immigration. However, these were actually in favor of the US being a welcoming country because of the realization that most of the people who came to America throughout its history were in fact immigrants, in this case from Europe.
These songs mean a lot to me personally, because The White Stripes and Foo Fighters are two bands which have been highly influential in my life in terms of empowerment and standing for what you believe in without looking back. I think the two song selections are extremely important and prevalent today, because they are acting as a vessel for protesting important social issues but include blaring riffs and booming drums which make it easier to digest the messages. I’m definitely willing to and will hopefully be able to dedicate 10 weeks to studying one of my songs, even if it means listening to them over and over again.

What concerns me about completing the project is the amount of context I will be able to find about the artist’s message, even when the lyrics are decoded based on my personal viewpoint while studying them.