Let me hold your crown, babe

I chose the song King of Anything sung and written by Sara Bareillies. I love this song, and I feel like the music video really fits well, but I won't let that cloud my interpretation of the song lyrics. The character in the song is listening to someone else speak, someone who tries to be their knight in shining armor. The line "so many things I'd say if only i were able, but I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by" tells you that the subject is feeling almost ignored, like she can't speak her mind. Another line says "so let me thank you for your time and try not to waste any more of mine, get out for here fast". The boy she is talking about is probably ignoring her, and she is sick of it.

The chorus lyrics are "who cares if you disagree/ you are not me/ who made you king of anything/ so you dare tell me who to be/ who died and made you king of anything". Compared to the message Sara Bareillies might have been trying to send in the first verse, this is confusing. Here it sounds like she is saying no one can control her, and she is her own person.

The line "you are not me" really stands out to me.  The subject doesn't care what others think, and will go her own way. Maybe in the first verse, the subject was being told what to think or do, and she was looking for a way out.

The second verse and bridge connect more to the chorus, I think. "You sound so innocent/ all full of good intent/ you swear you know best" makes me think the person scolding the subject is oblivious to the fact that others have ideas also. The bridge is the strongest part of the song, next to the chorus, in my opinion. This is because it grabs your attention, and you can actually understand and connect to the lyrics, "all my life/ i've tried/ to make everybody happy while I/ just hurt/ and hide/ waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn/ to decide". The subject is really under the influence or control of someone else, and she wants out.

This can connect to people under pressure, or people who are forced to continue something their hearts aren't into. Like if someone is forced to play an instrument or sport by their parents. Or if a kid is pressured by tests and studying, they want to be able to make their own decision. The last line in the song that Sara Bareillies says is "let me hold your crown babe". The crown symbolizes the right to speak up for yourself, and the subject wants to be able to have that right. Like how certain rights aren't given to kids until they reach an age. Then they can get their crown.

King of Anything lyrics
King of Anything music video

Some Brotherly Advice About a Fake Alzheimer’s Patient

[SPOILER ALERT {like, every spoil possible}]

In the book White Cat by Holly Black, Cassel discovers he is a worker. A worker is a criminal who can change something about or for someone else. There are Dream, Memory, Luck, Body, Death, Emotion, and Transformation workers. Transformation workers are one in a thousand and the most powerful, and Cassel just discovered that he is one. His brother Barron has been memory working him so he doesn’t remember anything under the orders of his other brother Phillip, and their mom. Cassel and his brothers have a really messed up relationship, and it’s mainly because Cassel is the strongest of the three of them, but doesn’t know it.

Cassel is very strong, for someone who thought he was “the only straight person in a crooked family”. Cassel felt like he didn’t belong, and I think that was really hard for him, especially since his brothers were so distant from him.  Barron always looked up to Phillip, and Phillip acted like Cassel was a waste of time. Cassel tried to prove himself to them, which is really heartbreaking considering how much they had deceived him. I think that although his relationship with his brothers isn’t the best, it helped make Cassel stronger, and eventually strong enough to work against his brothers.

At the end of the book on page 298 Barron drives over to Cassel’s school to have pizza with him. Barron is a memory worker, but the downside is that whenever he works someone, he looses his memories too. Cassel had changed some of Barron’s notebooks that held memories, and one of the memories that Cassel changed was that he and Barron went out for pizza every Tuesday. Cassel says, “Memory is funny. Barron seems relaxed, like he really likes me, because he doesn’t remember hating me. Or maybe he remembers the feeling of dislike but he assumes that he liked me more than he hated me.” I feel really bad for Cassel here because he remembers how his brother tried to kill him; while they are sitting together eating pizza, Barron is acting like he cares about Cassel. Barron hated Cassel because he felt that transformation work was wasted on Cassel. It must be really hard to see both sides of your sibling, and know that they are both partially fake. 

Sandy Hook: Demolish or Renovate?

I read an article on how people are debating on whether we should demolish the Sandy Hook Elementary school, or renovate it. People have very strong feelings towards the shooting that happened at Sandy Hook elementary school, and it reflects in the quotes from parents. One mother said "We cannot pretend it never happened, but I am not prepared to ask my children to run and hide. You can't take away their school." Another mother with surviving children thinks that the building should be crushed because she can't come to terms with sending her kids back to that building. One mother thinks that it should be up to the victims to decide because the incident had the most impact on them. Additionally, there are facts about aftermath of past shootings. For example, Virginia Tech decided to renovate the classroom where the shooting occurred. 

The author tries to make you feel sympathetic yet open-minded about the fate of Sandy Hook Elementary School. The author does this by showing lots of different perspectives of families that may or may not have been involved in the incident. The author incorporates the quotes really well and includes facts that are thought provoking because you can see what happened in past situations. The author wants you to form an opinion based on facts not bias. For example, the article ends with the quote "I think we have to start that conversation now. It will take many, many months to do any kind of school project. We have very big decisions ahead of us. The goal is to bring our students home as soon as we can."

My opinion on Sandy Hook is that they should demolish the building because the memories are very tragic and traumatizing and it would be hard for the students to return. One mother says that she had very good memories there, her kids are older and previously attended Sandy Hook, and she thinks that they should renovate. I don't think that's a legitimate argument because she wasn't a primary victim. I didn't have an opinion prior to reading this article because I wasn't aware that this argument was being discussed. After reading the article, I strongly think that Sandy Hook should no longer be a school because I can't imagine returning to the scene of such a traumatizing event.