Song Analysis

The song I have chosen for Holden is "All I Need" by One Republic. This song revolves around the idea of what we really need in our lives against what we think we need. It also discusses the idea of letting go of the things we don't need in order to make our lives easier. I would insert this song at the start of Chapter 25 when Holden seems to be lost in his world. He has no idea where to go and starts by just sleeping. He goes through in his mind everyone he knows to see if they could accompany him but he realizes that he only needs himself.

Song Analysis

“Keep Holding On” by Avril Lavigne--Lolo
This song speaks primarily about staying strong and not losing the people you love in your life. So I decided to place my song on page 179, right after Holden begins to cry. This, being one of the first times in the book that Holden expresses his feelings, is the time where he needs true companionship and needs to “keep holding on” to make it through the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmukW1sNlIk
“Keep Holding On” by Avril Lavigne conveys the need for Holden to hold on to the things and people he loves in order to stay mentally and emotionally sane. In the very first lines in the first verse, she sings, “You’re not alone. Together we stand.” These words speak true to what Phoebe wants Holden to feel like in this scene; she will forever be with him (physically, emotionally, or mentally) no matter where he goes or what he does. The next lines are, “I’ll be by your side, you know I’ll take your hand.” Phoebe, literally, at this point, is by Holden’s side and she wants him to get that even though he feels lost, he can always count on her to be there for him. Instead of taking his hand, she puts her arm around him to actually display her companionship. The following lines consist of, “When it gets cold and it feels like the end, there's no place to go, you know I won't give in.” These lyrics simply reiterate what they say earlier about (Phoebe) always being there for a shoulder to lean on. This song truly displays the relationship and compassion between Holden and Phoebe.

World Spins Madly On - The Weepies

The song, "World Spins Madly On" by The Weepies should be placed on page 156, at the end of the first paragraph. The lyrics deal with wishing that someone would still be there, and stay with you, like Allie stays with Holden. Since Holden talks about not liking Allie's grave because people who visit him leave while he is stuck in the ground, I thought it was the perfect spot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4sa2HoXpsE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sexG8787A-s

(One link has pictures of the characters from One Tree Hill [Awful show] but also has lyrics, so do not mind the pictures)

The song “World Spins Madly On” best represents Holden’s attitude towards his brother’s death, because it conveys his inability to get past Allie’s death. The third verse states, “I let the day go by, I always say goodbye. I watch the stars from my windowsill. The whole world is moving and I'm standing still.” Like when he visits Allie’s grave, he “always say[s] goodbye,” however he cannot move on. He still remains, “standing still,” because he cannot shed the need for Allie to be with him, he has not moved on. Instead of moving past the death, and moving with the world, he remains in a deep melancholy because of Allie’s death. This is why Holden gets so angry when visiting graves, because the visitors can leave and the person in the grave cannot. Symbolically, grave-visitors can move on and put a loved one out of their mind, but Holden does not have that capability. He remains attached, “[thinking] of [Allie] and where [Allie]’d gone.”

Crimson Door - H.I.M.

Crimson Door

The song I have chosen is Crimson Door by H.I.M. (His Infernal Majesty). The song Crimson Door, conveys how Holden constantly protects himself from uncomfortable situations and how he is always on a journey of a child and man. I would place this song when Holden is leaving Pency. He shows that he doesnt care and that he is glad that he is leaving but in reality he is full of sorrow. As he is leaving Pency he puts on his red hat as protection or he hides behind the "Crimson Door". "We hide behind the crimson door, While the summer is killed by the fall" He hides from the uncontrollable scene and he faces the decisions of being a adult and child.

Sounds of Silence- SImon and Garfunkel by Brian Francis

This song should be placed on page 198 when Holden is walking up Fifth Avenue and begins to obsess about disappearing as he steps off the curb. This song fits this section of the book perfectly because it illustrates the pain of depression Holden is going through.

The lyrics in the Sounds of Silence conveys Holden's depressed visions and actions during his long walk up Fifth Avenue. While walking up Fifth Avenue, he begins to think that when he steps off the curb he will just “go down, down” and disappear. Holden’s thinking demonstrates his deep depression and his inability to think of anything positive. Also, Holden’s walking alone illustrates his complete loneliness and that he has no idea where to go in life. These ideas are also shown in the Sounds of Silence with the lyrics “in restless dreams I walked alone, narrow streets of cobblestone”. Simon and Garfunkel’s used “restless” which conveys the lack of passion and happiness which mirrors Holden’s depressed state of mind. The similarity of these ideas of loneliness and having no direction demonstrate the depth of Holden’s downward spiral. The song Sounds of Silence is perfect for Holden’s walk up Fifth Avenue because Holden’s state of mind is lonely and extremely depressed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDYxgDO5bCI

Beautiful Day-Sofia

By U2

I thought this song “Beautiful Day” would be played after Holden gets drunk and the piano player instructs him, “Go home Mac like a good guy. Go home a hit the sack.”(152)
U2’s Beautiful Day captures Holden’s depression and his need for companionship. The line “ You thought you'd found a friend, to take you out of this place” expresses his desire for a companion to help him escape from his depression. In the Catcher In the Rye Holden asks Sally to run away with him but Sally rejects him. He came to Sally to help him get away from his depression but the encounter with her backfired and instead caused him more pain. Holden started crying when he realizes, “I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome” (153). Like the song says “You thought you’d found a friend” Holden thought he could escape his misery but he will not escape it until he faces his depression.

A Drop in the Ocean-Helena

A Drop in the Ocean-Ron Pope (link)

This song fits on pages 212-213, in the instance when Phoebe tells Holden that she forgives him, and directly following that. This song is talking about wanting to achieve joy, and holding onto, and caring about those you depend on and love. In Holden's case, I think that this one person is Phoebe, making this song appropriate in the moment when Holden re-connects to Phoebe.

The song, "A Drop In the Ocean," by Ron Pope, represents Holden's close relationship with Phoebe. There are many moments in the song that represent a connection between two people, one being "I'm holding you closer than most/ 'cause you are my heaven". This mirrors Holden's feelings for his sister, in that he knows he would be completely lost without her in his life, and when she becomes mad at him he is willing to do anything to gain back her good favor. His heaven includes being needed to protect innocence, while having a sense of family and love, both of which are provided by his relationship with Phoebe, making them so close. In the book this same feeling comes across when she is on the carousel and Holden says, "I felt so damn happy...she looked so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat". Just sitting there, watching Phoebe Holden is in his heaven, it makes him the happiest we have seen him all book. Holden's heaven comes in the form of his sister, and so he clings to her, making their relationship so close.