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Inarticulate :: Free Music Podcast

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Inarticulate started with some ideas Neil put together and then Jeremy and I followed on by layering on top of his original mix. Lyrically, the song speaks to ideas brought up by Sonja Sohn at the most recent TEDx MidAtlantic. When I attended the event, Sonja’s final spoken word piece struck me particularly and stuck with me.
Her project, Rewired for Change, is a non-profit group attempting to help deter violent behavior in Baltimore by stepping in and helping people find ways to help understand and cope with the stress in their lives. In her speech, she specifically mentions poetry as a means of expression for these young people to help them understand themselves and their surroundings, which is something I often think of whenever I’m writing my own works.
In my eyes, violence is born of emotional misunderstanding. Those who go through difficult or disturbing experiences may have difficulty understanding the impact of these experiences. This internal misunderstanding can manifest itself in a multitude of ways, including violent behavior or depression. However, I feel that finding a way to express this internal conflict in poetry, music, visual art or other avenues of expression can help bring to light these concerns and help those experiencing pain to cope with it.

This is the core of what Inarticulate speaks to lyrically. Many people in crushing circumstances often feel that they can do nothing to compete with their environment. They don’t know how to see that there are ways out of pain or depression and into more positive circumstances. Inarticulate speaks to this and notes how something as simple as writing down your thoughts can help break you free of these constraints or at least understand them in a way that helps to reduce of the stress of them.

In a hail of gunfire
the fire she eats me
as it feeds me
and keeps me alive
I’m in a hive mind now
no way to escape
all this violence and rape
a cigarette to console me
they now own me
another serial number 
for the file.

as I walk down the isle
with nationalist eyes
I can’t see the forest for the skies
and then I realize the disguise
I am inarticulate
I can’t speak to save myself
I am inarticulate
It’s hard to vocalize
the rise I feel inside

In the spread of ashes
that wander under a cold hard rain
I set aflame
the targets I aim
for you to see where I’m coming from
you’ve got to see where I’ve been
the where and when
that happens when you turn around
the cold shoulder
I’m over and over
going round my head
all the reasons I signed my name
to play the game
so many roll the dice
suffice that death come calling

and although now I’m falling
for encouraging words
of men with strong voices
I can still scream out
I’m out of line
and this time
I’ll take what’s mine
because it’s what I’ve made for myself
By myself
and for myself
to be.
I do have expression
and the engine
swing the pendulum
when I choose
what do I have to lose?
nothing except myself

I am inarticulate


Inarticulate by Chilljam is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at chilljam.com.
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