Viva La White Girl

"Viva La White Girl"

Fame, fortune, platinum records.
It's every boys dream.

True story.
Somebody asked me one time.
Travie, you high.
You look high.
****, yeah I'm high.

Let's go.

The world is yours, so play the role.
Blow the dust off this record and put the needle down slow.
Our veins are cold, but we'll never grow old.
Let's have a toast, and raise our drinks.
No hearts on our sleeves, just eagles on our cuff links.
It's such a rush to know you love me so much.

We'll do whatever you want to.
Girl I'll make a movie star of you.
You know that I could,
If you let me be your Hollywood.

We'll get high, and hide.
We all lust to the glamorous,
white girl so fine.
Going up on the downtown line.
We'll get high, and hide.
We all lust to the glamorous,
white girl so fine.
Going up on the downtown line.

Take your razor, break down my line.
Put your nose to the speaker.
Now breathe in, breathe in.

Clean up your nose, and face the crowd.
Then kiss your mirror cause we're all stars now.
Isn't it fun how music makes your lips numb?

We'll do whatever you want to.
Girl I'll make a movie star of you.
You know that I could,
If you let me be your Hollywood.

We'll get high, and hide.
We all lust to the glamorous,
white girl so fine.
Going up on the downtown line.
We'll get high, and hide.
We all lust to the glamorous,
white girl so fine.
Going up on the downtown line.

Take your razor, break down my line.
Put your nose to the speaker.
Now breathe in, breathe in.

We'll get high, and hide.
We all lust to the glamorous,
white girl so fine.
Going up on the downtown line.
We'll get high, and hide.
We all lust to the glamorous,
white girl so fine.
Going up on the downtown line.

Breathe in.
Breathe in.
Breathe in.
Breathe in

Gym Class Heroes is an American band from Geneva, New York that blends modern rock with hip hop. You may know them for their hit song "Cupid's Chokehold" which reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Gym Class Heroes is not known for having deep metaphors in their songs, for example, the song "Cupid's Chokehold" has a very simplistic meaning and has no other deeper message.  However, the song I’m going to be discussing, “Viva La White Girl,” is a song that actually makes great use of metaphors, even though they aren’t that hard to decipher. This song actually stirred up some controversy when it was released because of people who were unable to see the metaphors in the lyrics. On the surface level, the words are about fame, fortune and the drugs that always seem to follow. Many people were put off at such lines such as “Clean up your nose, and face the crowd. Then kiss the mirror cause were all-stars now.” At first glance it appears that the band is endorsing the usage of cocaine as a part of being music stars. However, the lead singer Travis McCoy cleverly uses cocaine as a metaphor for the music he feels flowing through his veins. The metaphor is very simple, but is used to make a meaningful, clever and catchy song. Surfing around the web, it is actually surprising how many people overlook the whole meaning of the song. There are hints everywhere such as: “Take your razor, break down my line. Put your nose to the speaker. Now breathe in, breathe in.”  By saying “Put your nose to the speaker,” the metaphor for music becomes quite obvious. Additionally, in the chorus McCoy repeatedly references a “white girl so fine.” White is a common term that refers to cocaine, but in this song cocaine is a metaphor, so the glamorous white girl we are lost to is music. The chorus ends up meaning that sometimes music makes you successful and you get “high”, other times you fail and you “hide” from the public eye, but we still keep on making music regardless. Music is a mistress who you can’t turn your back on. There are many songs out there that make better, deeper usage of metaphors; however “Viva La White Girl” will always stand out to me because I find music very important to life. It has its ups and downs, but no matter what you can never truly lose hold of it. My favorite line from the song is, “Blow the dust off this record and put the needle down slow. Our veins our cold, but we’ll never grow old,” which means: even if music ceases to be a part of your life, you can always find a way to rediscover it.

The Race for the Double Helix

In April 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick shook the scientific world with the double-helical model for the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. This image shows Watson (left) and Crick admiring their DNA model, which they built from tin and wire. Over the past 50 years, their model has evolved from a mere hypothesis to an icon of modern Biology. DNA, the substance of inheritance, is the most celebrated molecule of our time. The discovery of the structure of DNA is has enabled scientists to learn everything that we know today about genetics. Without this discovery, the fields of medicine, biotechnology, and many other areas would not be what they are now. Over the years, this image has transcended what it originally was: a simple photograph of the discovery of DNA structure; now it has grown to encompass much more.

Depending on your level of education, this picture may represent different things. To the uneducated, it may simply represent science. People have come to associate ball and stick molecule diagrams with science in general and thus recognize this picture as a photo of a big scientific discovery.  To someone who went to school this might more specifically represent the fields of biology and genetics. DNA is one of the most important concepts you learn about when you learn biology in high school and it is very likely that this picture appeared in your textbook. This photo has become a metonym for genetics, the study of inheritance. When I look at this picture, instantly the concepts of Mendelian genetics, basic chromosomal inheritance, and basic molecular inheritance come to mind. The double helix sketch on the back wall in the picture is also incredibly iconic. Movies like “Spiderman” and “The Incredible Hulk” have used images of DNA in gene splicing sequences to show how their respective superheroes inherited their powers. Even though there is no real scientific basis to these sequences, because of pictures like the Watson and Crick photo, the audience instantly understands what the movie is trying to convey. As we continue to discover and learn more about the world we live in, the details of this discovery may eventually fade, however this image will certainly outlive the written word, and persist to represent science, discovery and learning.

Collective Memory

Images can be a powerful tool for preserving memories. However when such images are mass produced and used as a representation of crucial events in history, a selective memory is formed where certain images and other information are deemed more important than others. In Regarding the Pain of Others, Susan Sontag claims, "All memory is individual, unreproducible-it dies with each person. What is called collective memory is not a remembering but a stipulating: that this is important, and this is the story and how it happened, with the pictures that lock the story in our minds" (86). What Sontag is saying, is that what we consider as collective memory or history is only a representation of what actually happened. The original memories, consisting of more than just images and words, are irreproducible feelings and thoughts that have been lost to the passage of time. What we are left with is a shallow retelling of a story. For example, think back to American history class. What comes to mind when you think of Washington crossing the Delaware? For most people, what immediately comes to mind is the famous image of Washington with his leg up on the bow of a small rowing boat crossing the river. For some people, the information from a textbook and "facts" about that event also come to mind. However, all of this history that has been passed down generation to generation is just a portrayal of what actually happened. As time passes and more history is accumulated, less and less of the information will be deemed important and our collective memory of American history will change.

Clint Eastwood's historical fiction, Letters from Iwo Jima, is another great example of Sontag's thought. The movie is a representation of the famous battle on the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective. It was pieced together from the writings and memoirs of people that were actually there. However, the movie can never be anywhere near a true story of what actually happened. Somewhere along the way someone had to sort through all the information and deem what was important and unimportant. Letters from Iwo Jima actually serves to dictate what our collective memory of the battle is. If aliens from a distant planet were to learn about our culture and history, our representation of "the other" in this movie would be a reality to them. After seeing the movie I have formed my own memories of what happened at Iwo Jima. As I live my life, interact with people, and talk about the movie, my memories of this film will affect how others remember the event and thus shape our collective memory.

There is no solution to collective memory, nor do I see it as a problem; it simply exists. As world ages certain events will be deemed important, and others will be forgotten. It doesn't mean that the forgotten events are not important in other ways, but there is only so much we can collectively remember. I feel it is best that certain things are lost to the passage of time; just as people die so do memories. By the time these memories finally die they are so distorted from their original form they are practically waiting for the plug to be pulled.