Close Reading/Listening "Devil May Cry" by The Weekend

(First, listen to the song here, so you know what I'm talking about!)


For my Close Reading Inquiry, I chose to closely read/listen to the song "Devil May Cry" by The Weekend. I chose that song because I noticed many verses had lots of inner meanings. "Devil May Cry" tells a story about hardships and merits. It is about the way life is and how it flows dynamically is echoed in the music and lyrics. This, I think, was expressed through an 'up and down'-like fashion.

In the first few lines of the song, I noticed that the words held a heavy message that contradicted the melody. The lyrics reflected upon enduring pain, while the melody was soft and soothing. This was the first sign of the 'up and down' pattern. I think that this was intended to show how if you can survive a challenge or a hardship you've faced, you will be able to face it again. And this time, you can plow through that challenge with more experience. 

The second and the third verse was all about the 'rewards' of the hard fracas. The phrases "They will parade upon your victory," and "Home will feel like home again," both sound pretty amazing, all things considered. Also, the tune of the music changed to a wall of pure concurrent sound, which added emphasis to the song. This was definitely meant to construct an image of one those climax points in life. It's that high point of life that can usually be identified with the phrase, 'This is the best day ever!' The climax always comes after the action, and these two verses really explained that. 

There were two lines in the song that confused me for some time. "Corruption will fill your brain," and "Just learn to love pain and be patient." At first, I thought these two phrases had a kind of negative resonance to them, being that corruption is usually what drives people to do bad things and the reference back to the first verse. Their placement in the song confused me as well, when it goes from "And home will feel like home again," to "Corruption will fill your brain." But then, it hit me. The two phrases aren't negative at all. They were almost  like encouragements. "Corruption will fill your brain," is just a funny way of saying 'You will have the strength to do <action verb>.' The second line that confused me, the reference back to the first verse, was really the entire message of the song summed up on that line. "Just learn to love pain and be patient." You have to be patient in order to successfully get through life's challenges. You need you a corrupt brain to convince yourself you can.

All in all, the song "Devil May Cry" by The Weekend was all about facing hardships in life and getting through them. It warned that if you're not patient, that low point of your life can drop even lower. I also noticed that this entire song was almost like a summary of social injustice in the world.  Someone facing poverty or abuse can definitely feel life's low points, but there is a way for someone to overcome these challenges. It can be hard, or it can be easy, you can even get help from others. But on the infinite mountain range that is life itself, there will always be a way to climb higher.  

The Stolen Party (Power vs. Resistance)

The Stolen Party is about the strain between power and resistance. When you think of power, you usually are thinking of a person with authority, the boss calling the shots. When you think of resistance, you think of the person resisting the person of authority. There is always tension between the two conflicting forces.

In the story, one of the characters with power and authority is the mother of Rosaura, the main character. This shown when the author uses words like sneered and her harsh tone when speaking with Rosaura.  But we can also see how Rosaura resists. She tells her mother to 'shut up,' and continually ends her arguments in 'so there.' When the two clash, Rosaura is upset by her mothers' tone and doesn't believe her mother is supportive of her. However, I think Rosaura's mother refused to let her go to the 'rich people's party' because she wanted to protect Rosaura. I don't think she wanted Rosaura to get hurt, but that was hidden by Rosaura's blind resent.

Moving on into Luciana's party, Rosaura runs into Luciana's cousin. Luciana's cousin believes she has more authority than Rosaura due to her stronger patronage with Luciana. However, this is actually a sign of resistance to Rosaura who really has more power than her. This is proven when she kicks Luciana's cousin, and when she gives her a small piece of cake. Though the story is written in third person, it is also written through Rosaura's perspective. And because of this, I think Rosaura didn't realize that her power over Luciana's cousin may have hurt her. (Both emotionally and physically.)

In the end, I think Rosaura realizes that her mother truly was trying to protect her, but at the same time make her learn through experience that power is dangerous. I think that in the world, prominent figures of power are politicians. But like Rosaura, some politicians abuse their power, or use it to hurt other people. but that is why there is resistance, so people with power don't become too overpowered. This balance is shown in The Stolen Party and in the world.