emilym

So, I’ve been dealing with Whitman’s disciples this week, and how they each believed the good grey poet was more than human and that his work would survive in the future generations.  In some ways they were right.  Whitman’s poetry continues to be read.  He is remembered and has statues built in his image, libraries, schools, and bridges in his name.

All of these thoughts regarding Whitman’s legacy have been circling around in my skull, as I’m using the topic in my final project/paper.  Naturally, for me that is, my ipod plays a major role in my daily life, which, of course, includes my thought processes, reading, and writing.  There are very few times when I’m not working to music in the background.  So when Katatonia’s “Burn the Remembrance” came up on my ipod, I started connecting it to my thoughts on Whitman’s legacy, legacies in general, and how we remember things.  The song, in plot/story, has little to do with Whitman; it’s about a breakup and the aftermath–and how those memories remain, hence the title.  However, the band, like Whitman, tends to get philosophical in their lyrics.  They ask very deep questions about legacies and memories–and how they aren’t always what we want to live on after us, or during our lifetimes.

Here are the lyrics

Here is the song on youtube:  Burn the Remembrance

As a side note, the first 10, or so, times I’ve heard this song, I thought the chorus was “Words will replace us” instead of “What will replace us?”  That misunderstanding actually affected the way I think about writing.  Honestly, the song is great the way it is, but I think it would be even better if they replaced “What” with”Words.”