Ben+Bongutu

Ben Bongutu Block 1

Song 1. Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammar I picked, “Keep Your Head Up” by Andy Grammar for a few reasons. In the story, Zach's father dies in a plane crash. Zach takes his father's death very hard. Zach remembers all the things that him and his dad were going to do but never could do. This is the conflict. Later, Zach moves on, and accepts the fact that his dad is not coming back. The lyrics,”Only rainbows, after rain, The sun will always, come again it's a circle circling around again it comes around” relate to how in the end Zach gets over it and moves on. This is how Zach comes of age. Zach realizes that good things can happen after bad, and that good times will always happen again. This song also represents one of the themes in the story. The theme of the story was to keep moving on in life, even when the bad stuff knocks you down.

Song 2. Too Late to Apologize by One Republic I picked, “Too Late to Apologize” by One Republic for a very important reason. To me, this song represents the resolution of the story. After Zach's father dies, Zach tries to find out how. Zach does this because he knows that his dad was too good to make a mistake in an airplane. So, Zach rides a bus out to his father's crash site. When he gets back to his house he still believes that his dad did not make a mistake. Zach has a very close uncle named Uncle John. Uncle John was a very nice but was strongly against Zach's dad's line of work. In the end, Uncle John knew about the plane and could have helped his father. But really Uncle John is a part of the organization that set up Zach's dad's death. In the very end of the story Zach runs away from his uncle, who he used to trust. The lyrics,” I loved you with a fire red but now its turning blue, and you say..”Sorry” like the angel heaven let me think was you. But I'm afraid...It's too late to apologize, it's too late .” This to me show how Zach felt when he confronts his uncle. His uncle tries to say sorry, but Zach knows the truth. So Zach runs away, which solves his problem.

Song 3. Written in the Stars by Tinie Tempah I picked, “Written in the Stars” by Tinie Tempah because it relates to one of the themes. This theme is to stand up to a bully. In the story, Zach was bullied by a kid named Spencer. Spencer picked on him at basketball. Spencer picked on him whenever he saw him. Zach, at first, just took Spencer's bullying and didn't do anything back. The lyrics,”I used to be the kid that no one cared about That's why you have to keep screaming 'til they hear you out,” show that you have to keep standing up to people for them too leave you alone. It does not really mean screaming, it means standing up for yourself. Also this song represents a part of Jake's life. The song talks about physical adversity in life,like being poor. The difference in Jake's life is that Jake faces mental adversity in the story.

Song 4.Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z I picked, “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z to represent the setting. The setting of the story is in New York City. This song is about the greatness of New York. A very important line of the song was, ” Sitting court side, Knicks and Nets give me high fives.” This is important because Zach's favorite team is the Knicks. Zach and his dad were planning to go, but when his dad died, Zach decided to go with his friend Kate. This is one of Zach's first steps to coping with his father's death.

Song 5. One Day by Matisyahu I picked, “One Day” by Matisyahu because it represents the conflict in the story. The conflict of the story is Zach trying to cope with his fathers death. The lyrics that represent the conflict are, “Sometimes in my tears I drown.” This represents Zach's sadness. But this song also represents a resolution of the story as well. The lyrics that represent the resolution are, ”I never let it get me down so when negativity surrounds I know someday it will all turn around.” This represents Zach's attitude in the end of the story, which also solves his problems.