“Fate Can Decide, I Can Ignore”
Fate and Living in The Moment in Romeo & Juliet and Tame Impala’s Currents
Fate and life in the moment are common themes in literature. Novelists, poets, songwriters, playwrights, and essayists often grapple with the idea that all actions are predetermined, that the events of one’s life and the everyday decisions that one makes are fixed into a timeline; a timeline including the past, present, and future. A timeline to be unseen and unaffected by humanity. Frequently, artists simultaneously confront the idea that one still must live their life, enjoying and experiencing the moments in the supposedly unalterable succession of events. Kevin Parker of Tame Impala fame carries with that long tradition in Currents, one carried by artists celebrated as William Shakespeare in works prominent as Romeo & Juliet. Both Currents and Romeo & Juliet repeatedly confront the ideas of letting nature take its course and how to still enjoy a predetermined life.
Romeo & Juliet first faces fate as early as the prologue with the line, “A pair of star cross’d lovers take their life.” (prologue, 6) This phrase suggests that the unlikely pair’s love was written in the stars, one of the, maybe, more syrupy terms for fate. It then blatantly states the subtext of nearly every single line: that Romeo and Juliet are doomed to die as a result of their complicated yet unyielding love. “Because we know Romeo and Juliet’s fate from the outset we are constantly hoping that they will take a different course…However, their fate is sealed and the audience is asked to question destiny and the ability to make free choices.” (Jamieson) A second reference to fate, one nearly as obvious, is Romeo’s nervousness before the ball.
…for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night’s revels, and expire the term
Of a despisèd life closed in my breast
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
But he that hath the steerage of my course,
Direct my sail. On, lusty gentlemen. (1.4.113–120)
He has the feeling that the entire audience shares in abundance, their angst knowing that the pair’s meeting will cause their untimely death; however, not wanting to do anything to get in the way of the duo’s fervent love. It also notes the need to continue to have experiences, that whatever the succession of events has in store should still be faced.
One might say that the title of the album by Tame Impala, Currents, is a reference to fate. One could say that the album Currents by Tame Impala references fate even as early as the title. The title suggests the phrase “going with the flow,” which is easy to define as “letting fate take its course.” In kind with it’s title, the album frequently deals with the idea of letting nature take its course, even when that course doesn’t always work the way that one would want it to. Let It Happen, the very first song on the album, looks at just that act: letting it happen. The song discusses letting go, and just enjoying moments as they come. Writer and performer Kevin Parker describes a voice in his head, one which dwarfs all the other “noise” in his life, telling him to let go and take things as they come. However, the theme is most striking in The Moment, where Parker waits for a moment that is fated to arrive, with uncertainty as to how he’s gonna feel, as the moment gets closer. Both the lyrics and the instrumentals suggest anticipation and suspense, with a slowly building bass line. The next song that prominently considers fate is Reality in Motion, which mentions it less frequently but most blatantly. The lines “suppose that I didn’t care anymore / fate can decide, I can ignore,” is all but the most obvious reference to fate and living in the moment on the album. The background fades for a moment during these lyrics, like an audible highlighter, noting the importance of those words. Rightly so: they perfectly sum up one of the primary themes of the album: let what is predestined happen.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a current as “The general tendency or course of events or opinion,” while it defines fate as, “The course of someone’s life, or the outcome of a situation for someone or something, seen as outside their control.” Both words have the connotation that they are difficult or impossible to control, and both words suggest of something that happens to a person, rather than something that a person does. In better terms, both the album Currents and the play Romeo & Juliet are framed by the ideas of fate and letting it happen, yet still appreciating what has been set up in the succession of events.
Abstract
Connecting Tame Impala’s Currents and Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet just felt right. Both incorporate fate as a primary theme, but, less tangibly, each have a young spirit. I looked at each of the songs’ lyrics, and it was clear to me that the biggest theme that the two pieces share was fate. It wasn’t a very difficult decision to make against some of my other ideas, as Tame Impala is one of my favorite artists and Currents is one of my favorite albums.
Works Cited
“Current.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/current.
“Fate.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/fate.
Genius contributors. “Currents by Tame Impala.” Genius, Genius Media Group Inc., genius.com/albums/Tame-impala/Currents.
Jamieson, Lee. “Fate in ‘Romeo and Juliet’.” ThoughtCo, Sep. 4, 2017, thoughtco.com/fate-in-romeo-and-juliet-2985040.
Shakespeare, William, et al. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Updated Edition ed., Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2011. Folger Shakespeare Library
Tame Impala. Currents.
