Learning to Love
In modern rap music, it is not uncommon for rappers to express their feelings by hiding messages in their lyrics. If you listen to a song and really focus on the lyrics of the singer, you will find a world of inside jokes, hidden messages, and personal connections. These attributes are what make many people fall in love with this style of art. Although it may seem unlikely, the same ideology exists for ancient Shakespearean literature, which is full of meaningful texts and significant opinions. Love in both modern day and in ancient times is perceived the same way. From well known rap music to Shakespearean literature, love and pain come hand in hand. Love does not come without hardship and heartbreak. In both Romeo and Juliet and the hip hop song Sad by Kodie Shane and Lil Yachy (Lil Boat), love seems to lead to heartbreak.
One of the themes of Romeo and Juliet is the idea of adolescence and ignorance. Just like Romeo and Juliet, the rapper, Little Yacht decided to name his album “Teenage Emotions.” As a teenager, the rapper focuses on many different aspects of youth in his album, but the biggest focus is love. Just like in the song, Sad, Romeo and Juliet are also young and ignorant children experiencing love for the first time. “Oh woah they don’t wanna see you wit boat They mad cuz i iced out ya throat Spent a few Benz on your coat and I loved you.” In this passage it shows that people don’t want the boy and girl to be together even though they are in love. In this scene the singer is saying he bought her all of these nice things including jewelry and clothing. “I iced out yo throat.” The materialistic objects he buys for the girl are representative for him giving his love to her. Unfortunately, his gifts of love are not met in return, which shows us that the girl did not feel the same way about him. If the rapper had experienced true love before, he would know that materialistic objects cannot but someone’s love. Unfortunately, The rapper is young and confused when it comes to love making him blind to this obvious fact. This rejection causes the rapper Lil boat to enter a state of depression and lonesomeness.
Love causes people to become distracted from their lives, thinking of them constantly and remembering the pain they caused you distracts people from what’s really in front of them. This often happens to Romeo who is always blinded by his love. Similar to the rap piece, the Shakespearean literature Romeo and Juliet focuses on love and pain. In the beginning of the Shakespearean literature, the character, Romeo, is in love with another character Roseline. “ Tut, I have lost myself. I am not here. This is not Romeo. He’s some other where.” (1.1.205–206) In this passage, Romeo is coping with his sadness which was caused by his love not feeling the same way for him as he does for her. His love for Rosaline constantly flows through his head which only makes him think of her. Pushing him only deeper into his state of despair. Looking deeper into this passage, it only becomes more obvious that love leads to pain. “I am not here” This quotation shows that although Romeo is there in the flesh, mentally he is in a state of depression. He is so obsessed with his love, it is the only thing he can think of. His obsession with Rosaline causes him to be in pain and grief. He knows that he cannot be with Rosaline since she does not care for him. This causes him to be sorrowful which was a direct result of loving someone.
Being alone and sad constantly changes a person’s mindset. Lil yacht obviously was affected with this due to the jurassic changes in his song. After taking the harsh rejection from the woman he loved, Lil yacht entered a state of sadness and depression. “Now i’m all alone yeah.” In this passage, we don’t see the rapper as a tough hard man, but as a sensitive boy learning to deal with the pain of loving someone. We can tell that the rapper is depressed based on the tempo of the beat. Normally, the rapper Lil Yacht uses beats with a very fast tempo matched with loud bass and fast exciting lyrics. In this song, there is almost no bass and the tempo of the song is much slower than most of his biggest hits, only hitting 111 BPM (beats per minute). Alongside this, the lyrics of this song are more meaningful and emotional than his other songs, which focus on women and drugs. This change of style in this song shows that the rapper is trying to get his point across that love can and possibly will lead to heartbreak.
Not being able to see her love causes Juliet enter a world of sadness, which leads her to make rash reckless decisions which in the end only bring her more pain. In this scene, Juliet, is upset that she has fallen in love with someone who she cannot be with. A theme in this text is tension between two families. Juliet is upset because she just wants to be with Romeo. Unfortunately, due to the hate between the families, she cannot be with her love. This famous scene takes place on the balcony of Juliet’s room, where she reflects to herself the events of the night. “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name, Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” (2.2.36–39) The solitary reflection gives time for Juliet to express her sadness for the circumstances she is in. At this point in the novel, Juliet is in love with Romeo and wants to be with him. Due to her family’s extreme tension, she cannot be with her love bringing her pain and sorrow. We can tell that Juliet is expressing her inner sadness when she states “O.” This long exhale Juliet uses before she finishes her statement, shows she is truly upset about the circumstances of her love. Upset from her family’s tension, she decides that if Romeo leaves his family behind she will as well and they can be together. “Deny thy father and refuse thy name.” The actions Juliet is taking in this scene show her impulsive, reckless, and childish thoughts. In order to love Romeo she needs to leave everything in her life behind. Unfortunately, in the end of the text, Romeo and Juliet both end up dead, showing that love can lead to sadness and even death. Although death is extreme, this evidence shows that love makes people do reckless acts endangering themselves and their relationship. Based on these quotations, it is obvious in many cases loving someone will only end in depression and sadness. Romeo, Juliet, and Lil yacht are all young adults experiencing love for the first time. Their confusion for the topic is evident because they have yet to have any experience with the confusing topic of love. In order for them to truly learn how to love, they need to fall and get back up again. Only after that will they learn to prosper.
Works Cited
Kodie Shane / Lil yachy. “Sad” 2060, Epic/Sony Records, 2016, Itunes
Shakespeare, William, Barbara A Mowat, Paul Werstine, and Folger Shakespeare Library. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Simon & Schuster paperback edition, Updated edition. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2011.
