So what does this have to do with herpetology? Well let me tell you! One of the singles already available from their new album is called 'Snake Eyes' and if you didn't already know, snakes are one of the wonderful creatures covered in this herpetology course.
First off--you should listen to this catchy tune while reading the rest of this blog:
Now let's take a look at the lyrics, which I have bolded when they reference Snake Eyes:
"You hold it, in your hands
And let it flow, this cruelty
Of youth as you fall again
Alone, In the compromise of truth
It's in the eyes
I can tell, you will always be danger
We had it tonight, why do you leave it open?
And the stakes remain too high
For this silent mind
And the shake, the lonely itch
That courses down my spine
To leave a love divine
Don't leave a love divine
It's a water tight excuse
It's in the eyes
I can tell, you will always be danger
We had it tonight, why do we always seek absolution?
It's in the eyes
I can tell you will always be danger
How does the earth around your feet
Just slip away?
And abandon, that greets you in the night
With snake eyes, the most precious kind
It's in the eyes!
I can tell, you will always be danger!
We had it tonight! Why do we always seek absolution?
It's in the eyes!
I can tell you will always be danger!"
This song is blatantly associating snake eyes with danger. So I think our next question is--which type of snake eyes are they talking about????
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| Snake with round pupils. Picture from Science Daily. |
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| Snake with vertical pupils. Picture from Sun & Shield. |
The word choice of "snake eyes" to create an image of a sinister, fear inducing creature perpetuates society's dislike and inhospitable attitude towards these lovely creatures.
If we want to change the perception of snakes and increase awareness of their importance in our ecosystem we cannot keep using them to represent evil in popular culture! Mumford and Sons has a following of over 5 million people--that is a whole lot of millennials that will have their negative stereotypes about snakes reinforced, this could be disastrous!
That being said I will definitely not stop listening to this song and will be buying into their negative snake culture on May 4th with the new album's release.
That being said I will definitely not stop listening to this song and will be buying into their negative snake culture on May 4th with the new album's release.
7 comments:
Great blog! I agree with you that society looks at all snakes with a negative stereotype, and I actually mentioned this in my mascot nomination. Maybe someone should write a proposal to their manager and tell them to change their lyrics, just kidding, we know that won't happen. But it's a thought!
And yet the narrator seems drawn to the person with snake eyes, despite knowing the danger. Perhaps like the hypnotic quality of Kaa's eyes in The Jungle Book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6kIFOiY5cs
And then there are the coral snake's round pupils...
Honestly when I started this class I didn't even know that some snakes had round pupils!
It would be very interesting to learn about the origin of snake eyes in dice.
I agree! Some people only associate snakes with danger and want to eliminate them from society. I have a deep interest in snakes and find them to be amazing creatures, and while there are many harmless species, we do need to be aware of the species that could potentially harm us. I would also agree with Dr. Welch about what the narrator is saying. Some people find danger to be seductive and mysterious. Overall, I like the lyrics and am a fan of the band!
I find it very interesting that you posted this because I just read how snakes are part of Indian culture, religion, literature and art. This just shows how much we get influenced with nature and the animals that coexist in it. Snakes in particular are very interesting as they represent so many themes and constantly as examples to remind us about society and culture. Unlike the Hindu culture that associate them with religious meaning we can see that other. Cultures, including the west use them to represent a variety of meanings and thoughts. In the song the snakes are associated with danger, however when comparing Hindu religious beliefs and literature they associate them as a symbolic representation of life and death and celebrate their existence.
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