Black Honey” As Social Commentary
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Rodrigo Gomez English 101: Close-Reading Prof. G 4/6/17 Ignorance and Folly: “Black Honey” as Social Commentary “The bird, the bee, the running child are all the same to the sliding glass door” D. Martin “Bee to the blossom, moth to the flame; Each to his passion; what’s in a name?” Helen Jackson Introduction/ Context Thrice is a band that has been around since 1998, focusing on music that ranges from mythological stories to human emotion and the human experience. They are also a band that does not shy away from addressing social issues that they deem to be important. A major portion of their album sales for “The Artist in the Ambulance” went directly to “Invisible Children,” a non- profit whose aim is to address the way that “Tens of thousands of families living in severely isolated places like central Africa face the daily threat of violence from rebel groups, wildlife poachers, and other criminal trafficking networks” (qtd from InvisibleChildren.com). In 2017, after a hiatus, it seems that they are making such a social move again with their first release “Black Honey,” a song that uses figurative language, thematic focus, and a dominant first-person perspective to deliver its message. A brief Summary The song itself depicts a story of an agent who keeps reaching into a beehive for honey (to consume it on the table). The main character swings through the bees to get what they want and get stung in the process without being deterred. The same agent, or perhaps simply another human agent, later takes pins and inserts them into a butterflies wings (the way a scientist might place insects on display) because they “like all the pretty colors.” When the wings, which are frail, fall apart due to the piercing with metal rods, they discard the butterfly into the fire “to burn with all the others”. The story then takes a more drastic turn when the agent decides to claim “victory” over the bees by cutting the branch holding the hive. Instead, the bees chase after the agent, even “across the sea,” to attack members of their family as well. Despite this, without learning a lesson, the agent goes back to reaching into hives to take honey. Diction, Repetition, and the “I” pronoun The language used by Thrice in this song speaks volumes in terms of the message they want to send. Words like “rip and smash,” “do what I want,” “do what I please,” and “I deserve the best” signal an agent who acts on their desires forcefully; their selfish perspective seems to hold little regard for the victim (the bees) and pays little attention to possible consequences for their actions, except those actions that affect the agent (the stinging). Perhaps the strongest word used in the chorus is “deserve,” which signals the agent’s self-conceit and sense of entitlement in the exchange. This agent not only wants the best, but believes there is some universal reasoning or imperative that reinforces those claims of merit. Despite the difficulty in taking the honey (because of the stinging bees), the agent never stops to consider whether or not the action is the cause of the problem; in their eyes, the bees should sit idly by as hands reach in for honey—again, this is all because the agent is unable to consider a perspective disassociated from desire. In fact, it is the bees who are at fault for their inability to “understand” that this agent “deserves” the best. Repetition also plays a major role in the text because it introduces the concept of time and experience. As humans, we all like to think that we learn from the past and from our own mistakes: we call it growth and maturity. After all, an action taken twice cannot be counted as a mistake the second time. This might even border on lunacy if we consider Albert Einstein’s famous definition: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”. Here, we encounter an agent who repetitively tries to take from the bees despite the consequences and they expect a different result for the same, ongoing, action. There is never a suggestion that they have decided to amend their actions either; the only suggestion is that they want to find a way to take in a way that causes no harm to themselves. Of course, some repetition is to be expected because the medium of the text is a song; however, here repetition is also used to emphasize an ongoing negative social action. Again, the closest thing to an acknowledgment of guilt found in the text is the agents desire to “get it right” the following time. Perhaps the second strongest is the claim found in the text is that the agent will “do it again till I’ve got what I need”. Again, the focus is placed on agent’s entitled perspective as well their disregard of any universal moral or ethical consideration for the bees or the hive. The “I” pronoun is also constantly repeated throughout the text. The story is clearly through the subjective perspective of the agent performing the action. However, there is also the added notion that this agent is not only selfish and cruel but perhaps also ignorant, or even childish. This is even more evident when we encounter the line “I can’t understand why they’re stinging me” in reference to the bees protecting their beehive. Despite the obvious answer for why a bee would sting someone reaching into their hive, the agent cannot grasp why they are suffering consequences from this other animal protecting itself from harm. Rather than consider why, the agent will continue to “do what I want / … do what I please / …do it again till I got what I need.” The notion that the agent is unable to see beyond their own desires is also echoed in the cruelty shown to the butterfly. Here we have a very specific case of taking ownership of another living creature without regard for that creature. There is so little regard, in fact, that the agent simply flings the crippled butterfly into a fire that contains many other similar victims. Rather than remorse, there is a sense of frustration towards the butterfly who didn’t simply let itself be pinned to a board. The moral implication is high as the agent takes the small, frail butterfly from its natural environment by force and then opts to pseudo-crucify it for aesthetic pleasure. Thematic Overview: “Black” Honey, Post-Colonialism and Rape Another interesting facet of this text is its use of color to add nuance to the conversation. After all, anyone who has ever consumed honey knows that it is a golden liquid. More than that, it can be seen as a valuable commodity. The only other substance that has the same texture as honey (a sort of thick liquid that tracks slowly when spilled) is oil, yet another valuable commodity. Here we might see a connection to other forms of “raping,” or taking by force, that Thrice chose to address figuratively. If Black Honey is oil, then we might be in a conversation about America’s dependence on foreign oil and the way that America has constantly been faulted for its foreign actions to acquire oil. It is also supported by the notion that the bees will follow the agent “across the sea”—which could be a reference to the Atlantic Ocean (sea) that separates the United States from the Middle East. In this scenario, the bees would be the citizens of the hive that America is trying to take from. Of course, ties between the concept of rape and the foundation of America during the Colonial Era are historically accurate: the settlement period involved interaction with American natives who were taken advantage of against their will. The settlers took what they wanted, introduced disease, and eventually relegated the natives that they didn’t kill into confined spaced—perhaps an echo of the butterfly pinned to a board because of all its pretty colors. Cultural Values & Effectiveness Thematically, the choice of a beehive is very effective in 2017, especially considering that “the diversity of bees and other pollinator populations has declined, leading to a potential global pollination crisis” of the sort that we have never faced as a human species (Yale Environmental Review). This means that as a commodity, honey itself has become rarer and bees themselves have become more valuable. If, as Yale Environmental Review notes, “a decline of bee population means a decline in “pollinators [that] are vital to sustain our crops, fruits, and vegetables, providing services worth roughly $215 billion to the global agricultural industry,” then the notion of an agent willingly “chopping” down the hive due to his own indignation is that much more powerful. Yet another interesting point is that scientists are looking for ways to address the decline of pollinators, and how it might affect the entire global food system; they are trying to understand why it is happening and, in a way, seem to echo the ignorance of the agent within the story. In both accounts we see an implication of naiveté. Of course, naiveté can be justified by youth, but only so far. Regardless of the source of ignorance, we ultimately expect growth or a change in the course of action, especially because the effects of that ignorance will be drastic both for the planet and for all its inhabitants. Given the fact that this song is also a multi-modal text because it includes lyrics and audio, the author’s tone and singing style and the musical progression itself also plays a factor in the songs’ message.