In Road’s memoir, she goes on and on to speak about how she appreciates Green Day because it impacted her childhood years when she was mainly trying to figure out who she was and also trying to balance her queer identity and the values of her belonging to a Cuban catholic family.She mentioned a few albums and songs in her graphic memoir that stuck to her closely. Road liked the Dookie album by Green Day and specifically some songs that were in it like “Basket Case”, “She” and “Coming Clean ”. “Christie Road” was also another favorite of hers. The main focus of these songs was to let people know that they shouldn’t feel like they’re alone when they are thinking about their feelings. A lot of people deal with frustration or anxiety, especially as a young adult and Green Day wanted to make music for their target audience. For example in “Basket Case” Billie says, “Sometimes I give myself the creeps, sometimes my mind plays tricks on me, it all keeps adding up.”
But looking back on the reading, I would say that Green Day suits the book perfectly. With the song “Coming Clean” not only does it set the mood of the book but to me it also seemed like a song that probably resonated with the author. In chapter three, “skeletons come to life in my closet”, Cristy felt that by listening to Green Day she could “look beyond the older generation’s ortho-catholic socialization and hold tightly, with my dear life, to a new socialization”(pg. 54). The music also correlates with Road’s drawing style because it has a sort of grunge, punk design to it.
However, Green Day was not the only type of band that she enjoyed listening to. She also mentioned other artists in her book such as Madonna, Wendy O. Williams and the band Pansy Division. Knowing some background on these artists, it really just reinforces more aspects of the text. For example, Madonna inspired a few people and also impacted the history of music during the 90s. She made women feel stronger and made more women realize how much power they hold in their hands. Cristy felt that Madonna knew what she was going through and helped her “embrace womanhood”(pg. 106).
During the reading of Road’s memoir and her mentioning how she dealt with her years of being a young adult, I started thinking of the time when I was in elementary and middle school and also being confused trying to figure out who I was just like Cristy. It made me realize that maybe this was a shared experience for most young kids after all. If I were to make my own memoir centered around my experiences with music, some artists that I would include would be Lana Del Rey, Xxxtentacion and The Neighbourhood. These were my most listened to artists during sixth grade, and I still listen to them now because they really impacted me. These artists all have a similarity and that is that they’re all included in the alternative music genre. Being in sixth grade and dealing with a bunch of emotions, it can all be overwhelming, but having these artists put your emotions into words that you were looking for all along made me feel heard.
Hello Clarissa, I really enjoyed reading your post. The point of view you took, talking about the music was something I also could relate to. I also think most of us go through that face of discovering our identity, and music plays can really be where we feel seen and understood. Music can be for us like someone holding our hand walking the path of getting to know ourselves.
Hey Clarisa,
I enjoyed reading your blog post about “spit and passion” and connecting it to the band Green Day, which the author mainly discusses in her book. I also like how you connected your memoirs with this post with the type of music you use to hear and try to figure out who you are. I believe we hear many kinds of music and make a connection because some have a special meaning or a strong message for us. I also have a particular music artist and song that I connect with and feel where I belong.
Hi Clarisa,
I enjoyed reading your post as it does resonate with most kids growing up. Many kids often have to grapple with their identity which leaves them uncertain, anxious, depressed, and isolated. I liked how in-depth you went with the meaning behind the songs that you mentioned. It shows that you went out and beyond.
Music is art, and art is something that many enjoy and indulge in. Music can be used as a coping mechanism when going through trials and tribulations. Being resonated with the lyrics helps individuals find emotional support that people sometimes can’t offer. This is why many people say “music is life” because music is powerful and can help individuals get past a certain challenge, and in your context, the challenge is self-discovery.
Hi Clarisa! I really enjoyed reading your post, it seems like great minds do think alike. I like that you mentioned the awkward phase of being a tween in middle school and figuring out who you are, which is also what Road portrayed in Spit and Passion. It is a very unstable period of time in our lives. We hate the world, we hate our parents, and we hate ourselves. There are so many new and confusing emotions that we never felt before and it’s really a rollercoaster, but like you and Road, music helped me to put my feelings into words. In reality, we are all just misunderstood kids trying to make it in this cruel world.