I have chosen to compare the song Howl at the Moon by the Script to Drinking Alone with the Moon by the Chinese Tang Poet Li Bo, translated by Stephen Owen. In both the Poem and the song there is a strong relationship between the author and artist in the way they relate to the moon. The moon as a celestial object takes on a human role to converse with both the poet and the artist respectively in their own unique ways. Not only that but, both the poem and the artist were each looking for companionship and answers from the moon as well. I also see a connection between the moon and the heavens, almost in a way that they weren’t ask the moon, but looking up to heaven and trying to converse with god himself.
In the Poem, Drinking Alone with the Moon, Li Bo describes his relationship with the moon as his sole friend and only companion besides himself and his shadow.
He says:
“I drink alone, no friend with me
I raise my cup to invite the moon
He and my shadow make three”
He is alone and happy to be so, but he confides in the moon his one true confidant. With the moon he feels safe to express his true self. Bo is comfortable dancing in the moons presence, and truly embracing himself and his shadow, when he is his true sober self. But when he no longer feels connected to the earth when he is drunk, that is when his relationship with the moon gets rocky. He no longer can maintain the connection to this world, and that is why he chooses to severe his connection with the moon and reality. But when he comes out of his drunkenness he want nothing more to pick up where he left off. Just himself and the moon to conquer all, an unlikely friendship.
“I sing the moves moon moves to and fro
I dance my shadow leaps and sways
Still sober, we exchange our joys
Drunk and we’ll go our separate ways
Let’s pledge-beyong human ties to be friends
And meet where the Silver River ends”
Meanwhile in the song, “Howl at the Moon“, The Script converses with the moon when he is trying to figure out what he wishes to become. He looks at the sky:
“Lying in my backyard
Head is facing skyward
I’d imagine all the things that I could be
A pilot or a fighter
An astronaut or writer
Anything except just being me
The artist is uncomfortable with who he is, and is trying to discovers who he should be!”
He wonders and converses with the moon just like Bo:
“With the moon as the spotlight
That shines on me
And the stars were the lighters in the air
And the wind screaming loud sounded just like a crowd
And I swore I was already there
I’d howl at the moon
I’d howl at the moon”
He asks the moon and the stars which shine down on him, and the wind which sounds like a large crowd of people to answer him. To guide him, and show him the correct path. The artist keeps howling at the moon hoping for an answer from this animate object, who cannot answer him. He is looking for a friend and a companion in the moon. The longer he howls at the moon, the louder the sounds become. He hopes much like Bo to gain a greater understanding of himself with these interaction with the moon. But I think that it goes much deeper than that in the way in which he connects the moon to a godly figure. Perhaps the moon is just a metaphor for connecting with God himslef!
Drinking Alone with the Moon: Li Bo
“A Pot of wine among the flowers
I drink alone, no friend with me
I raise my cup to invite the moon
He and my shadow make three
The moon does not know how to drink;
My shadow mines capering;
But i’ll make merry with them both
And soon enough it will be spring
I sing the moves moon moves to and fro
I dance my shadow leaps and sways
Still sober, we exchange our joys
Drunk and we’ll go our separate ways
Let’s pledge-beyong human ties to be friends
And meet where the Silver River ends”
