Analyze

            Music has always been around to tell stories to others.  People love to show people what they have learned about and/or just to tell a story about anything they have on there mind or seen in their lifetime. Sometimes people/song writers just tell their stories that are just about things that have to do with absolutely nothing.   It is the songs that tell about problems in peoples lives that make really great songs.

 Here’s the song “Lightning” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f59hjVW-fZI

            Eric Church, a country singer/song writer, writes lots of songs about his life and about stories he's heard.  One of his songs, that not very many people have heard or know about is a song called "Lightning."  It's about a man killing someone.  There is one part that says "These four walls of Farnworth, are closin' in on me."  That lyric is about a man that is in prison.  The four walls are the prison cell that the man is locked up in.  The prison that has been holding him is in a town called "Farnworth."  The walls of the cell block are starting to kill the man that they hold inside of them, because he has been there so long that he knows that the inevitable is going to happen.

            Eric Church shows us about how this man got to this prison by telling us about it in this song.  It tells us that the man in this song kills another man at a liquor store.  The man that he kills is the store attendant.  The store attendant pulled a gun on the main character of the song, so he shot the attendant.  When that attendant fell to the floor, the main character stopped and dropped his gun to the floor as if to say he was remorseful for what he had just done.  The only reason he was robbing the store was because he needed to feed his baby girl.  He could not feed her because he had no money.  Now he has to pay for his crimes.  So he has to be put to death for it.  The mom of the man he killed is at his execution, along with his very own daughter that he did the crime for.  When the "boss,” or the executioner, yells "roll on two," it means that its time to put him to death in the chair.  That’s the last time his daughter sees him.  The victim's mother is happy about his death.

            The way it ends is a way that many people like to see things end, happily. Even though it is mostly a very sad song, in the end of the song the main character gets to go to heaven for being remorseful for his crimes.  "Now I'm flyin', up an' out of here, I close my eyes an' slowly rise."  Flying up is a way that he sees dying.  He is on his way up to see the Lord, himself.  When he closes his eyes it lets him see where he is going to spend the rest of eternity.  "Yeah, tonight I ride the lightning, to my final restin' place".  It’s him getting put to death by electrocution aka "by the chair".  He will see where he will be for the rest of eternity, next to the Lord.

            This song shows that it is just a way that Eric church is telling the story of a man who gets put to death.  That it is a story that not very many people would like to talk about.  The killing of someone that just doesn’t deserve to die.  That also goes for when the state puts a man to death for his crimes.  Eric Church shows us that you can talk about it and not be afraid to talk about things that are hot topic ideas.  When topics like this come up it takes a strong person to talk about these problems.

Source: Church,Eric. “Lightning”. Sinners Like Me. Capitol Records Nashville, 2006. MP3 file

Response

            Responsibility is an important part of growing up and of everyday life. Learning responsibility as you are growing up can come from a variety of places.  This will be different for different people.  For me this came from my parents, from 4-H and from working.

            Responsibility is what I have learned everyday of my life from my parents.  They taught me to take responsibility by making me clean up my room every week.  I also had to set the table for dinner every night with my brother and sister.  I was also responsible for taking care of our dog Coco.  She had to be fed and let outside and walked everyday.  I shared that responsibility with my big brother. 

            Some people don’t get that being responsible is very important.  I learned my responsibility by being in 4-H.  People don’t really think that they need to be responsible for there own actions.  When they say that, they don’t care about what happens to them or not.  4-H showed me how to take care of plants and even animals.  It showed me how animals are living things that need food and water and they need me a lot more then I need them.  They are in my hands and that is a lot of responsibility to have when you are 8 years old.  The animals just have no one to take care of them, so I am the one who is taking care of them.  Their lives are in my hands.  There are a lot of things that I have to do to keep them alive.  Such as feed them, water them and keep their living area clean.  For a 4-H animal project you also have to work with the animal to be sure that they will be able to be shown at the fair.  This would mean that I walked them everyday to get them used to me.

            Some people don’t really like to do work that has a lot of responsibility, because the less work that people have to do, the more likely they will try and do it.  The harder the work and the more responsibility, fewer people will try it.  Because we live in a society that tries to get the most for the least.

            When I was in 4-H doing my animal project, it was a lot of responsibility to get all of the work done that needs to be done before the fair.  The biggest thing that needs to be done is making sure that my pig was making weight.  I needed to make sure that he was eating enough to consistently gain weight.  When you get that done, the next thing is making sure that the project book is done for judging.  Then you need to get the show box ready for the pig shows.  The things that you need to get to gather to put in the box are a cane, a brush, a water bottle, feed, a feeding pan, bedding for the pig.  The next thing to do is to make sure that I am ready for the show.  I have to take the responsibility to learn all about the parts of the pig, what his feed is made of, and what kind of pig he is.  Then I make sure that I have the appropriate clothing to wear for the pig show, which includes hard-toed boots, jeans, a belt, and a nice plaid shirt.  If you can’t even do these things well, you won’t get far, not just in the animal show, but in life as well.

            When you go to apply for a job in the workforce, you have to show that you have the responsibility to be there like everyone else.  You have to show how you have the responsibility to work for anyone.  When I worked for my mom and dad, I had to make sure that I was there on time to get the store open on time.  I had to make sure that everyone that was working with me was doing their job.  People think that once they get the job that they don’t have to follow the rules anymore.  Well that’s wrong!  Fallowing the rules is a big part of the responsibility of working at a job.  This will show anyone who knows you or is around you, that you have responsibility.  You can’t be hired by a business if you are not responsible.  You won’t ever be hired if you don’t have any.  No one wants to hire someone that is always late, leaves early and gives always free stuff. 

            4-H is where I learned the responsibility to help others, not just with their projects but we also formed friendships as well.  I know that people don’t think that friendships are a responsibility to keep and maintain the friendship.  Friendships are very important.  It’s a responsibility that people don’t think about.  Its one that you learn about in 4-H that isn’t really talked about.  People just think that the friendships they have don’t need any maintaining but they are wrong.  If you don’t have the responsibility to work at a friendship it won’t work out.

            Responsibility isn’t just a thing that you can forget about in life.  You must work at it everyday no matter what if you want to go somewhere in life.   You can’t just go though life without being responsible.  You can, but you could end up in one of a lot of bad situations.  If you do live without responsibility in your life you won’t go very far in life, you will just be stuck.  I’m almost positive that you don’t want to do that for ever.  Work at being responsible and you will be successful for ever!!

Narrative

I step in the ring. My heart is pounding right out of my chest.  My pig is in front of me, in between me and the judge.  I look the man in the eye and shake his hand and go back to showing.  The pig is moving right where I want him to go.  The funny part is my brother walks in right behind me in the ring.  I just think in my head, I just want to beat him because he already has won a title, Reserve Grand Champion.  I just want to show him that’s he’s not the only one that can win in the family.  Everyone that I am showing against has entered the ring.  The judge starts to move around in the ring, I keep my pig moving around.

Three months earlier, on June 1^st I went up to Finlay, Ohio, to pick out my pig. This could potentially be the pig that allows me to follow in my brother’s footsteps and win the honor of being Grand Champion. It was a Yorkshire, which is a pig that is mostly 99% white.  It’s not my favorite type of pig but it’s what the judge liked so I had to get it.  Another type of pig that is often used as a show pig is a Hampshire; it is a pig that is black with a white belt, one of my favorites.

During the summer in the middle of July, it is now the time to weigh my pig, I have to see how much heavier I need to get him so he will be at the correct weight, to be worth a lot of money. I put him on the scale, which is a lot harder than you would think; it’s the moment of truth. He has to be around at least 180 so I have enough room to make sure he is between 220 and 280 pounds.  He’s on the scale, and my mom reads the numbers, it’s not looking too good.  His weight is only 175 that means I need to put at least 45 pounds on him to make weight.  In my head I know I can do it, but at the same time I’m just freaking out.  I know I can do it because we have put 60 pounds on a pig in less than 5 weeks, so I know it can happen.  I have to feed him goat milk, syrup, and bread. I know it sounds gross, but pigs love it.  They eat it so fast, to the point that puts a human male to shame.

Finally it is one week till fair, my nerves are acting up and I just cannot wait.  I am scared that my pig may be overweight.  It’s The Saturday before the fair, the odds of my pig weighing just enough that he might go overboard.  He was at 272 and just a week from the fair. It’s Friday and it’s time to move my pigs to the fair.  We have to move him into the pen to stay overnight until the big day. As Saturday approached it was finally time to weigh him one last time. My pig is on the scale, and the woman reads me his weight….. 275. Yes! He’s underweight.  I am so happy I was smiling from ear to ear.  I could not believe that he was underweight at just the right amount.  If he would have been any heavier I would not have been able to show. That was just too close for comfort.  Monday is the next big day.  Now that I know I can show my pig, it is up to me to show the judges exactly what it can do and how it behaves. I have to move the pig around in a pen with a bunch of other pigs to show how the pig can be handled and what it looks like, weight wise.

It is Monday, time for the show.  Those of us participating are required to show in classes based on the weight of the pig, so that all of the kids get to show their pigs at least one time.  I am waiting in the holding pens on the side of the ring.  I just want to get in there to show what I can do.  It is time for me to get in the ring and show off my animal.  The pig is the first one to get in the ring between me and the judge.  I looked the judge in the eyes as I walked in the ring for the first time this year.  He looks at me and my pig to see what he looks like from all sides.  That’s how judges tell what your pig’s muscles look like, aka the different cuts of meat.  When I walk by the judge in my class, it is the first time he gets to see the pig.  After everyone enters the ring, the judge walks to the mike and starts to talk about everyone in the ring.  I know that I did the best I could, but I just want to win.  He points at me and says “this will be your class winner today.”  I was so happy but then I knew I have to show for the division champion now.

They call me back to the ring to show against the 3 other class winners.  My brother is in there with me, but I know I can win.  I have the best pig in there.  The judge looks at all of our pigs and then goes and grabs the mike to talk about all of our pigs.  He picks the winner, and looks right at me, I win reserve division champ. I was so happy to have gotten the opportunity to win and actually beat my brother.  This was one of the most exciting events that has happen to me thus far.