Ashley Lewis
Instructor Thomas
English 101: Pop
Culture Essay
2 November 2012
Words
within the Flesh
It is not often that you turn on the radio and there is a
band singing about anorexia. But for the band, Silverchair, they did just that.
The song that I am analyzing is “Ana’s Song (Open Fire)” by Silverchair. This
song is about Daniel Johns, the lead singer of Silverchair, and his own battle
with anorexia. He shows his audience the painful truth behind anorexia with
haunting lyrics and strong beats that keep the listeners captivated.
In the very opening of the song, Johns sings, “Please
die, Ana.” Even though he is so addicted to the disease, he still hates it with
a fiery passion and wants it to go away. Another line of the song that gives us
an inside look on how anorexics think is, “In my head the flesh seems
thicker/Sandpaper tears corrode the film.” Not many people realize what an
anorexic has to go through every day, but Johns does a good job at painting his
audience a picture of how people think who are suffering from the disease. He
sings that “Ana” is his “obsession” and how he “loves [her] to the bones.” He
also sings that “Ana wrecks your life/Like an anorexia life.” He is showing his
audience that this disease is like a person that he is addicted to and he
cannot get enough of it. At the same time, he knows that it is destroying his
life and possibly killing him.
At the time of the Australian band, Silverchair’s debut
in 1995 with their album, Frogstomp, Daniel Johns, bassist Chris Joannou, and
drummer Ben Gillies were only a mere fifteen years old. They got to tour the
word with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who are like grown up kids. Critics often
snubbed Silverchair as “Nirvana in Diapers,” but only because Daniel Johns had
hair like Nirvana’s lead singer. Johns said he did not cut his hair because he
did not “want to give critics the satisfaction.” These boys were in it for the
music and they did not care what anyone had to say to them.
In 1999, Silverchair released “Ana’s Song (Open Fire),” which
revealed the lead singer’s on-going battle with anorexia nervosa. In an
interview in Rolling Stone magazine with Blair Fischer, Johns said,
“I’ve been told that it’s when you feel like you’ve lost control of your life
and you start really controlling anything you can control and it just so
happens to be the one thing that no one can tell you what to do.” He even goes
on to explain “I wasn’t eating and it went on for about six months to a year.”
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder in which an
individual starves themselves and has an irrational fear of gaining weight, as
well as a distorted body image of themselves. Usually, anorexia nervosa only
affects adolescent women. But, as it turns out, GQ magazine stated that “20% of
anorexics are men.” Just like women want to be like a beautiful, skinny model,
men want to be good-looking and have nice, chiseled abs like male models in Calvin
Klein boxers.
For Daniel Johns, I believe that writing “Ana’s Song
(Open Fire)” not only helped him reveal to his fans that he had anorexia
nervosa, but it also was a way for him to cope with it. Even though
professional help is the overall way to help overcome this disease, writing
music is a good way help adolescents deal with it. Katrina McFerran wrote an
article about a study that was done to see if song-writing in music therapy was
effective. Fifteen adolescents with anorexia nervosa submitted seventeen songs
and from those lyrics, six themes were pulled from the songs. When young people
pen their thoughts onto paper, it helps them get out all of their emotions and
whatever is on their mind. Some topics may be too personal for them to talk
about, but being able to put it into a song is easier for people. I believe
that this helped Daniel Johns and from this, he created a hit song that still
affects people today.
Silverchair’s music is usually under the genre
“alternative.” Alternative is another form of rock music, which I think makes a
big difference in “Ana’s Song (Open Fire).” The use of guitars and drums gives
the song a darker feel to it, since the subject matter is pretty dark. Johns’
voice sounds almost pained since he is putting his darkest secret out on the
table for everyone to see. But at the same time, he sounds hopeful because he
knows there is help out there and he desperately wants to get better.
“Ana’s Song (Open Fire)” is a powerful song that sheds
light on a serious issue. Johns’ bravery to come out about his battle with
anorexia nervosa in song inspires others to do the same. This song will always
be a classic in the eyes of many people.
Works
Cited
“Alternative rock.”
Wikipedia 27 Oct. 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2012.
“Anorexia Nervosa.”
Wikipedia 27 Oct. 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2012.
Fischer, Blair.
“Silverchair Frontman Reveals Battle with Anorexia.” Rolling Stone 10 June 1999:
1. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
Hendrickson, Matt.
“Silverchair Let Their Freak Flag Fly.” Rolling
Stone 753 (1997): 17. Academic
Search Complete. EBSCO Host. University of South Carolina Upstate. Web. 19 Oct. 2012.
McFerran, Katrina,
Felicity Baker, George Patton, Susan Sawyer. “A Retrospective Lyrical Analysis of Songs Written by
Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa.” European
Eating Disorders Review
14.6 (2006): 397-403. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO Host. University of South Carolina Upstate. Web. 19 Oct. 2012.
Penn, Nathaniel. “20%
of Anorexics Are Men.” GQ September
2012: 5. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
Silverchair. “Ana’s Song
(Open Fire).” Neon Ballroom. Sony
Music Productions, 1999. Digital Download.
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