Angela Wang | HZT4U1 | Aggett

The Fear – Ben HowardLyrics:Mama, cold hearted child, tell me how you feelJust a blade in the grass, spoke unto the wheelMama, cold hearted child, tell me where it's all goneAll the luster of your bones, those arms that held you strong

I've been worryin' that my time is a little unclearI've been worryin' that I'm losing the ones I hold dearI've been worryin' that we all, live our lives, in the confines of fear

Mama, cold hearted child, tell me how you feelJust a grain in the morning air, dark shadow on the hillMama, cold hearted child, tell me where it all fallsAll this apathy you feel will make a fool of us all

I've been worryin' that my time is a little unclearI've been worryin' that I'm losing the ones I hold dearI've been worryin' that we all, live our lives, in the confines of fear

Oh I will become what I deserveOh I will become what I deserveOh I will become what I deserveOh I will become what I deserve

I've been worryin', I've been worryin',I will become what I deserveI've been worryin',My time is a little unclearI will become what I deserve

I've been worryin', I've been worryin'That my time is a little unclearI've been worryin', I've been worryin'That I'm losing the ones I hold dearI've been worryin', I've been worryin'That we all, live our lives, in the confines of fear

Units this song relates to:MetaphysicsEpistemology

Angela Wang | HZT4U1 | Aggett

Questions this song raises:Metaphysics:

What is the meaning of life?Epistemology:

Are there some things that humans can never know?

What this song means to me:The primary theme in the song, which is obvious in the title, is fear. But what fear

does Howard speak of? He repeats some of his fears and worries throughout the song: “I’ve been worryin’… that my time is a little unclear… that I’m losing the ones I hold dear.” Perhaps the ultimate fear of a being is death, a being’s seizing to exist. The unknowingness of how long you have and how long those around you have until the inevitable: death. Maybe he’s scared of what comes with death, the pain of losing someone, or being lost himself to his mortal fate.

Or maybe he intended to be simpler? Is ‘the fear’ referring to anxieties we face in everyday life: jobs, deadlines, school, relationships, pain, etc.? Is it the small hurdles that become like mountains as they persist day after day? Is Howard trying to make a statement that this daily suffering is a common flaw of human existence? Maybe he’s saying that this makes many of us connected in a way, that our common pain makes our experiences relatable to one another. Or as Shane Koyczan, a poet, said, “Pain is part of the human condition and that alone makes [us] a legion.” Perhaps Howard means to accentuate that this ‘fear’ makes us part of a bigger picture, that we are not alone in these fears or anxieties, or as he put it, “[we are] a blade in the grass, [a] spoke unto the wheel”.

Or perhaps he’s referring to fear from a more existential stance. That is the anxiety Sartre spoke of that comes with realizing our vast human freedom. Maybe Howard is referring to the fear that comes with not giving your life a purposeful meaning, not taking advantage of the freedom you seem to have.

There also seemed to be parallels to Camus’ definition of “The Absurd”. In the song, Howard looks to others for answers, mainly from his “Mama”. He asks her to tell him “where it’s all gone”, and “where it all falls”. Camus would argue that he shouldn’t be asking inquiries of purpose and meaning, but rather he should go out and define it for himself. He should stop “worryin’… worryin’… worryin’” and just go out and do.

But perhaps there will simply always be questions that Howard, or humans in general, are not meant to find answers to, like ‘What’s beyond death?’, or ‘What’s the meaning of life?’. Maybe, no matter how hard he or anyone else looks for answers to certain questions, there are just some problems that can never be solved or known for certain. Perhaps this is what he meant by ‘the fear’: feeling unfulfilled due to knowledge you will always lack. Would it be better to not want answers? Would it be better to be happily ignorant like the peasant woman in the Good Brahmin? Is it better to not wonder? To not fear?

Or maybe he’s saying that fear is all of these things. That fear, like so many other things, is relative. Perhaps the most important question is not ‘What is fear?’, but rather, ‘What does fear mean to you?’