Page 9 - Black Book Assignment
P. 9
Reflection 3:
The third and final artifact is a song by a modern-day dubstep artist; Grabbitz. His song is
about an individual who has lost the only person who really understood him and because of this,
he becomes alienated from society, as an outsider. The gothic elements that the author used are
the sublime, the outsider, excess, fragmentation, theatricality, alongside decay and ruin. To
begin, this individual says that “I’m not like any other”, which obviously represents the position
of an outsider in society. The sublime was depicted with the colourless “raging sea” which
indicates it is a tough road back to what modern society perceives as the norm. The decay and
ruin was indirectly implied because the individual of this piece mentioned that they needed help
breathing; which is a metaphor for emotional help, but is hesitant to do so for it might just rob
them of their identity. The fragmentation which Grabbitz used is a creative method of sparking
interest within the song as it leaves the listener waiting, which is good in contrast to the excess in
repetition which outlines the key components of the song.
Feeling excluded can be empathized in many ways. In this case, Grabbitz has presented
his thoughts in feelings in an artistic way which is music. His song describes the feeling of being
lonely and allows the audience to discover a sense of that feeling too. “Way Too Deep” is the
title of the song, and when an individual hears the title or reads it, the first thought that comes to
mind is probably the deep end of the sea or a pool, a person drowning, or an injurious wound that
is engraved very deeply in one. This title is perfect for the song as the artist is expressing his
thoughts and feelings within music, and the title of the song gives the audience knowledge of
what this song may be about. That saying, many people express their-selves in many different
manners, and majority of the time, it is a personal manner to be empathized in an artistic way.
