MBA(Major Blogging Assignment)

This is the song I think represents me the most:

"Perfect"by Simple Plan

Hey dad look at me
Think back and talk to me
Did I grow up according to plan?
And do you think I'm wasting my time doing things I wanna do?
But it hurts when you disapprove all along

And now I try hard to make it
I just want to make you proud
I'm never gonna be good enough for you
I can't pretend that
I'm alright
And you can't change me

'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect

I try not to think
About the pain I feel inside
Did you know you used to be my hero?
All the days you spent with me
Now seem so far away
And it feels like you don't care anymore

And now I try hard to make it
I just want to make you proud
I'm never gonna be good enough for you
I can't stand another fight
And nothing's alright

'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect

Nothing's gonna change the things that you said
Nothing's gonna make this right again
Please don't turn your back
I can't believe it's hard
Just to talk to you
But you don't understand

'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect

'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect

ANALYSIS

The first stanza is basically about a teenager who asks his father as to whether he has made his father proud in the phrase "Did I grow up according to plan", showing the persona's uncertainty on whether he has done anything to please or disgrace his father. In my case, I have always been uncertain on whether i should do certain things, as I am afraid it might displease anyone around me.
"And do you think I'm wasting my time doing things I wanna do" represents my feelings of whether my parents would actually disapprove of me doing things of my interest. "But it hurts when you disapprove all along" describes my feelings as I find out about their disapproval of my interests. In the second stanza, "And now I try hard to make it I just want to make you proud" shows that I am constantly trying to adapt, to fit into the criteria of what other people and my parents want me to be. "I'm never gonna be good enough for you" shows two meanings. One, is that I have a low self-esteem, and that I do not feel confident enough to be "good enough for you". Two, is that I keep striving to be "perfect", that nothing is good enough for me. "And you can't change me" describes that I will stick to my ways if I feel that it is the correct thing to do, and not blindly follow others.

The third stanza is repeated in the sixth, eight and ninth stanza. "'Cuz we lost it all/Nothing lasts forever" shows that my relationship with my parents are strained, that I fell they do not understand me at times, and vice versa. "I'm sorry/I can't be perfect" show that I feel that I cannot live up to my parents' requirements, hinting my desperation. "Now it's just too late" for us to go back the way we were. The fourth stanza starts with "I try not to think/About the pain I feel inside" which shows that I am trying hard to forget the bitterness within me, trying to forgive possibly. "Did you know you used to be my hero?" shows that I once looked up to them as role models, but my view has changed as "All the days you spent with me/Now seem so far away", that "it feels like you don't care anymore". The seventh stanza reveals that "Nothing's gonna change the things that you said" which means that I will not trust them the way I did before. However, I actually want to communicate with them to solve our problems, asking them "Please don't turn your back". In the end, "I can't believe it's hard/Just to talk to you" that you will not listen, and that "you don't understand".
I feel that the tone in this song is rather pleading, as the teenager in the song just wants his father to be proud of him, to proudly announce that he's his son. It sort of relates to me too, as I want my parents to be proud of me, even though they keep comparing me with people of better caliber, no matter how much effort I have already put in.

Here's my response to the the song in the form, of a poem..Enjoy!!=]

Please Don't Turn Your Back
by Joel Lee

Please don't turn your back
Lest you miss what I mean
Engrossed in your activities
Anxious about all the wrong things
Still giving me the cold shoulder
Engrossed in your cards which form the dealer's deck

Do listen mother and father
Oblivious to motion
Neglecting emotions
Tearing apart the fruit of your labour

Tumultuous weather threaten cloudy skies
Under attack away the small clouds flee
Respite found only in the depths of the sea
Nursing the sick and close to die

Your parents have left you, haven't you see?
Oblivious to the danger you kids were left in
Unanimously the clouds voted in
Responded "we were just trying to please"

Beware parents who do not care
A future in where both parties suffer
Concrete blocks that make a tower
Keep tumbling down


And now...My father's response!!*gasp*
"I never knew that he thought he did not live up to our requirements. He was really brave to come up to even ask us to respond to his analysis as this has always been quite an important matter to him. I hope that my wife and I can change how he describes himself, but in a more positive way."