I Should Be Sick Of This Song

Easy Way Out by Gotye

I once wrote a paper about this song. To be specific, it was a rhetorical analysis. I was taking a class called Rhetoric and Persuasion that semester, and our last major assignment before the final exam was to analyze something from popular culture.

During the writing process, I listened to the song over and over. I put the track on repeat and played it on loop in my headphones for hours straight while I typed. I like the song, but obviously, at the time I had some vague worries that I might be completely destroying it for myself by overplaying it.

This didn't turn out to be the case. Even after all that mindless repetition, I still get a kick out of listening to "Easy Way Out," and the video, which I also viewed multiple times, is still compelling to me. Perhaps it's because Gotye's message remains relevant to my experience. I doubt that's going to change any time soon.

This music video exposes something that I absolutely dread: the idea of life as a monotonous cycle, going nowhere, meaning nothing, an empty, dull, miserable excuse for an existence that never allows you a moment to breathe, to think, to feel. There is never time to reflect on what is happening, or whether any of it even matters. There is constant pressure to perform, but no one ever offers you a reason for this endless merry-go-round of madness. You just have to keep going, even if it costs you your health, your happiness, your sanity. In the end, it may cost you your life, but no one really cares, do they? If you can't keep up, very well, you'll just be left behind.

But of course, I already wrote the paper on this. If you want to hear some more dismal exposition, here's a link to that infamous rhetorical analysis, which placed in the academic division of my university writing contest:

The Dangerous Daily Grind