Song Meaning and Music Video
Song meaning and music video
At Pointfest 22, lead singer Brent Smith told the audience; "It's important for you to hear this... When I grew up, everyone was okay with being in a bubble. They were cool in their circle. That's fine. But no one should discourage someone if they have a dream, if they want something more [...] This song was difficult for me to write the lyrics to because it's about my mother and my father, and about the day I said goodbye to them, because I had to go try, and I am still trying, every day, to become a man. So, this song is about that. It's about the moment that you wake up and you decide you want to go for every single dream you ever want."- Brent Smith, Pointfest 22The official music video for the song was directed by Ryan Smith, and premiered on January 8, 2009, on MSN Music. It starts with a teenage girl sitting on a bench at night, and lead singer Brent Smith in the background. It shows that she has a job helping a fisherman. She also has a boyfriend. She aspires to be a ballerina, and wants to go to a dance school. She is seen dancing in her garage a few times in the music video. However, her family is somewhat dysfunctional, with her parents shown fighting all the time. She looks out for her younger brother, and often takes care of him. When she asks her mother for permission to go to the school one day, her mother immediately refuses, showing her bills, and shouting at her. The girl thinks about all the things in her life that make her happy, and decides to run away to attend the school. She leaves a note for her parents, and she looks in on her younger brother asleep, before leaving the house. She then goes to the bench where the music video began, bringing the music video to full circle. When her parents read the note, it makes them realize that they did not make the best choices in raising her, but they have a second chance by choosing to let her go. Lead singer, Brent Smith, is shown singing alone on a hill throughout the video, and the girl is shown practicing her dancing in the garage frequently. At the end of the video, the girl gets on a bus, where Brent Smith and the other members of the band are riding on as well. The video was shot on Anna Maria Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It was shot at various locations on the Island, including Periwinkle Plaza in Anna Maria, the Silver Surf resort in Bradenton Beach and the Star Fish Company in Cortez. The video stars a couple of local people; the girl is played by Alanna Massey, of nearby Parrish, Florida, and the little brother is William Bernet who lives across the street from Corky and Brenda Parker's house whose home is featured as the girl's home in the video.
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Meaning
While the term is somewhat vague, she uses it to describe why there is a "desire which flows through all who want cinema as a lover," why film can feel erotic, whether such intense feelings may be explained by a psychic model of "tension and release," and why there is this "physical pleasure of cinema" which sometimes manifests itself in an "erotic and subversive" way.
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Interpretation and meaning
Mohammad Nahavandian, chief of staff for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that: If you go and ask anyone who uses that slogan [...] what he is against, it is interference in Iran's policies by overthrowing a nationally elected prime minister at the time of Mossadegh. For them, what they are against is the kind of government who shoots an airplane full of innocent passengers" (referring to Iran Air flight 655, an Iranian airliner shot down by an American naval vessel). "For them, it's not the people of America, per se. For them, they are opposed to that sort of policy, that sort of attitude, that sort of arrogance. It's not a nation. It's a system of behavior.""Regarding the words 'Death to America', we mean American politics, not the American people", says Hussein al Hamran, head of Foreign Relations for Ansar Allah (Houthis). Ali al-Bukhayti, a former spokesperson and official media face of the Houthis, has said: "We do not really want death to anyone. The slogan is simply against the interference of those governments [i.e. US, and Israel]". Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani has also dismissed the literal interpretation of the slogan, stating that the slogan is to express opposition to US intrusive policies rather than hatred against American people. Law professor David Luban sees the slogan as a literal call for attacks on America such as the September 11 attacks. On 8 February 2019, Ali Khamenei stated "Death to America means death to Trump, Bolton and Pompeo. We criticize American politicians who are managing that country. Iranian nation are not against American people." Travel writer Rick Steves records a taxi driver in Tehran exclaiming "Death to traffic!" in English, explaining that "when something frustrates us and we have no control over it, this is what we say". Steves compares the phrase to non-literal use of the word damn in American English.
