The connection between a song from the 80's and one of the most legendary American essayists of all time

Ralph Waldo Emerson, revolutionary essayist and inspiration to some of the most influential writers in history, has written many popular pieces of literature. Among them is “Experience,” an essay that discusses the importance of being self-aware. If there were to be a song that could represent some of “Experience”’s key aspects, it would be “Once in a Lifetime,” by the Talking Heads (hence the quotation marks in the terrible joke that is the title). They both give the feeling of being aware of one’s situation and both use rhetorical questions to trigger a sense of analysis in hopes that the listener/reader gains more understanding of their atmosphere.

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One idea that Emerson’s “Experience” brings forth is the outcome of one’s lack of awareness. According to Emerson, “Ghostlike we glide through nature, and should not know our place again,” (page 8). By comparing people who are unaware to a creature that represents silence, death; a spirit trapped in between the afterlife and its own mortality, Emerson establishes the fact that these kinds of people have no idea of what they should do or where they should go, they just go with the flow of nature. The Talking Heads plays with this idea in their first verse by giving many examples of possible outcomes for one’s ignorance and then ending it with “And you may ask yourself, ‘Well...how did I get here?’” (genius.com), clearly demonstrating that there are people who won’t know how or why they do what they do. To further cement the connection between Emerson’s idea of how ignorance forces one to move with nature and how “Once in a Lifetime” shows it, the chorus explicitly describes the flow of water. Not only that, but the chorus goes on to say “let the water hold me down” (genius.com), further showing that the singer is being controlled by the water and the water’s flow, similar to how Emerson wrote about ignorant people gliding through nature.