Noise

Heather MacArthur

5/6/16

Blog 3

Noise

Today we live in an extremely fast moving world, weather it is in our physical lives or the lives that we are also living in on our phones, it seems like today no one ever “stops and smells the roses”. Recently country singer Kenny Chesney, known for his happy, beachy songs recently released a song called “Noise” which tells our world today a lesson about how are constantly distracted by what is going on in the media and what is happening behind our phones screens that we forget about our reality and the people who are in our physical lives. In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine Chesney says, "We communicate in such a fast pace, and there's this addiction to communication with all the devices we have.” (RollingStone) I could not agree more with Chesney, Yes I am addicted to my phone, even “researchers at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business says we desire to indulge in social networks such as Facebook and Twitter is just as addictive as smoking cigarettes.”  (Ogbevoen) I think we have to know how to ignore the “noise” and we do not have to have an addictive need for it. We must realize that what is happening in media is not the most important thing in our lives, but the most important thing is the people and places in our lives that make up our reality.  

When did this all happen? When did we become so absent in our lives? In his lyrics Kenny Chesney says…

We didn’t turn it on but we can’t turn it off, off, off.

Sometimes I wonder how did we get here

Seems like all we ever hear is noise.

Our phones, social media etc. are here to stay, but how did we get to a point where we are not present our own lives? Sometimes it seems as though we care to pay more attention to our Instagram profiles and what the Kardashians are doing then our own lives and families. This I believe is the “noise” that is in our lives; it is a disruption causing us to be blinded by the more important factors in our lives. At the end of the day is what the Kardashians doing more important than spending time with your loved ones? I do not think so. Cut out the unnecessary noise, and make the noise in your life laughter with your friends and family, not the crying of Kim K losing her diamond earring in Bora Bora.

 It seems as though today we are conversing more through texting then we do in person. We are glued to our screens wherever we are; ignoring our present world, another eye opening lyric Kenny sings in his song “Noise” is…

But there really ain’t no conversation

Ain’t nothing left to the imagination

Trapped in our phones and we can’t make it stop, stop this noise

What I believe that he is trying to say is that even though we are talking through messaging and social media, we are losing our ability of real face-to-face conversation, we are talking but it does not seem as meaningful than interpersonal communication. The final two lyrics are also very relevant in the whole “noise” idea of Kenny’s song. There really is not anything left for our imaginations, people are posting everything on social media. You probably have a family member of Facebook who logs in their every move, weather it is the grocery store or that they are taking a shower then hitting the hay. Everything this said, we know things about peoples’ lives that we really do not need to know about. Yet we are “trapped in our phones” and we will never not live in a technology-based world, but we must find a way to not let the “noise” take over our lives, to sit back and be in touch of our reality.

The music video that goes alone with the song Noise “really captured what I was thinking and the essence of how we can get lost in this fog and be drowned by all of it,” (Reuter) says Chesney. The music video is fast clips of everything imaginable in media today, from politics with Barrack Obama and Donald Trump being featured, to people being shown being mesmerized by technology, women getting plastic surgery done and celebrities being in the spotlight. You have to watch the music video a couple of times to notice everything that is being featured in the music video, but I think that was Chesney’s intent, to show how fast and chaotic our world is, we have to slow down and turn off this noise because it can be exhausting!

Chesney makes a great point in his Rolling Stone interview that “We're not preaching to anyone, we're just making a statement about the way we live. The message is to try to be mindful of it. If you love someone, tell them you love them. Don't text it to them! There is so much life to be lived outside our phones." This is the perfect way to describe my views and feelings about the idea of this “media take over” Like everyone else I am addicted to my phone, I feel as though I am on it a lot throughout my day, but after listening to Kenny Chesney’s song it has made me think about my phone usage and my presence in my life. This makes listeners think, I am going to put down my phone, ignore the noise on this social media world we live in and enjoy life how it is in reality and enjoy every moment of it, without capturing every moment on social media.

Works Cited

Dunkerley, Beville. "Watch Kenny Chesney's Chaotic 'Noise' Video." Rolling Stone 4 May 2016: n. pag. Print.

Ogbevoen, Linda. "The Social Impact of Social Networks." News @ Northeastern: n. pag. Print.

Reuter, Annie. "Kenny Chesney’s ‘Noise’ Video Is Sensory Overload." Taste of Country. N.p., 6 May 2016. Web. 8 May 2016.