Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve

This song would go right at the end of ch. 24, on pg. 193. Holden would be walking down the street away from the building singing this song. This is after Mr. Antolini pats Holden on the head while he is sleeping. The song goes here because it describes life being a "bittersweet symphony," and the pain of life, which Holden is recognizing as the one adult we see him truly connect with does something that Holden thinks is perverted. Holden was let down yet again by a person's character, which makes him think about the sad pattern of life. In addition, the person singing this song questions themselves, which Holden also does after listening to Mr. Antolini's talk with him.

Thesis: The song, "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve illustrates Holden's depressed and confused state of mind through its inconsistent and reflective lyrics.

Paragraph: The song, "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve illustrates Holden's depressed and confused state of mind through its inconsistent and reflective lyrics, which shows the common uncertain and dark view towards life among teens. Holden’s feeling of loneliness and melancholy are mirrored in this song. The lyrics echo Holden’s conflicting thoughts and actions through its contradictory words. The song describes life as a “bittersweet symphony,” meaning life is a sad and sometimes satisfying pattern that continues on (repeats). This idea is parallel to Holden’s view as expressed to Sally Hayes; that life is a pattern full of people who think that they are being successful, when they are actually just being phonies. This regularity of life makes Holden “depressed as hell,” (133). Holden’s loneliness contributes to his misery. The lyrics read, “there’s nobody singing to me now,”. The lack of “singing” represents Holden’s lack of companionship, and his consequent loneliness. Holden states, “I sort of kept looking around for those two nuns I’d met at breakfast the day before,” (197). The fact that Holden would search for two women who he had met for only a couple minutes the day before who could be anywhere in New York illustrates his desire for companionship. Holden feels such lonesomeness that he seeks out random people for relationships. This song conveys Holden’s deep emotions of gloominess and isolation.
In addition, the lyrics describe an inconsistent and multi-faceted character that corresponds to Holden’s confusion. The singer reveals he is, “a million different people from one day to the next.” Holden has a diverse personality similar to this singer’s many traits. Holden states that he is a “madman,” (134) a “rude bastard,” (190) his “mind is immature,” (147) a “fool,” (132) a “pacifist” (46) who gets into fights, and the “dumb one” (67) though he is actually quite intelligent. Holden has so many divergent personalities, it is like Holden is actually many different people, just as the song describes. “Bittersweet Symphony” also reflects Holden’s shifting opinions about change, which again portrays his contradicting character. The song says, “No change, I can change, I can change…I can’t change my mold.” The singer keeps switching his view on change, saying he “can change” but then he wants “no change” and that he “can’t change [his] mold.” This idea of a “mold” is also constant with Holden’s worry that he expresses to Sally Hayes about being stuck in the phony pattern of life. He wants to break away from this “mold” but doesn’t know how. Similarly to this song, Holden contradicts himself as he states, “That’s one nice thing about carrousels, they always play the same songs.” (122) He enjoys consistency in the world around him, but continually makes large changes in his own life. For example, he quickly decides to run away, first with Sally Hayes and then on his own, but then suddenly chooses to stay with Phoebe. Holden regularly changes his mind about a person as well. While describing Sally Hayes, Holden thinks, “I didn’t even like her much, and yet all of the sudden I felt like I was in love with her,” (124). Holden persistently switches his internal view though he hates change around him just as the singer acts confused about change in “Bittersweet Symphony.” Holden’s mixture of personalities and fickle behavior exemplifies his puzzled view about where he fits in life, corresponding to the character in the song.
Holden’s depressed puzzlement towards the world around him and the character singing “Bittersweet Symphony” parallel, which demonstrates that the state of mind of most youth remains constant, as a teen from 60 years ago still matches a song from our modern day.