The American Dream In Avici's Wake Me Up

Imagine, as a child a girl’s dream is to graduate high school, complete her degree, marry the ideal partner, have remarkable children and live the American dream; but then reality came into perspective and at eighteen years old she is pregnant with no college education and no job security. Growing up a boy’s dream is to become a professional baseball player; being the MVP in little league and continued to be the all-star player through adolescence and college he has his heart set in achieving his goal . His confidence is soaring and he knows it is his destiny to become a professional baseball player. Unfortunately, he was not chosen in his first year to be drafted. These are the times when the world seems to be against a dream, and then the dream seems to be out of reach. Do they give up or do they take a different course? “Wake Me UP” by Avicii claims in which dreamers and believers have a chance of making their desires become a reality, regardless of what society and pessimistic people have to say. Even though there might not be a written proposal on how to achieve their dreams, they are still hoping to achieve their goal.
Avicii wrote “Hope I get the chance to travel the world/ But I don’t have any plans.” Having a dream is a goal that is implemented so deep into one’s mind that even when it seems impossible, somehow a person still goes against those who oppose him and creates their own path to success. Avicii warrants that society expects young people to follow the same path as their elders and to stay away from what seems to be an impossible goal. People will say to quit and face the truth; the reality of having to grow up faster because there is a child on the way, or the reality of moving on because he did not get drafted on his first attempt. Society demonstrates how people should live with unspoken words and their representation of how life should be. Adults speak a language of giving up on ambitions they do not feel are appropriate and want young adults to mature faster. The writer argues “Wish that I could stay forever this young/ Not afraid to close my eyes” (Avicii). That is because society encourages surrendering a dream, to live a life they believe will be in the best interest of an American citizen. Nonetheless, the teenage mother and the baseball enthusiast still have fight left in them to change the average expectation of what life is supposed to be. They can rewrite the rules of what their life should be. Avicii supports this and his claim, “They tell me I’m too young to understand They say I’m caught up in a dream Well life will pass me by if I don’t open up my eyes Well that’s fine by me”
It is fine because without a dream, there is no ambition and without ambition there is no drive to achieve what a person desires to become. It is understandable that not all dreams come true and to be honest, it does not happen for most people. However, for those who have made it, they made it because of their determination and motivation. Going through the journey of life and listening to those who doubt the ability of making opportunities happen can be a heavy burden.
Listening to so many different opinions and so many discouraging words can become a hindrance. Avicii implies through his ethos “I tried carrying the weight of the world/But I only have two hands” meaning that the words of others can be demanding, but he is only one person and he should not have to carry their burdens of what they believe should be his fate. The words of others can be so heavy sometimes that it can make future goals gloomy and not clear. However, choosing to be aware of being a unique individual is what can set a person apart from carrying the weight or deciding to be different. A person can use the negativity as their driving force to which can give the push they need to
succeed. Even though the urge, the drive, and the want of something can be the light that guides the path, the uncertainty of the outcome can be daunting. For instance, the young mother can want with all her might to live the American dream, and she is aware of what she needs but in the end will she get her wish? The young man can try again and again to prove he belongs in the professionals but will he be drafted? Sometimes not knowing where the road of desire may lead can be a scary quest. In the first stanza of the song, it describes: “Feeling my way through the darkness Guided by a beating heart I can’t tell you where the journey will end But I know where to start” (Avicii)
The beat of these lyrics are slow and deep, the language is descriptive, giving a vivid picture of how it may feel to take a risk and not know the outcome of what you have dared to start. The writer uses the chorus of this song and repeats it four times throughout the entirety. Every time the chorus is over the beat continues without words. It is as though the song is giving the listener a chance to absorb the message in a motivated upbeat tempo. “So wake me up when it’s all over When I’m wiser and I’m older All this time I was finding myself And I didn’t know I was lost” (Avicii) The message is, while going through the journey of life, regardless of it being a simple or a difficult one, people sometimes wish to skip through the hard times and relish in the benefits of their accomplishments. So whether there are obstacles or slow movement on the path to a goal, there is no reason to have to wake up from a dream; and finding one’s self does not mean that a person is lost but that a person had to take a different approach. Avicii supports this by using the words “I didn’t know I was lost” in the chorus and then repeated several times at the end of the song. Rerouting the course of a vision and then succeeding, is when finally, the person realizes that it is time to wake up from an emotional roller-coaster and enjoy the triumphant ending and amazing beginning.