Semiotics of a Song: a time when music profoundly changed/shaped my emotions.
Jessie J: Big White Room
Once whilst in my room--having my music on shuffle--I came across this "Big White Room". It's a moving description of being caged within four white walls, remembering what once was and dreaming of what could be.
Upon hearing this song on my shuffle, I was aware of an index that took me back to the tears I cried when first hearing it... in my own room of four white walls. (My frame for this entire blog post is in fact my old room in California, where both of these moments occurred.) The object(s) brought about by this index were those tears, with the interpretant of me immediately becoming saddened and introspective. I also remember thinking during the performance that so many of Jessie J's vocal inflections/ornamentations mimicked the actual emotion I understood through the song... Such as the "oooo" that is an icon for the object of hesitance, as it sounds hesitant/fearful following the words "I feel young, broken, so scared". This icon's interpretant elicits the same glimmers of of fear.
One particular lyric is a powerful sign to me: "Everybody's looking at me, everybody's staring at me. What do I do now? Smile." As words, it is a symbol for the object of empowerment amid duress, causing the interpretant feeling confident.
-Krista Schaarschmidt
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