Frances Farmer will have her Revenge on Seattle by Nirvana

Frances Farmer will have her Revenge on Seattle by Nirvana

Pop is an acronym for popular. Popular music or pop music as commonly referred to dates back to the 1950s. Pop was incorporated in the community through religion, and it was majorly associated with fashion. Pop was popular in wedding ceremonies, and its existence is traceable to the biblical era. Despite the advancement of Pop culture over the past few years, it has maintained its cultural features of entertaining and educating through cultural products and media such as television, music, dance, arts, radio, films, cyberculture literature, among other artistic products.

For years, pop culture has generally been recognized as a set of practices, beliefs, and objects practiced by society. Such methods are informing of the later named features such as music, arts, literature, films, among many others. Pop music is one such practice. It is a pop-cultural feature that has been ongoing for many years and one of the main contributors to the various themes of life.

This paper addresses a source analysis of the song “Frances Farmer will have her revenge on a Seattle.” This song was written by Nirvana, and it is included in their 1993 Album. In the song, the singer talks about a late former actress who becomes infamous due to her legal and psychological challenges. According to the song, the late actress underwent rehabilitation in various mental institutions in search of treatment. However, in the song, the singer says that the character was highly mistreated in these mental institutions.  The aspect of revenge on Seattle is imaged first by her birthplace: Seattle, as suggested by the song title. Second, it is imaged by the fact that she was admitted, hospitalized, and received treatment in the state of Washington D.C. However, evidence obtained from the song suggests that the farmer was not mentally ill; she was perceived as mentally challenged because of her rebellious and assertive character. As a woman in her 30s or 40s, this was not acceptable at that time (Douglas Wolk & Stone, 2020).

As the song progress, the singer narrates or displays the challenges of being a celebrity. The revenge aspect of the songs’ title is described when the singer says that she will come back as fire, and she will destroy all the liars alongside leaving a blanket of ash on the ground. The farmer is mistreated by the media, including the friends who are close to her. Society fails to understand the natural behavior of the characters in the song; hence they are judged harshly and mistreated by society.

Pop culture presents various things that can only be seen when you take a deep in-depth analysis of any pop cultural products.  From this song, we can see that the empowerment of women is one of the themes in the song. The song addresses gender inequities and age group achievements from the perspective of the historical treatment of people.  The artifact of things informs on the time the song was written. The song depicts a time when society had already recognized the importance of treating the mentally challenged in society (Nirvana 2020). However, it seems the society at the same time had a different perspective on those with mental illnesses. Many people were mischaracterized by society.  Hence, during this time, mental health services were not effective and efficient since it involved misdiagnosis and mistreatment.

In terms of gender, the song shows that there is a challenge in gender equality as women are treated quite differently. There are certain things which are not acceptable, as suggested in the song on women in the 30s and 40s.  Power is depicted as belonging to the high social class of society. The middle and lower social, economic classes face numerous social challenges; hence they are not equal the high social, economic class.  The character in the song, the farmer, seems to come from a middle social, economic class, and she underwent the said challenges.  The identity of the creator of the artifact directly affects the song itself. She depicts this in the song and uses that identity to bring out the theme of the song in three main forms; life death and resurrection depicted in a fictional form.

The primary audience for the song, I think, is the general society. This is because the song addresses the historical aspect of various themes. They include gender, social class, and health services mistreatment.  The author of the song mainly wanted to show society how people with mental illness are perceived differently in society. Many people misunderstood such people, even those close to them. The health services for the mentally ill people is quite different. There is the mistreatment of mentally ill patients in mental institutions opposite to what we think to happen in such institutions (Nirvana, 2020). The farmer undergoes lobotomy in the mental institutions. Although she managed to go through the process, and after that rebuilt her life, she intended to show the audience how health services for the perceived mentally ill patients were like in that era.  Some people are committed to insanity against their will.  However, for the Frances farmer, she was indeed having mental challenges.

The main intention of the song was centered on social commentary. The author of the song, Nirvana, aimed to use the song to talk about a social issue. The author informed the society in the type of healthcare services being provided in mental health institutions.  The character in the song is an example of the victim who underwent the mistreatment in the mental institutions, although she managed to come out strong.  Besides, the author of the song Nirvana aimed to use this platform to advocate for change in how people view mentally ill people.  The song showed the aspect of the inhumanity of human beings at that time.

Nevertheless, the song has entertained many people, aside from displaying the social commentary aspect. Hence the song “Frances Farmer will have her Revenge on Seattle” by Nirvana carries a powerful message that was meant to impact society during the late 1900s years. Frances farmer has influenced the popular music industry positively to what it is today. Therefore, as much as pop culture in the United States is meant to entertain, the message they contain, reflect on the social issues in society.