Character Post #5

I chose the song "Some Nights" by Fun. because it closely outlines the struggles that Hamlet went through prior to his death and the indecision that he experiences throughout the play.

In the fifth and sixth lines of the song, the singer says "but I still wake up, I still see your ghost / Oh Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for". There are a couple parallels to Hamlet in these lines. The first, and most obvious, is that Hamlet sees the ghost of his father, who tells Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.25). Although Hamlet immediately desires to “sweep to [his] revenge” (1.5.31) he quickly becomes unsure of himself. Hamlet is convinced that the spirit who visited him “is an honest ghost” (1.5.138), but at the same time is uneasy about killing Claudius because it would be one of the worst sins to commit. Hamlet has to chance to kill Claudius while he is praying but doesn’t in fear of sending “this same villain…to heaven” (3.3.77-78). While Hamlet wants to listen to his father’s ghost and get revenge, another side of him keeps him from doing the act and thus, Hamlet is not sure what he stands for. The song even repeats this line, asking “what do I stand for?” which directly relates to the internal struggle Hamlet has the entire play.

In lines 10 and 11 of the song the speaker asks “This is it, boys, this is war, what are we waiting for? / Why don't we break the rules already?” These lines associate with Hamlet’s soliloquy in Scene two of Act two. He effectively asks himself “what am I waiting for?” when he says “o, what a rogue and peasant slave am I” (2.2.475) and when he ask himself “am I a coward?” (2.2.497). Hamlet knows that he wants revenge but is “pigeon-liver’d” (2.2.504) and cannot bring himself to “break the rules already” (by killing the king, which is considered a sin against nature) like the song suggests.

The singer says “some nights, I wish that this all would end” which carries strong connotations of death. This longing for death and escape from pain is also present in Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy, where he ponders whether “’tis nobler in the mind to suffer” or “to take arms against a sea of troubles, / And by opposing end them” (3.1.57-60). Hamlet wonders if it would be better to just die much like the singer admits that sometimes he wishes that it “all would end”. An interesting complexity in this parallel is that the singer wishes this upon himself “some nights”, a time when most people are sleeping. In the soliloquy, Hamlet equates death with a long sleep and therefore ponders why he is awake and alive during this dark time of his life. “To die: to sleep”, it seems only natural that when night falls on his life he should sleep, but instead he decides to live (3.1.60).

The song seems to end with an address to a lover or ex-lover which can be compared to Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia before they both died. The singer says that he thinks “it’s for the best [they] get [their] distance”. When Hamlet confronts Ophelia in Act three he wants as much distance as possible, telling her to get “to a nunnery…and quickly too” (3.1.132). A fitting way to end a song that tributes Hamlet’s struggles: with blunt “farewell” (3.1.133).

 

[Note: I did not include a video because of explicit lyrics and the lack of a clean version of the music video on YouTube]



"Some Nights" by Fun. lyrics

Some nights, I stay up cashing in my bad luck.
Some nights, I call it a draw.
Some nights, I wish that my lips could build a castle
Some nights, I wish they'd just fall off

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost
Oh Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for oh
What do I stand for? What do I stand for?
Most nights, I don't know anymore... oh woah, oh woah, oh woah oh oh.
Oh woah, oh woah, oh woah oh oh

This is it, boys, this is war, what are we waiting for?
Why don't we break the rules already?
I was never one to believe the hype - save that for the black and white
I try twice as hard and I'm half as liked, but here they come again to jack
My style

And that's alright; I found a martyr in my bed tonight
She stops my bones from wondering just who I am, who I am, who I am
Oh, who am I? Oh, who am I? mmm... mmm...

Well, Some nights, I wish that this all would end
Cause I could use some friends for a change
And some nights, I'm scared you'll forget me again
Some nights, I always win, I always win...

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost
Oh Lord, I still not sure what I stand for
What do I stand for? What do I stand for?
Most nights, I don't know... (come on)

So this is it? I sold my soul for this?
Washed my hands of that for this?
I miss my mom and dad for this?

No. When I see stars, when I see, when I see stars that's all they are
When I hear songs, they sound like this one, so come on
Oh, come on. Oh, come on, oh come on!

Well, This is it, guys, that is all - five minutes in and I'm bored again
Ten years of this, I'm not sure if anybody understands
This one is not for the folks back home; Sorry to leave, mom, I had to
Go
Who the **** wants to die alone all dried up in the desert sun?

My heart is breaking for my sister and the con that she called "love"
Man when I look into my nephew's eyes...
Man, you wouldn't believe the most amazing things that can come from...
Some terrible nights... ahhh... oh woah, oh woah, oh woah oh oh
Oh woah, oh woah, oh woah oh oh

The other night, you wouldn't believe the dream I just had about you and me
I called you up, but we'd both agree
It's for the best you didn't listen
It's for the best we get our distance... oh...
It's for the best you didn't listen
It's for the best we get our distance... oh...