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Diehl

HUMN 2010

5 April 2022

HUMN 2010 Analog Project #2

Love has been intertwined with music since its inception. From the flamboyant serenades

of decades long past to today’s top streamed singles, it is impossible to find an era wherein music

has not been completely dominated by its themes. Notwithstanding these thematic similarities,

love is convoluted such that each of these works embodies a different form or facet of it.

Moreover, the same principles apply to literature with the core difference being the medium

allowing for greater depth than most songs. Bridging this gap between music and literature

allows for new insights into love’s boundless intricacies and a greater understanding of the

respective works.  

One of the greatest advantages of music is its flexibility. More specifically, its ability to

take on narrative form much like a literary work while still fulfilling its goal of being an

enjoyable auditory experience. Jill Scott’s “A Long Walk” skillfully uses this structure to guide

the listener through her trials with love, taking them through the same path she aims to follow

with her potential lover. This song can be interpreted through a myriad of lenses, but the two key

foci of the song are pragma love & religious allegory. The former is exemplified through her

decision to emphasize the importance of significant conversation with her potential love, such as

when she hopes to “share [their] situations, temptations, education” as opposed to more

lighthearted interactions found in ludus or philia love. Additionally, long-lasting pragma love is

built not through baseless judgments, but through understanding where the other has been and

the contents of their character. To this end, Scott utilizes the latter by directly citing Revelation
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3:17 in her lyrics, which reads “you say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a

thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” She cites

this verse as a means of demonstrating the value of pragma love & good character, that material

wealth is meaningless without its emotional counterpart. 

The vessel of Scott’s narrative, her & her lovers walks, are often used as a means of inner

monologue in literature to delve into a character’s thought process. Few stories utilize this to the

same extent as Jane Austen’s 1813 work “Pride and Prejudice” and its accompanying film

adaptations. Elizabeth Bennet, the novel’s protagonist, uses walks as a means of escaping the

tedium of her Victorian-era lifestyle. She is inundated with the initial turbulence between her and

her eventual lover, and these walks allow her to contemplate and reflect on this dynamic.

Through them, she grows from her disdain toward Fitzwilliam Darcy and his presumed

arrogance and allows for their pragma love to eventually convalesce. Together, this works to

reinforce the idea that, unlike eros & ludus love, a truly unfettered relationship is fostered not by

physicality or initial impression, but through deeper appreciation for each participants character

as introduced by Scott’s work.  

Seeing where these two works converge is critical to understanding the dynamics of love

found between them. Aside from the inherent structural similarities, both pieces hinge on the

central theme of love being built, not discovered. Each author uses their own means of achieving

this end, but they both work to display that pragma love, one built through sincere words of

affection and quality time spent with another, is unquestionably sacred and impossible to imitate.

Bennet’s love for Darcy stems not from their initial interactions, as she detests him at the ball,

but from the displays of character shown throughout and her reflections thereof that work to

disprove her presumptions. Though Scott does not begin with distaste, she uses words of
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affection such as “you put your good foot down and make your soul a winner” & “.your style,

your smile, your peace mentality” to uplift her lover and demonstrate her compassion toward

him to the same effect as Austen in her work. The adage “labor of love” holds true not only with

respect to both works but as a greater extension of their thematic message. As Bennet grew to

understand Darcy and Scott expresses her affection toward her lover, we too must use proper

diligence in our pursuit of love. 

It is unlikely that love will be unwed from popular culture, be it literature or music.

However, this does not mean that these depictions are predetermined to become stale and

repetitive. Love is complex and convoluted, and authors and artists alike have worked for

centuries to decipher its intricacies and understand what draws us to attract. This is where the

ability to compare a song and novel separated by two centuries derives from, as even if our

mediums of expression change, our attempts to understand and find love are innately human to a

degree that they will seldom not be expressed through art.