1. Provide a link (SoundCloud, YouTube without video) or a sound file (MP3, etc.) to the specific song
you chose for your own reflection writing assignment. NO VIDEOS!
Mali Music - Johnny & Donna.mp3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mRXBLxJk0Y
2. Do you like this song? Why or why not? Listen to it again, paying careful attention, and make a
couple of notes, in sequence, to try and recreate your actual moment-to-moment experience.
I chose this song because I actually do like it simply because it tells a story that’s easy to understand and
relate to. After listening to it a couple of times, I find myself enjoying his voice more than the actual
song. However, as I continue to listen to the song and pick up lyrics, I began to connect with the lyrics as
a story of my own. It is easy to follow because of its simplicity. The only thing I did not like about this
song is how it ended. I feel as though the song could have been extended; it’s almost a four minute
song, however, it still felt short because of the way he ended the story.
3. When did you resonate with or feel connections to this song? When did you feel dissonant
disconnections? When did you simply stop listening and tune it out? Try to pinpoint the moments in
the song where these experiences happen.
I felt connected to this song from the first verse of when Johnny met Donna. However, because their
problem of having a child is not the specific problem that I’m dealing with, I felt slightly disconnected
from the song at that point, toward the end of the first verse. But when the chorus began to play and I
heard, “life is full of twist, twist. Life is full of twirl, twirl, ta-twirl, twirls,” that is when I felt most
connected to the song. The chorus is the portion of the song where most people can relate. Especially
where I am in life at the time I heard this song, it drew an immediate connection. There was never a
point when I tuned out and stopped listening to the song because of the fact that I was immediately
drawn to the song at the beginning by the narrative and the sound of the artist’s voice.
4. How do you feel when you observe your experience of this song using mindful awareness? (See
WikiPedia on Mindfulness (psychology)).
My observation of this song through mindful awareness hasn’t changed based on how I reacted
physically, emotionally, and intellectually, as I described below, but it did change on how I viewed the
ending of this song. At first hear, I didn’t appreciate the ending for being so short and soon. However,
listening to the song with intentional focus, without judgment or pre-conceived notions, I thought
differently as to maybe Mali’s song ending had some type of significance or symbolism. Maybe the song
was meant to be short and sweet, and that Mali didn’t intend for any unnecessary lyrics. I noticed how
the chorus was sung twice, but both choruses had the same idea but slight differences in the lyrics. Mali
seemed as though he said what he needed to say, and didn’t add any extra lyrics for the reason of
wanting to be precise.
Observing the song through mindfulness allows one to understand a piece of music in entirety, without
personal judgment. This, in turn, has a way of changing or cultivating our idea or reaction to the song
itself.
a) How would you describe your emotional reaction (simply identify and name your feelings)?
My emotional reaction was calm but caused a sort of solemn response because of my relation to the
lyrics of the song. I didn’t feel a happiness or a sadness, but rather an understanding and a connection as
to if I was Donna in this narrative. As I played the song on repeat, I replaced Donna with myself and
Johnny with someone else and thought more on my situation verses Donna’s situation. I can empathize
with Donna, which is the main reason why I chose this song.
b) Your physical/ bodily reaction (heart speeding up, foot tapping, head bobbing, chest pounding,
grimacing, hands over ears, etc.)?
As I listened to the song, my physical/bodily reaction wasn’t much of an active reaction such as foot
tapping or chest pounding, hands over ears or grimacing, but more of a silence and a still reaction as I
listened to the lyrics of the song. My first time hearing this song was during an emotional turmoil, so the
reaction I had then, and now as I listen to the song again, was calm with an attempt to understand and
connect to the narrative of the song. Even more, the song is so slow in tempo that a physical reaction is
somewhat hard to catch because there’s no catchy upbeat, or rhythm that causes one to dance or nod
their head.
c) Your intellectual reaction (lyrics, singing or humming along, meanings, associations).
My intellectual reaction to the song was an instinctual reaction to sing along, whether I knew the words
or not. I reserved humming for the parts of the song I did not know (which was most). It continued by
me playing the song on repeat until I did know the lyrics, or at least the chorus from which I identified
with the most. Although I associated the chorus with myself, I also associated part of a verse describing
Donna as someone who wanted a family and to settle down, while Johnny was the dreamer who wanted
to move around, travel the word, “live life,” etc. This verse, coupled with the chorus, felt like my entire
life at the time I heard the song. The first part of the song, in regards to them having a child, was in
direct correlation to a close friend of mine who, too, could relate entirely to the lyrics of this song at the
same time that I could. Now, whenever I hear this song, I think not only of myself, but of my friend who
experienced the narrative the artist creates with “Johnny & Donna.”
5. Do you recognize this song or anything about it? What does it remind you of? Write down words
that you associate with it.
The only thing I recognized with this song was the audience in whom Mali was trying to reach and also
the difference in this song then the genre he associates with. He’s supposedly a gospel artist; however,
this album he created is argued to have deviated from that genre. In this song, it’s clear who his
audience was: the teen mom era. His style reminds me of John Legend’s soulful approach to music,
which is another reason I was drawn to this song.
6. Did hearing other people’s songs change your approach to your own song? Why or why not?
I haven’t had the opportunity to hear other people’s songs. However, I’m not opposed to other opinions
on this song, and they could potentially change my idea of it. My approach, I believe, will remain the
same because every individual’s reaction will be personal, regardless of opposing opinions.