"Sounds of a Playground Fading" - In Flames

This is an essay I did in my first quarter of college.

"Sounds of a Playground Fading" - In Flames

“Sounds of a Playground Fading” is a song written by the Swedish Death Metal band In Flames that has held their name high in the music industry for close to twenty two years. It was released in June of 2011 a time with much chaos going on around the world, civil wars in Egypt, the Middle East always in complete chaos, and the United States still going through a massive economy problem, problems that we have caused to this world. The list can go, but to give you reference to what was happening and maybe start an idea in your head, what could they mean by the phrase “Sounds of a Playground Fading?”

         The song “Sounds of a Playground Fading” is about the fall of humanity and how we are slowly moving towards the end of our existence and that we are ghosts of our former selves. Almost getting the feel that we do nothing new, but wander through our daily life with no change and no longing for a greater life.. "We are ghosts of the concrete word, Genetic codes of a dying breed". "Staring into bright lights" may be a metaphor comparing us (humanity) to a deer in head lights; we can see it coming but for some reason can’t react. It can be compared to this; blinded by the world we have created around ourselves. “Sounds of a playground fading” may be compared to children losing their sense of innocence or compassion and how we are becoming robots to society which are the reason behind the inevitable fall of our own civilization. “We are running out of time, Can’t seem to realize, What put us here in the first place, Counting down the days, Beginning of the end”. “I am what I’ve done, It is useless to hide, An empty chamber, Guess I was part of a plan” may refer to the state we are in now and how it is our fault, that no-one else can be blamed, we have gotten ourselves into this mess and it is up to us and us alone to react and fix this situation. It may refer to the human nature that we run and hide when frightened that we long for subjection as we cower and blame our leaders for the cause of all the world’s problems, like they are the only ones guilty, but soon realize that was a waist of time that the end will find us no matter where we are or what we are doing. “Can’t seem to recognize, What put us here in the first place, Counting down the days, beginning of the end” can be referenced to the soul fact that we are blind to what we have done to ourselves, we don’t want to realize the truth of what we have done.

          Song composition has a major role in this songs mood. It starts off with a lonely feeling from the melodies played on the guitar until it is raised and blasting through the ages when the drums drop. But when the verse comes in the instruments tone down for the listening ears to pay attention and grasp the message that is being said. The chorus has the major roll of this song, like any, screaming out the disappointment in humanity, while the lead guitar has this lonely melody that also gives you a feeling of hope, that we can fix this. Later on in the song the dueling guitar solos sound great but the feeling you may pick up is the fighting that goes on within us. We want to fix our situation but it seems to be programed in us to falter and fall apart. The ending with be the part that may stick to you the most. It just ends and fades out, throughout the song it punches and throws itself at you and when it comes to and end it just fades out, like the song was programed much like us. We are so strong and so stubborn that we know all of our problems and the solutions to fix them, but when push comes to shove we will not follow through with the goal. Throughout the entire song the music gives a sense of power that is not our own, a strong punching music with a lonely tired voice screaming out is this all we can do, is this what we have become? Can we fix where we are, or are we nothing but machines and ghosts living our life like nothing is wrong?

          The song refers to our world as a collapsing image of itself; we are fading away with no change in site. It is a voice of disappointment that we have dwindled down to a race of people that seem to be programed to destroy ourselves, that we no longer live and fight for a better life but accept our fate as being bitter sweet. Why can’t we fix the problems we have created or is this the natural way, are we meant to destroy ourselves?