Essay # 1 Jack Johnson's "Posters"

In the world today there are many different mediums of entertainment that we use to express our beliefs, thoughts, or feelings. Even if we don’t notice it or think about it, a lot of these mediums of entertainment have an effect on our thought process and with the way we live our everyday lives. When I look at my life, I can see that music has had a great impact. It is because of great music that I have formed a deep passion for playing the guitar. Throughout the past fifty years there have been many artists that have used music as a medium to express their thoughts and feelings. Jimi Hendrix, by far the greatest guitar player ever, used music to convey his thoughts, thus paving the way for many other guitarists. The magic and legend of Jimi Hendrix inspired one of these guitarists, and his name is Jack Johnson. From his songs about “Banana Pancakes” to “Traffic in the Sky” he sings it all, and he does so with great passion and lyrics.
If you ever go to Hawaii and go to the beach, I bet that you will probably see Jack Johnson out in the ocean catching some killer waves or chilling on the nice sandy beach playing the guitar. Jack Johnson is a native of Hawaii and has already lived a very interesting life. Jack has always had a great love for surfing, and with that great love he became a professional surfer, but that came to a screeching halt when he had an unfortunate surfing accident. He knocked out his two front teeth and had to receive over 150 stitches to his head and mouth. With many people that would have been seen as a great trial and an end to all their dreams, but Jack saw this trial as an opportunity to develop other talents. He had always been fascinated with film and so with that fascination he began to make surfing films. Then when his surfing films were complete he realized that he lacked music to them. Jack started playing guitar at the age of 14 and decided that he would take on the task of writing music to his surfing films.
Living a laid back lifestyle in Hawaii has had a big impact on the type and style of music Jack plays. When I think of Hawaii, I think of people from all walks of life. For example you have Polynesians that stand out like giants, then you have Hawaiians who are smaller in stature but carry a great heritage with them. The people of Hawaii really understand what true beauty is. They are proud of their culture and comfortable with the simplicity of life that they live. I look at the world today and see how so many people are caught up with the latest fashion styles or cosmetic surgeries, and how they go to great lengths to change themselves. Jack Johnson has a song called “Posters” that address this epidemic that is sweeping the world. This song is one of those that you could listen to over and over again and never get tired of it. Jack plays acoustic guitar with some very catchy guitar riffs. Deep down this song has a message that can be applied to anyone.
A lot people in society today are too concerned with their image and how they look on the outside rather that what is on the inside. We can see this with all of the top movie stars and their fans aspiring to become like them in some way. People even go to great lengths to change their outer appearance with the help of modern surgery. With that in mind Jack wanted to convey a message to his fans that we shouldn’t put on a false identity and that we should love ourselves for whom we are. In this song Jack tells the story of two young people, a boy and a girl, who are struggling to fit in with society or so they think. Jack states the following, “Looking at himself wishing he was someone else because the posters on the wall don’t look like him at all. So he ties it up, he pulls it back, and gives a grin. Laughing at himself because he knows he ain’t loved at all.” I am sure all of us at one point or another have found ourselves in the same situation as this young boy. We can see that he is lost and confused about his image and that he doesn’t measure up to the images of the posters on his walls. Feeling this way he attempts to change his appearance and to make himself into someone different. After making all of these minor adjustments he begins to laugh at himself. Why? Perhaps he finally realizes how ridiculous it is to let people dictate the way he should look and act. In just one simple little verse, a lot has been said and a lot can be learned.
Jack goes on to tell the story of a young girl that finds herself in the same situation. In the second verse of Jack’s song he says, “ looking at herself wishing she was someone else because the body of the doll it don’t look like hers at all. So she straps it on, she sucks it in, she throws it up and gives a grin. Laughing at herself because she knows she ain’t that at all.” In society today I think a lot of girls feel pressured into molding their bodies a certain way, and many of them will do it by any means necessary. In this verse the girl goes to drastic measures to change her outer appearance. I picture her looking into a mirror and finally realizing how fake she really is, and that is why she begins to laugh at herself. It is very sad that through the images that we advertise and the way we advertise them it is doing a great disservice to a lot of young people.
I am certain that all of us have seen people, or may be the people, that in order to be popular you must have the latest fashions and trends. It shouldn’t be this way at all, and we should learn to just be ourselves. Jack answers this dilemma with this simple statement, “ all caught up in the trends where the truth begins to bend, and the next thing you know man there just ain’t no truth left at all.”
There is a great message behind this wonderful song Jack wrote. One can now see how the Hawaiian culture has made a big impact on the life of Jack Johnson. It is simply the life of no worries and no concerns. All of us are different in our own ways, and we shouldn’t strive to become something we aren’t. We should learn to just be ourselves and love ourselves for who we are. Jack Johnson is a great example of that and he truly knows who he is and that brings him comfort and peace. A great lesson can be learned in this song. I hope that we all learn to not worry about the images that we see and to be true ourselves.



Johnson, Jack. Jack Johnson music. 3 February 2007
Wikipedia “The Free Encyclopedia.” Jack Johnson (musician) 2 February 2007
Word count: 1,242