"I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice,
not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew,
or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death,
but because he is the reason I believe in God;
I am a Christian because of Owen Meany."

Owen Meany is a very unique character in that he believes himself to be "God's Instrument." Owen lives his entire life based on some faith and belief in a higher power that has given him a predetermined destiny to follow. Yesu ni Wangu is a Swahili gospel song that praises Jesus, so it relates to this idea of a higher power in life that "cares" or "loves" enough to make Owen his tool in the human world. I chose Yesu ni Wangu, a song in another language, to relate to the different "language" used by Owen Meany. John Irving gives Owen the characteristic of an exceptionally high pitched, screech-like voice. In the book, Irving displays Owen's voice somewhat as another language because anything that Owen says is in ALL CAPS, even in his diary. Also, Yesu ni Wangu has a very unique melody. The video relates to Owen because it illustrates the melody adopted by the song. The music associated with the song is fast tempo and really upbeat. It relates to how fast things in Owen's life come about because of his belief, such as the death of his best friend's mother by his hands. It also reminds me of fun and friendship because of the children and adults in the video dancing, moving about having a good time while worshiping, which relates to the friendship that Owen has with John, the narrator, who is also very prominent in both Owen's life and the instrumentation of God's will for Owen's life.

Hallelujah---Rufus Wainwright

Your faith was strong but you needed proof, you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu----jah

There was a time you let me know whats really going on below, but now you never show it to me, do you?

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu----jah

Maybe there's a God above, and all I ever learned from love was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
And its not a cry you can hear at night, its not somebody who's seen the light, its a cold and its a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu----jah

The lyrics can be used in correlation to many things throughout the novel. Owen happens to have an unhealthy relationship to John's mother, the woman he unintentionally kills. The line "you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you" relates to Owen's relationship to her. Owen talks about her throughout the novel, at times rather explicitly, to her son John both before and after her death. Owen reconciles her death because of his faith in the idea that it was God's plan. The lyrics then move to a later time when Owen does not reveal all that he knows of his own destiny to John: "There was a time you let me know whats really going on below, but now you never show it to me, do you?" Owen didn't know how to tell John all he knew about his own death because he knew John would try to save him. Then the lyrics move to the end of the story with the last stanza. Owen's death occurs by protecting Vietnamese children chaperoned by Catholic nuns, similar to those in the picture. Although he knew he would die from trying to save them, his love of God and the fate he believed in made him "outdraw" the grenade that killed him. The melody to Hallelujha is very slow and sad, somehow depressing and inspirational at the same time. It corresponds to the sadness of Owen's heroic death, but also to the happiness with the fulfillment of his fate.

Goodbye Sky Harbor---Jimmy Eat World

"Is tomorrow just a day like all the rest."
How could you know just what you did?
So full of faith yet so full of doubt I ask.
Time and time again you said don't be afraid.
"If you believe you can do it."
The only voice I want to hear is yours.
Again.
I shall ask you this once again.
And again.
He said:
" I am but one small instrument."
Do you remember that?
So here I am above palm trees so straight and tall.
You are smaller, getting smaller.
But I still see you.


"Goodbye Sky Harbor" was actually inspired by the book, so it characterizes Owen Meany's life somewhat perfectly. The only concerning thing is the music is not something that seems to correlate between this idea of Owen living his life as God's instrument. What it does seem to convey, though, is a sense of disarray in Owen (and perhaps even a slight connection to his wrecked voice). Owen changes through the time periods in the book. He grows from a young boy in Sunday school to an officer in the military after completing college. This disarray of musical aspects portrays the changes in Owen as he gets older, particularly at the point when Owen, a straight A student, is expelled from Gravesend Academy for making and selling fake I.D.s.

Only the Good Die Young---Billy Joel

Come out Virginia, don't let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
aw But sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well be the one

You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd
We ain't too pretty we ain't too proud
We might be laughing a bit too loud
aw But that never hurt no one

They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
the Sinners are much more fun...

You know that only the good die young
oh woah baby
I tell ya
only the good die young, X2

Billy Joel takes wrong actions and transforms them into seemingly harmless, adolescent mischief. That adolescent mischief appears in Owen Meany more than just his business of creating fake I.D.s getting him in trouble. Owen, though still believing himself to be God's instrument, takes the wrong road of what could be considered the average boy. Though "small" and somewhat undeveloped, Owen still hits puberty and begins to slide over to the dark side of things as it amounted to smoking , drinking, and girls. Still, Owen is good and saves John and the children so sometimes, the good do die young and because they have lived, like Owen did. It is something to be celebrated, and that celebratory, laughing, playful tempo is reflected in the song.

Grave Digger---Dave Matthews Band

When you look at the lyrics, there are a lot of notions of young children. This relates because Owen, even as a teenager and adult, is "small" and somewhat child-like. There is also a connection to Cyrus Jones "living forever," even though he died at age 103. Owen Meany died, not exactly in the war as 2 in the song did, but he is in the military during the Vietnam war and accompanies bodies home. Even though he died, he lives on forever both through his friend John and more importantly through the book. It is also interesting to note how in the song he is talking to his "grave digger" telling him how to dig his grave because he knows of his death. Owen also already knew of his death, revealed through a crucial point in his life, as he plays the third Ghost in the towns production of A Christmas Carol. Owen haunts much of the town because of his own astounding but grave appearance as the ghost. As he is scaring those in the audience with his performance, he turns and is frightened himself, for though no one else sees it, Owen's rank and date of Owen's death is revealed to him by his own headstone, but what should have been Ebenezer Scrooge's headstone. This revelation is important to Owen's character because it changes many of his choices, such as going into the military because his headstone's name had "Lt." on it, and the music parallels to a kind of mournful revelation that is still has some sort of upbeatness, some happiness, to it. Although the video has a very long introduction and doesn't really start playing the music for almost 2 minutes, that slow introduction can be reflected in how the novel paces itself over a really long period of time. A lot of the video also reflects Owen in the flags, pain and remorse the people show.

Words of Wisdom---Jump Little Children

How'd you get so far away
So suddenly evaporate
Fortune smiles with teeth of jade
And the greediest eyes

If you will go and not return
Leave me some words of wisdom
If I cannot follow any more
I promise to teach what I have learned
If you will go and not return

Who was it that said to me
That heros will live forever
And where are they now
Now that I'm standing alone

If you will go and not return
Leave me some words of wisdom
If I cannot follow any more
I promise to teach what I have learned

Owen and John have a really close relationship to one another. As they get older, though, and Owen begins to discover more and more about his role and fate, he starts leaving John behind by no longer sharing everything with one another that was so important to them before. Reflected in the lyrics is the idea of Owen leaving John, and John cannot follow him. In fact, Owen and John make sure that they cannot stay together by cutting off John's trigger finger. But the idea is that Owen leaves for the war and they are still somewhat connected to the point that John can follow him to the airport where Owen dies. When Owen dies, however, he leaves John, not necessarily with "words" of wisdom, but with his new found faith in God, making him a Christian, which actually leads to John moving to Canada to become an English teacher at a girl's Christian school. The melody of the song reflects a learning over time. It's really sad until it gets to the chorus, where it turns really upbeat. That shows how they are sad that they must separate from one another, but are happy to have each other at those times when they know they can be there to help one another, even if eventually one of them is no longer living.

Hallelujah---Paramore

Somehow everything's gonna fall right into place
If we only had a way to make it all fall faster everyday
If only time flew like a dove
Well God, make it fly faster than I'm falling in love

This time we're not giving up
Let's make it last forever
Screaming "hallelujah"
We'll make it last forever

The impression that time is limited and must be used efficiently is given in this fast tempo song about not giving up. Owen doesn't give up on his belief the things will "fall right into place" with his destiny, whether he tries to hasten it or prevent it. The importance of time illustrated through both the temp and the lyrics in this song is connected with "The Shot," a move perfected my Owen and John. Perfected to a time of 3 seconds, "The Shot" is a movement where Owen would jump into Johns arms and be lifted to dunk a basketball in the hoop. This perfected time of 3 seconds is very important in Owen's fate because he only has 3 seconds to jump and through the grenade away that would have killed him, John, and the children. But, even though there wasn't that much time, it was also made to "last forever" because it was something that first started as a game to them, thus it was a form of entertainment with them wanting to practice "The Shot" all the time. Owen and John never gave up on getting faster and faster at performing "The Shot" in their practices, so when it came time to utilize it, it was perfect.

Hero's Song---Brendan James

Here I am
In the desert again
A compass and a weapon
A lost American

I started out with a simple plan
And a locket in my hand
But the sun is so unforgiving
And the wind so hard to stand

Fall out, fall out
With the rest of your brothers
With the rest of your sisters
Heroes on the line

Carry out what your leader says
For what his leader says
Is that his leader says
This is right for the people

No one will ever understand *why*
Thousands of beautiful healthy young statues must fall
Smoke and explosions surround me
A flood of hate, it drowns me
I cannot live this way
No I cannot live with
Doubt and confusion
They find me
They run up right behind me
I cannot die this way
No, I cannot die this way

In the water, in the sand
Is the blood of a culture
Is the blood of an ancient people
In whose holy war I stand

I hear the world like a cannon roar
Say I can win this war
I promise them this
Is not what I signed up for

No one will ever understand *why*
Thousands of beautiful healthy young statues must fall
Smoke and explosions surround me
A flood of hate, it drowns me
I cannot live this way
No I cannot live
With doubt and confusion
They find me
They run up right behind me
I cannot die this way
No, I cannot die this way

No one will ever understand *why*
Thousands of beautiful healthy young soldiers must fall

Smoke and explosions surround me
A flood of hate, it drowns me
I cannot live this way
I cannot live
With *your* doubt and confusion
They find me
They run up right behind me
I cannot die this way
No, I will not die this way

Owen is both a soldier of the government and a soldier for God. The great thing about the relationship between this song is that it shows both sides. Owen didn't really enjoy some of the jobs he was assigned. Because of his size, he was mostly a clerk but worked his way up within the military. It was not that Owen felt it his duty to do so. It was because he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he needed to be in combat because that was when he was going to save the children that was his fate as God's instrument. Owen does actually have doubt about his role in the military, so it is contradictory to the song in a sense because he did in fact die that way. But in reality, he didn't. He knew what he had to do, just no where he had to do it, and so he did die without doubt or confusion that he had succeeded in his destiny. Owen died a hero to many, not just to readers. The nuns, or "penguins" as Owen called them throughout, found Owen to be a gift from God (and he was) and a hero for protecting the young Vietnamese children. In their minds, he may have lost his life, but he "won the war." The slow tempo brings on a feeling of remorse for Owen's lost life, but it picks up to reveal that his death is not a bad thing, for he has done what was intended for him.