Song Analysis Of 'Float On' By Modest Mouse

Thousands of years ago, our ancestors were focused on surviving. Whether that meant from a horrible disease, a lion, or starvation. In today’s world, we happily do not have to worry about those things. We thank modern medicine, separation of dangerous wildlife from our homes, and grocery stores one every corner stocked to the brim. Many things have changed since then, but one thing that has existed since the existence of animals, stress. “Stress can lead to sadness or depression”, and “irritability or anger” (Mayo Clinic). Often people who can not handle stress very well, create a more negative lens of the world. Many of these people express their feelings or emotions through physical activities, and some express it through creating or listening to music. Float On is a song by Modest Mouse, expressing a point to not worrying too much about the negative. It is for people who take life very seriously or are frustrated by stress. Within the song, the narrator makes many mistakes and is victim to circumstance. Many would view this as life throwing bad situations their way, or them being unlucky. Modest Mouse attempts to train the listener

For example, the narrator highlights the silver lining in many of his experiences throughout the song, claiming “A fake Jamaican took every last dime with that scam” (9). Subsequently following it with, “It was worth it just to learn some sleight of hand” (10). The narrator tells us he was robbed, yet it is okay because he learned a skill and a lesson. He knows he will not repeat the same mistake in the future, compared to someone who did not have the same negative experience. Having a positive outlook on life is essential for good mental health. If you keep being positive, positive things will happen. The narrator here uses a logical point of view to show he learned something in a situation where it seems like he only