This song represents my struggle
and attempt to create a cultural identity. I’m a TCK - a third culture kid. American
sociologist David
C. Pollock defines a TCK as: “a person who has spent a significant
part of his or her developmental years outside the parents' culture. The TCK
frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full
ownership in any.” (Wikipedia) That about sums up my situation. I lack a
solid single culture of my own. I spent half of my elementary years and over
half of my high school years growing up in Japan. My immersion in Japan’s
culture, language, and lifestyle shaped who I am and my cultural identity. However,
as much as I want to be a part of the Japanese culture, I can never fully
assimilate.
If I were to tell someone I’m
Japanese, they would think I’m a crazy. My blue eyes and white-as-day skin say
otherwise. In Japan I was always labeled as a “Gaijin” or “Foreigner”. Japan’s homogenous nature isn’t as accepting of many
foreigners like myself into its cultural body. I recognize I am still far
from being Japanese. I wasn’t born there, I don’t have Japanese blood, so why
should I try to call myself Japanese? I want to be able to take on and better appreciate,
even become a part of their culture. I am used to bowing and taking off my
shoes when I enter homes, using chopsticks, and much more that cannot be found
within the bounds of the typical American culture. As the song goes, I was born
in the USA. It is so natural to call myself an American. But, I feel that label
doesn’t wholly represent who I am. I am rooted in the American culture, but
have branched out.
This song, which was originally the
Japanese national anthem, has been tweaked to represent my cultural identity. I
in no way mean any disrespect to the anthem.
The song starts out nice and calm,
but is interrupted by Springsteen’s rambunctious tune “Born In the U.S.A.” cutting
in and out disrupting the peaceful beauty. It wants to be a part of the song,
but it just doesn’t flow. Both songs are from different times, have different
tempos, and one is more poppy while the other is traditional. I didn’t want the
songs to compliment each other, rather stand in stark contrast. At first the
songs sound out on their own, competing for dominance. Then they blend
together, despite the fact they can’t mix to create a well-structured song. These
last few seconds represent who I am, the mixture of two very different songs
(or cultures) creates a unique conglomeration that can be difficult to define
or understand.
The repetitious phrase “Born in the
USA” reminds me of my origins and the concept that your culture largely comes
from your birth country. There are several more sound bites of the song “Born
in the U.S.A.” that I included because of their pertinence to my journey of cultural
discovery. I can identify with both cultures, but in the end, my American identity
is strongest and wins out calling me “home”. I would love to be able to
identify more with the Japanese culture, but some things I cant completely
connect to or don’t feel a part of.
This was an interesting revision
process. For the most part, the feedback I got was exactly what I wanted people
to feel. They recognized that this song represented a struggle with two ideas
and how they were so different from the other and contrasted well. I also got
back some flat feedback that was along the lines of “ I like it, good job!”
which was encouraging, but not as helpful.
A few also thought some parts were confusing or a little much, so I was
able to better focus my creation. For example, I originally blasted the word “U.S.A.”,
but that got negative reviews. In the end, I feel like this is a good
representation of my struggle to identify with one specific culture.
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