Through the Silence
A Playlist Profile of Helen Keller
By: Caitlin Peterson
September 20, 2010
Track #1: Be Yourself
Audioslave. “Be Yourself.” Out of Exile. Interscope Records. 2005. CD.
Helen Keller was a woman who always embraced who she was. Despite being blind and deaf, she never let her disabilities get in the way of anything. The lyrics “everything will end up all right” sort of evoke Keller’s view on her life. She knew that whatever choice she made in life was meant to be and, as the song states, things will be alright. She was a woman who lived her life as an adventure, and thought that without doing so wouldn’t make it worthwhile (Feeney 102). Of course, with such disabilities, she knew that she would never be as normal as the rest of society. Never letting the judgments affect her, “to be yourself is all that you can do” fits Helen Keller to a T.
Track #2: Open Arms
Journey. “Open Arms.” Journey: Greatest Hits. Sony Japan. 2008. CD.
Helen Keller was a very generous and kind-hearted woman. The lyrics “so now I come to you, with open arms” depict how she felt towards helping the less fortunate. Even with the challenges Helen Keller faced, she was still willing to help others who were in need. In her time, there were high occurrences of blindness among the poor (Feeney 105). These issues concerned Keller because she wanted the best for these people, especially the children. Before even attending college, Keller raised money to bring an orphaned, deaf-mute, and blind child to school (Feeney 105). It was the beginning to many great things Keller would go on to do for the blind, as she was considered an “ambassador” for raising money and lobbying for them (Feeney 107).
Track #3: Change
Swift, Taylor. “Change.” Fearless. Big Machine Records. 2008. CD.
Helen Keller always exceeded the expectations that many people had for her in terms of her education. The lyrics “the walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down,” describe how such people thought it would be impossible for Keller to continue her education into college. But, she proved them wrong by attending Harvard’s joint school Radcliffe College, and became the first blind-deaf person to ever receive a college degree (Feeney 105). By doing so, Keller set the standards for others like her to do the same. The lyrics “and I’ll do anything to see it through” describe Helen’s determination to change the views that people not only had towards her, but towards all blind, deaf, or mute people.
Track #4: Don’t Look Back
Boston. “Don’t Look Back.” Don’t Look Back. Epic Records. 1978. Vinyl.
The lyrics “I’m much too strong” state another motto that Keller seemed to have on life. She said herself, that, “a person who is severely impaired never knows his hidden sources of strength until he is treated like a normal human being” (Feeney 104). She never looked back, confident in all the things she worked for. This confidence led her to become one of the founding members of the American Civil Liberties Union. Through this union, Keller wanted to better the opportunities for the education of blind people like herself (Nielson 23). She led many of these people to believe the lyrics “a new day is breaking.” With whatever was put in front of her, Keller believed that tomorrow was a new day that was full of even more opportunities.
Track #5: Waiting on the World to Change
Mayer, John. “Waiting on the World to Change.” Continuum. Aware Records. 2006. CD.
Helen Keller was always optimistic, both in her childhood and adult life (Feeney 104). The lyrics “they say we stand for nothing” show how people may have felt towards Keller and what she was trying to accomplish. Keller could influence people of all different races, whether they had a disability or not. An example of how Keller worked to make a change was after she recognized that there was a lack of programs to help the blind. While others were “waiting on the world to change,” she was making the change. She fought for what she believed in and had enough of an impact on legislature to change the scarcity of the programs. Her efforts back then show today in all of the state organizations that serve the blind (Helen 586). In her time she was, along with Eleanor Roosevelt, considered one of the best goodwill ambassadors by the U.S. State Department (Feeney 107).
Track #6: Around the World
Red Hot Chili Peppers. “Around the World.” Californication. Warner Brothers Music. 1999. CD.
“I know, I know it’s true, that life is beautiful around the world.” Helen Keller could definitely say these lyrics were true from experience. Of course, she couldn’t see the beauty like everyone else, but she felt it. Wherever she traveled to raise funds or lobby political leaders with the American Foundation for the Blind, she was welcomed as if she was one of their own. Despite the stress that international travel put on her, she thought that doing so would accomplish something of meaning, which it did. Keller was an “effective force for social change” (Nielson 25-27). Her impact on the world without being able to speak, hear, or see was remarkable.
Track #7: The Resolution
Jack’s Mannequin. “The Resolution.” The Glass Passenger. Warner. 2008. CD.
Helen Keller worked to support numerous causes. She wanted things to be better for all those in trouble and wrote about many of the issues she believed were a major problem. One such problem Keller strongly disagreed with was women’s suffrage. In the early 1900s, venereal diseases were passed from mothers to their babies and caused nearly forty percent of all blindness in the United States. With a desire to stop this suffrage, Keller wrote an article which pushed public health officials to better educate women on these diseases (Nielson 23). The lyrics, “I need light in the dark as a search for the resolution” describe Keller’s want for a resolution in many different areas regarding the deaf and blind.
Track #8: The Sound of Silence
Simon and Garfunkel. “The Sound of Silence.” Sounds of Silence. Columbia. 1966. Vinyl.
All that Helen Keller did throughout her life was “a vision softly creeping.” Her words “like silent raindrops fell.” These lyrics are both ironic and meaningful when taking a look at the leadership of Helen Keller. Even while she couldn’t actually see the people she was influencing or hear the words she was speaking, she didn’t let it get the best of her. She loved her country, and did anything she could to make it a better place. So many people looked up to her and to the impact she had on the world. Keller knew that people didn’t easily take to new ways of living, but she was never beaten down by it (Helen 586). She knew, just as everyone else knew of her, that she could get past the falseness of others’ judgments. Helen Keller did the latter through the kindness of her heart and through her silent leadership.
Works Cited
Feeney, Donna D. "From darkness and silence: The remarkable journey of Helen Keller." Biography 3.5 (1999): 102. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Sept. 2010.
In this article, Feeney states that Helen Keller was inspiring and helped the less fortunate, despite her own disabilities. She led the way for many others of her kind by being the first deaf-blind person to graduate with a college degree. Helen was a rather humble spirit and did everything from the kindness of her own hear. It was her determination that led her to do the many great things she did in her life.
“Helen Keller,” New Outlook for the Blind.” Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness. 100.10 (2006): 585-586. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Sept. 2010.
Helen Keller was viewed as an admirable and courageous leader by the many around the world who heard her speak on behalf of the blind. She enjoyed her life and showed others her happiness through the work she did. She was an inspiration to many and was referred to as a miracle worker. In her time, most states lacked legislation that would change laws for the blind. Her effort toward changing them was a crucial factor in the organizations for the blind that are here today.
Nielson, Kim E. “The grown-up Helen Keller: as an adult, the opinionated and erudite Helen Keller focused on international activism, becoming an important advocate for the rights of people with disabilities around the world.” Alabama Heritage 92 (2009): 20+. Student Resource Center – Gold. Web. 2 Sept. 2010
In “The grown-up Helen Keller,” Nielson states that Keller worked past her disabilities and the judgments of others. She had ambition to prove them wrong. Along with her determination, Keller’s religion led her to believe that her deaf/blindness allowed her to better focus on her services to the public. Keller was an activist for the disabled all around the world. She traveled to many places hoping to make the world a better place, while working for the American Foundation for the Blind.
