Social Dysfunction - any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society.
An excerpt from Feel Good Drag - "I'm here for you, she said/ We can stay for a while/ My boyfriend's gone/ We can just pretend."
"Feel Good Drag" - Anberlin
This song is about adultery. Adultery disrupts the stability of a person's life, destroying the foundation of trust and mutual honesty between two people.
Gender - the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male.
An excerpt from Feel Good Drag - "Lips that need no introduction/ Now who's the greater sin? ...Your lips, your lies, your lust/ Like the devil's in your hand."
Lead vocal Stephen Christian was heavily influenced by a past lover and wrote about her in many of his songs. His lyrics suggest the influence women have on men - femme fatale, so to speak, which can be used to hurt and deceive.
Stereotype - a simplified description applied to every person in some category
Excerpts from Foreign Language - "Boys speak in rhythm/ And girls in code."
The lyrics in this song are obviously from a male perspective, who must have had bad experiences with past girlfriends. He suggests that all girls encrypt their words and actions while boys are able to speak fluently and clearly, as if to a song. Girls are harder to understand and more complex, as well as cunning and manipulative, while boys are more straightforward and simple. These gender stereotypes are present in many of Anberlin's songs.
Should we let cultural stereotypes define our gender roles in society?
Latent Function - the unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern.
Lyrics from Said and Done - "Well here we are again, where we ended long ago. You didn't learn, and I didn't listen to my friends. Well where do we go from here? Tried to walk away. Look at us now, we're back in each other's way."
These lyrics decribe a relationship between two people that isn't working out. Yet, they keep coming back to each other. "You didn't learn, and I didn't listen to my friends." This shows that after trying, they finally recognize the unintended consequences - the relationship will never work out no matter how hard they try to fix it. And they are only wearing themselves out in the process.
Measurement - a procedure for determining the value of a variable in a specific case.
Many of Anberlin's songs have very complex lyrics that can be interpreted in multiple ways. Some lyrics seem to revolve around relationships, and some seem to revolve around religious values and principles. To measure Anberlin's values, you would have to listen to a variety of their songs and analyze the various concepts they convey.
Interpretive Sociology - the study of society that focuses on discovering the meanings people attach to their social world.
Lyrics from Miserabile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum) - "A red priest broke into our classroom / Spoke such words never spoken before / A man is coming in thirteen-one / To charm the daughters and the sons."
Although Anberlin is a secular band, all of its members are Christians, and commonly make biblical references in their songs. Miserabile Visu is one such example. They sing about a "red priest" who represents a false priest. When the red priest references a man "coming in thirteen-one," Anberlin is referencing Revalation 13:1 - "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." This represents that antichrist coming in the end times and "charming the daughters and the sons" of God.
An interpretive sociologist would not only recognize that Anberlin makes many biblical references, but would analyze why Anberlin does this. And in doing so, one may conclude that Anberlin chooses to promote Christian ideals in an effort to witness to the secular world's "non-believers."
Gender - the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male.
Stereotype - a simplified description applied to every person in some category
Latent Function - the unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern.
Measurement - a procedure for determining the value of a variable in a specific case.
Interpretive Sociology - the study of society that focuses on discovering the meanings people attach to their social world.
- Lyrics from Miserabile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum) - "A red priest broke into our classroom / Spoke such words never spoken before / A man is coming in thirteen-one / To charm the daughters and the sons."
- Although Anberlin is a secular band, all of its members are Christians, and commonly make biblical references in their songs. Miserabile Visu is one such example. They sing about a "red priest" who represents a false priest. When the red priest references a man "coming in thirteen-one," Anberlin is referencing Revalation 13:1 - "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." This represents that antichrist coming in the end times and "charming the daughters and the sons" of God.
- An interpretive sociologist would not only recognize that Anberlin makes many biblical references, but would analyze why Anberlin does this. And in doing so, one may conclude that Anberlin chooses to promote Christian ideals in an effort to witness to the secular world's "non-believers."