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Fifth Harmony Transcendentalism

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Fifth Harmony is a group of five girls who were brought together through a talent show called X-Factor. On the show each of the singers failed to impress the judges individually but together they received lots of recognition. The five girls all work very well together and tried to help themselves feel special since they work in such a judgemental and often negative industry. In some of their songs including “Who Are You”, they explore how being yourself is more important than following a crowd. Multiple of their songs include a concept called transcendentalism which is defined through the writings of Henry Thoreau and Ralph Emerson. One of Thoreau’s most amusing pieces of writing is “Civil Disobedience” where he discusses going against his government although not many others would do so. And Emerson’s “Self Reliance” argues how …show more content…

In the chorus of their song they sing “Who are you gonna be, When I’m lost and I’m scared? Who are you gonna be When there's nobody there?” These lyrics are directly linked to Thoreau’s writing as Fifth Harmony is stating who will you be when no one is around to support you, and will you follow your morals or conform to others. This message is also stated in Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”, when he says, “"If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man’s shoulders. I must get off him first, that he may pursue his contemplations too." Thoreau is stating how if you want to achieve something you should accomplish it largely on your own and not to just depend on somebody else to give you your success. Thoreau’s writing and Fifth Harmony’s chorus in the song “Who Are You” are very similar as they both point out how relying on yourself can get you much further than if you depend on someone

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