Schopenhauer: J Cole - Runaway

In life we all want to feel purpose, our desires sculpting the lives that we seek to live. Schopenhauer would call our urge to achieving these desires the human "will". Although will is what propels us in life, the effort we sometimes put to fulfill these desires comes at a price. Schopenhauer says that mankind finds all its suffering in its desires. And in this idea I find the relation between Schopenhauer and the artist J. Cole in his song Runaway (2013).

In the song runaway we are presented with an opening dialouge, the comedian Mike Epps raises the question, "Married men act totally different when they're by themselves, don't they?" The married man when he's around his wife talks to his friend politely, "Hey man how's everything going?... God bless you." , but as soon as he is alone that same man asks his friend, "Where the b****s at?" The duality presented in the opening dialogues is not just representational of man, but of all humans and their underlying desires. J. Cole argues that it is not good to pursue all desires, because just as Schopenhauer states, desire is where we find suffer. 

"Lord ain't enough time to chase all these dreams. I mean I got no time to wait." The life of a young rapper is an ambitious one. Trying to find what it means to be successful, while at the same time dealing with the challenges and distractions of the entertainment world. How does one stay true to himself? The temptations of other woman, greed, and the memories of hardships that he once endured. During the song's hook we hear J. Cole singing in a somber tone, "run away, run away, runway... I'm holding on desperately." Status nor material possessions bring us happiness with bad decisions, but the past is written in pen and the actions we take can never be undone. Instead the repercussions of our actions have to be faced wether we are ready or not.

J. Cole's Runaway is a cautionary tale of the effects of pursing all of our desires. Although we feel the need to strive for more. Sometimes in the process of wanting more, we lose sight of what truly makes us happy and the decisions we made led us down a path of mistakes, regret, and ultimately suffer. "When it's all said and done everybody dies. In this life ain't no happy endings... the chains still concealed in our thoughts, if I follow my heart to save myself could I still run away from $50 mill?"

http://youtu.be/qvgO9Gp_rTE