Song of the Week: Daughter by Pearl Jam

This week, I originally planned on releasing part 2 of my self portrait series, but with the new school year starting for most people this month, I figure this would be more fitting. Growing up, I struggled with ADD (attention deficit disorder) which is often classified as a learning disability. It’s something that I still struggle with as an adult, and even while I’m writing this short blog entry I’m having an incredibly hard time concentrating. Although my learning disability is considered to be mild compared to many other disorders, I struggled a lot in school, and there were only a small handful of teachers that were able to modify their teaching styles to fit my needs.

One of the biggest reasons why I became a teacher a few years ago was because I wanted to help the kids who were like me. I wanted to create a classroom environment where each of my 30 students felt just as important as the person sitting next to them. 30 students means 30 individuals, each with their own learning styles, gifts and disabilities. I did the best I could and I hope I made some sort of positive impact.

Now, there are many kids who don’t have the luxury of good teachers and good parents. Many are neglected and often times abused either physically or emotionally or both. Their disabilities are often ignored and dismissed and sometimes even ridiculed to the point of causing severe emotional trauma. It’s a situation I often encountered with parents and teachers while I was in education, and it was something that angered me on a weekly basis.

Many times driving home from work, I would play the song “Daughter” by Pearl Jam. It’s about a girl who has a learning disability (I think is dyslexia) and she’s trying desperately hard to make her parents proud of her. It gets so difficult for her that she convinces herself that she’s useless, and she believes she’s not fit to be their daughter anymore. I saw this all the time while I was teaching where kids would give up on themselves as well as their parents too.

“Daughter” played an incredible reminder to me that in order to reach out to students and make a worthwhile impact on their lives, I needed to understand them first. It served as a reminder to make the effort to understand everything that make them unique (good and bad) so in order to be as attentive to their needs as I could be, and never let them fall into neglect. In the picture above, I wanted to create a visual reminder to myself so that I’ll never be the type of dad that would neglect his kids. Someday my wife and I will start a family of our own, and no matter how our kids turn out, we will always make the effort to understand them and be there for them whenever they need us.

Play “Daughter”

Lyrics

alone… listless… breakfast table in an otherwise empty room
young girl… violins… center of her own attention
mother reads aloud, child tries to understand it
tries to make her proud
the shades go down into her head
painted room… can’t deny there’s something wrong…
don’t call me daughter, not fit to
the picture kept will remind me
don’t call me daughter, not fit to
the picture kept will remind me
don’t call me…
she holds the hand that holds her down
she will… rise above…
don’t call me daughter, not fit to
the picture kept will remind me
don’t call me daughter, not fit to be
the picture kept will remind me
don’t call me…
don’t call me daughter, not fit to
the picture kept will remind me
don’t call me daughter, not fit to be
the picture kept will remind me
don’t call me…
the shades go down
the shades go down
the shades go, go, go…

If you’re interested in purchasing a print, visit my online store today. Also, check out my previous image, “___________” in this post.If you’re interested in shooting a Music to Life series image, message me at contact@jimmybuiphotography.com and don’t forget to visit my website and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thank you so much!