Never Made it as Wise Man: Ascension of the Self

I want to make a note here before I begin speaking about anything, primarily is that I am using these snippets/verses of these songs for a specific reason, I did not find the necessary meaning in the other portions of the song that I heard. These are the portions that hold and give meaning to mean. Thank you for holding with me, now moving on.

"Never made it as a wise man
I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealin'
Tired of livin' like a blind man
I'm sick inside without a sense of feelin "

-Nickelback: How You Remind Me

Well as usual I was inspired by something not exactly orthodox; I tend to find a lot of somewhat esoteric or just plain odd things to be philosophically inspiring. In this case it was the concept of self ascension, of becoming the over man taken from Nietzsche himself as is mention in his book Thus Spake Zaruthustra and in which the concept is also touched upon in Beyond Good and Evil in the form of the free thinker and the will to power, living dangerously in a world without a god as you must become a god yourself and overman whom is the realization of all of your human potential and the epitome of power that you can create.

As Nietzsche introduces through the words of Zaruthustra the overman is one who is willing to risk everything for the sake of the enhancement of humanity. He is in direct opposition to the last man whose sole desire is his comfort and is incapable of creating anything beyond him in any form. This makes of it two things firstly that the overman is an individual first and foremost apart from the herd but also that the true overman seeks not to shepherd humanity but instead to demonstrate an exceptional way of living, not so others will follow in lock step, but to provide a way for other's to pursue the realization of themselves. This in and of itself something connected to the above section lyrics of Nickelback; the singer in this case can't make it as anything not a wise man, not a poor man, tired of living blind and sick inside without a sense of feeling. (Bear with me, for now we connect to the personalization of the overman, how it is the realization of an individual. Not the concept of it's leading over humanity or seeking to improve the concept of humanity.)

In Nietzsche's idea of the overman, as talked about in Beyond Good and Evil, it is a man whom chooses to take hold of an independent life. They find themselves their own life not as a wise man, a poor man nor a blind man but instead they grab a hold of a sense of feeling, a sense of independence. Only the bold and the daring take hold of an independent life, which is the privilege of the powerful and mighty (of will). He introduces that he whom chooses to totally take his life into his own hands, to in essence become a god unto himself, a creator, an overman whom will realize his potential is extremely dangerous. As he transcends what other merely ordinary people and "last men" readily and regularly perceive he also becomes exposed to a myriad of other dangers, mainly those that you expose yourself to when you are removed from the herd, alienation, loneliness and the danger of not having a support group. This leads us to our next portion of lyrics.

"Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the price is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you're never living twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life
.....
So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothing stand in your way
'Cause the hands of time are never on your side?"

-Nickelback: If Today Was Your Last Day

Okay, read the first section of except here. This fits Nietzsche's expression of living, live eternally as yourself, as becoming overman, live a life that you will be satisfied to live over and over again if you were forced to. Go against the grain become yourself, not a part of the herd and more than that never take the free ride in your own life, grab life by the reins and ride it hard. Live dangerously, live wildly and exuberantly and live most of all powerfully.

The next stanza emphasizes these facts over again. The idea of living well, of realizing yourself and living as excitingly as well as you can't. You can't go back in your life so live each moment as if it was your last, wildly, powerfully strongly so you can be proud of it. This reacts strongly to the earlier point that I haven't addressed yet, living to be an example to humanity which is really just implied in these lyrics and not directly mentioned. Live as you, yourself would live live apart and differently from humanity as a whole to become an example, take the effort of will to become yourself and that in and of itself is living for the sake of humanity it is living as an expression of the possibilities of humanity that being an overman is all about.

Now you may be wondering why exactly I wrote this, the reasons couldn't be simpler. I admire the teachings of Nietzsche greatly, I don't think he got everything right by I admire him greatly and don't feel that enough of the populace know who he is nor understand his work, hopefully this could help a little, by finding some lyrics that connect his philosophies to modern music and then re-interpret him maybe I can make him more accessible while exploring his philosophies and viewpoints further myself.

Sources

How You Remind Me
by Nickelback
Silver Side Up Album

If Today Was Your Last Day
By Nickelback
Dark Horse Album

The Philosophy of Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil
By Freidreich Nietzsche
Translated by Willard Huntington Wright
Published by the Modern Library Inc. (Published in turn by Random House Inc. )

The Philosophy of Nietzsche: Thus Spake Zarathustra
By Freidreich Nietzsche
Translated by Willard Huntington Wright
Published by the Modern Library Inc. (Published in turn by Random House Inc. )

The Philosophy of Nietzsche: The Gay Science
By Freidreich Nietzsche
Translated by Willard Huntington Wright
Published by the Modern Library Inc. (Published in turn by Random House Inc. )

Nietzsche's Idea of an Overman and Life from His Point of view
Stanford University Online
http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~pj97/Nietzsche.htm