A Little Bit of Everything

The story of The Great Gatsby takes place during the "Roaring Twenties" or also known as the Jazz Age.  Parties, in response to Prohibition, were errupting all across the country, and the American society was becoming increasingly more secular.  People during this time were focusing more on the little, expensive things in life that made them feel good rather than the personal relationships and bigger life experiences that impacted their daily existance.


A song that can be compared to The Great Gatsby, yet also contrasts it, is the song "A Little Bit of Everything" by Dawes.  This song can compare to The Great Gatsby because the voices in the song talk about how they would like a little bit of everything, whether it be feeling everything or just having an extra chicken wing, they wanted it all.  That resembles the mindset in the "Roaring Twenties" because, as I said, people wanted to have everything they could.  They were also very romantic in their personalities; the characters experienced extreme highs and lows in their emotions throughout the novel, so one could say that they were experiencing all of the different types of feelings.


This song also contrasts The Great Gatsby because the artist is singing about how he would like all of the simple things in life.  This goes against the mindset of the "Roaring Twenties" because the people during this time were into riches and extravagance rather than focusing on the simple things in life that make us happy.  The parties at Gatsby's house are a great example of this type of extravagance that the characters in the book yearned for -- these parties were over the top and fabulous with lots and lots of alcohol.  Plus, most of the characters in the novel, with the exception of Nick, were very wealthy and showed how their wealth was almost more important than personal relationships.


The song "A Little Bit of Everything" compares to The Great Gatsby in an interesting way because it not only exhibits how people wanted everything they could, but it also contrasts the novel because of the simple things that the artist craves rather than the expensive riches that the characters want.