John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men is a novel that can be closely related to a song by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. This song is called “Waiting” and it is extremely powerful. Analyzing the two writings, there are many ideas and themes that can be connected to each other. Both the song and the novel have many different perspectives on life and relationships that a person can encounter. Within the song there are lines that can be directed as Of Mice and Men. The two are extremely similar in terms of their relationship; both show pain, change and a man's mind in confusion. The song "Waiting" by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus begins with pain and the feelings that accompany it. The pain of past life events is an idea that is carried forward. “Feeling sad. . . Bring back the days we had before tomorrow/relapse and then collapse back into yourself. (Winter) These lines from this song say that when you feel pain, it brings back all the good times. Once those moments are remembered, the aches and pains that come with grief return. This feeling, this pain is shown in John Steinbeck's novel. When Lennie kills mice and then gets scolded by George, he feels pain over the loss of the mouse he just killed by mistake. He starts thinking about the mouse before he killed it and how soft it was. After a while he ends up killing again and it all begins. Lennie looked at him sadly. [George] “They [the mouse] were so small,” he said apologetically. “I would pet them and pretty soon they would bite my fingers and I would pinch their heads a little and then they were dead, because they were so small.” (Steinbeck 9) When he then kills again, it's like the last line mentioned in the lyrics of "Waiting". He returns to himself and killing all the mice he finds. Both the song and the short story show pain with different intensities and the effect of feeling. Change. Everyone wants some type of change somewhere in their life. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus has four lines in this song that describe change and its power on a person. Waiting for this life to change seems to be taking me forever / and I can't resist. This light is breaking into the day/This life is going to change it feels like it's taking me forever/And I can't resist.