The song I chose to compare and contrast was “Billie Jean”, originally sung by Michael Jackson and covered by The Civil Wars. The original was released in 1982, while the cover was released in 2013, and this alone sets the two apart in terms of style. Michael Jackson’s version takes on the embellished style that was so characteristic of its time period. It was upbeat, energetic, and bursting with power, and a full band, complete with backup singers, supported Jackson as he belted out the notes. The song takes on an angry and confused tone as it depicts the theme that relationships often turn sour over time. Although the cover seems to convey the same meaning, it completely contrasts its original in stylistic terms. The simplicity of the version by The Civil Wars allows the song’s beauty to shine through, while the overstatement of Michael Jackson’s version keeps a complex element that confuses the song, in a way. The cover is presented as a duet between a man and a woman, and although this fresh approach does not really change the song’s message, it allows the audience to see the topic from two sides of a relationship, which I believe improves the quality of the song. The new version is also acoustic, with simply a guitar and vocals, and the slow tempo, soft voices, and gentle tone bring a brand new stylistic approach to the song. The classic original and the contemporary cover are extremely different in terms of musicality, tone, and style, but each one still successfully conveys the same overall meaning.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
Top Three Happy Songs
1) Beautiful Day - U2
2) Hello, You Beautiful Thing - Jason Mraz
3) Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind
The top happy song that I chose was “Beautiful Day” by U2 because it includes exquisite imagery, personification, and hyperbole to depict feelings of complete bliss. In terms of imagery, the entire bridge of the song depicts breathtaking visuals, saying “See the world in green and blue” and “After the flood all the colors came out.” Personification is used often to bring the world to life, so to speak, and a great example of this is when the speaker says, “It’s a beautiful day / Don’t let it get away.” Hyperboles are used throughout the song to exaggerate the beauty of everything the speaker is seeing, as shown in the following line, “See China right in front of you.” Personally, my favorite part of the song is in the following lines, which I believe exemplify true happiness the most: “You're on the road / But you've got no destination / You're in the mud / In the maze of her imagination.” I believe that this song is the all-time best song to demonstrate happiness.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Song Analysis Reflection
The theme I chose for my song analyses was loss, whether it was the death of a loved one or an agonizing breakup. I wanted to see how this theme was approached by artists in six different genres, so I analyzed one of each of the following: pop, country, alternative, rock, rap, and ballad. I was pleasantly surprised by the unique perspective of each song, as each one took the theme in a completely different direction. First, I analyzed “It Will Rain” by Bruno Mars. This pop song’s theme was that the end of a relationship can drastically impact the lives of both people in it. The tone was negative and regretful, and although at the time of the song the relationship hadn’t ended yet, the speaker feared that his past actions would lead them to an inevitable end. The second song was a country one, “Just a Dream” by Carrie Underwood. Like the first song, this one took on a negative attitude, but it surrounded the death of a significant other rather than a breakup. It told a beautiful but tragic story about a woman who lost her fiancé and was now attending a funeral instead of a wedding. This song had a theme very similar to that of “It Will Rain”: death often takes a mental and emotional toll on the loved ones left behind. Next, the alternative song I analyzed was “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” by Death Cab For Cutie. The song assumed a much more accepting view on death, conveying an overall theme that death is inevitable and should be accepted rather than worried about. The speaker described death in a simple, comforting way, and from his tone, it sounded like he was trying to console a loved one who was worried about death. The fourth song, “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, returned to an uneasy attitude towards the theme, but the speaker took on a completely different viewpoint than those of the first two songs. The well-known rock song was about a man who had just committed murder, and it described the rollercoaster of emotions he felt while looking back on his mistakes, from confusion, to indifference, to regret, to anger, and back to indifference. The iconic lyrics perfectly exhibited the theme that by taking the life of someone else, one can be left feeling, ironically, lifeless. The fifth song I analyzed, a rap song, was “I’m Coming Home” by J. Cole. In this song, the speaker was extremely conflicted about death; he wanted to be freed from the burdens in his life, but on “Judgement Day”, he would be haunted by the mistakes he had made. The speaker took on a relieved tone for the first half of the song and a troubled one for the second half, contributing to the overall theme that in order to be relieved of one’s troubles in life, one must have a clear conscience. Finally, I analyzed a classic ballad by Elton John, “Candle in the Wind.” John admiringly wrote the song about Marilyn Monroe, and he talked about his belief that there was more to her personality than the Hollywood icon everyone made her to be. The song’s theme made a profound statement that oftentimes when someone dies, people do not remember him or her for the person he or she truly was. Across these six genres, some songs took a more positive stance while others were more negative, but they can all be united under the idea that death is one of the most impactful forces on life.
Song Analysis #6
Candle in the Wind - Elton John (ballad)
Elton John, in his song “Candle in the Wind”, uses simile, personification, and allusion to commemorate the life of one of Hollywood’s biggest icons, Marilyn Monroe. In the first verse, the speaker writes about the kind of person he believed her to be, despite the person others tried to change her into. He uses an apostrophe and simultaneously alludes to her as “Norma Jean,” which was her name before she changed it to Marilyn Monroe. Figuratively, he talks about the ways in which the media tried to influence who she really was, saying that “They set you on the treadmill / And they made you change your name.” The speaker feels it is unjust that throughout her life, Monroe could never show her true colors. In the chorus, he talks about the way she lived and the legend she left behind. Using a simile, he writes that for most of her life, she acted “like a candle in the wind”, and he elaborates by saying that when bad times overtook her life, she didn’t have anyone stable in her life to turn to for help. He feels empathetic towards her, and says he would have wanted to know her, even though this is unrealistic since he was much younger than her. To end the chorus, he writes “Your candle burned out long before your legend ever did”, suggesting that she was remembered by the rest of the world long after she had died. This statement also personifies the “legend” she carried with her. In the second verse, he discusses the idea that Hollywood abused her to the point of extreme pain, and that even after her death, the news continued following her story. Towards the end of the song, the speaker adds a powerful sentiment that beautifully summarizes his feelings towards her and her legacy: “Goodbye Norma Jean / From the young man in the twenty second row / Who sees you as something more than sexual / More than just our Marilyn Monroe.” He knew that there was a deeper personality behind the facade that the entire nation believed to be the real Marilyn Monroe. Elton John uses these devices to accurately express the theme of the song, which is that after legendary Hollywood stars die, people will always remember the person the media conveyed, rather than the person he or she actually was.
Song Analysis #5
I’m Coming Home - J. Cole (rap)
J. Cole, in his song “I’m Coming Home”, uses euphemism, symbolism, and apostrophe to convey the speaker’s mixed emotions about death. The song begins with a delicate chorus in which the speaker talks calmly about “coming home” as a euphemism for death. She alludes to Heaven when she says, “I know my kingdom awaits and they’ve forgiven my mistakes”, and this line shows that she is truly at peace with the end she is coming to. Also, she talks about the rain, which could represent sadness, saying that it will “wash away all the pain of yesterday.” After the chorus, a different speaker comes in, talking about the new strength he feels through this experience and about how he is finally “back where [he belongs].” He conveys his feelings of empowerment by writing that he is now “in the zone”, as the zone symbolizes his final, blissful, resting place. One of the greatest examples of figurative language throughout the song is when the speaker writes, “to appreciate the sun you gotta know what rain is.” This line holds an important message to all of its listeners: we have to get through the negative parts of our lives to truly enjoy the better times. After years of hard work throughout his life, he has finally reached a place of content, and he writes that he “ain’t looking back.” In the second verse, however, the song’s tone shifts from peaceful to anguished. He worries about what will happen when he is judged by God on the mistakes he has made throughout his life. He wonders, “if my good's outweigh my bads, do you think my mistakes is gon even out.” This sudden transition reveals the remorse the speaker feels about the wrong he has done in his lifetime. He calls out to God in an apostrophe, writing “hey Dear Lord please help me get the demons out.” This cry for help uses demons to symbolize his sins and mistakes that haunt him wherever he goes. Towards the end of the song, he makes an allusion to the founder of Uptown Records, saying “wonder if Andre Harrell knew how great I would be when he fired me.” Perhaps Harrell fired him from his label and J. Cole was now writing about his anger on this subject, but we will never know for sure. These thought-provoking lyrics convey the song’s theme, which is that death can be a relief from the mistakes made in one’s life, but it can also be a hindrance when looking back and facing the truth.
Song Analysis #4
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen (rock)
Queen, in their song “Bohemian Rhapsody”, uses apostrophe, allusion, and personification to reveal the true remorse the speaker feels for his actions in a certain situation. The first few lines of the song show his confusion about what has become of him; he feels there is “no escape from reality”, and this is the song’s first example of personification. He then begins to talk about his own insignificance through a series of clichés, saying that “Anyway the wind blows”, nothing matters to him anymore. From here, the song takes on a narrative tone, as he describes in an apostrophe to his “Mama” exactly what happened. The detailed imagery used reveals to the audience that the speaker has “just killed a man / Put a gun against his head / Pulled my trigger now he’s dead.” He tells his mother to carry on without him, now that he’s “thrown it all away” and ruined the rest of his life. This section of the song continues to build up until he says, “I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all.” This line demonstrates the idea that since the speaker has taken the life of someone else, his own life has become unbearably miserable. The next part of the song expresses the speaker’s confused and disturbed thoughts through a series of allusions and repetition. Many of the allusions, such as “Scaramouche” and “Magnifico” seem to have irrelevant meanings but probably meant something to Freddie Mercury, who wrote the song. “Bismillah” directly translates to “in the name of Allah”, and this Arabic word very well could have been linked to Mercury’s religious upbringing. “Beelzebub” is an alternate name for the devil, and this indicates the imminent doom that the speaker believes he is in for. Mercury never revealed the true meaning behind the song, so all of these ideas are completely open to interpretation. After this section, the song assumes an angry tone as the speaker realizes the injustice of his punishment. He asks, in another apostrophe, “So you think you can stop me and spit in my eye?” He is finally taking a stand and showing his persistence in fighting the law and the authorities. Eventually, the song dies down to the gentle tone with which it began, ending the song with “Nothing really matters to me.” This song uses its devices to make a powerful statement about the theme that taking someone else’s life can leave the culprit void of life him or herself.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Top 10 Poetic Songs
- Sympathy for the Devil: This song utilizes a unique point of view, expressing the thoughts and feelings of the devil from his own perspective. The allusions, tone, and figurative language used in the song further contribute to its poeticism.
- Hotel California: The lyrics of this song illustrate vivid images as well as tell a detailed story about the speaker’s experience with loneliness at a specific point in his life. The abundant devices used help to convey this message thoroughly.
- American Pie: This song uses a variety of devices to tell a story about “the day the music died.” The thought-provoking lyrics and vivid imagery express the deep emotions behind the song.
- Stranger in Paradise: This song’s beautiful lyrics really speak to its poeticism. Through metaphors, apostrophes, and various other types of figurative language, the speaker expresses the overarching theme of love at first sight.
- Star-Spangled Banner: This classic, all-American anthem sets a vivid war scene through its detailed lyrics. These lyrics are so powerful that they often evoke deep patriotism and emotion in their listeners, and this quality truly speaks to the song’s poeticism.
- Yellow Submarine: This song uses the motif of a yellow submarine to describe a happy group of people living what seems like a perfect lifestyle. The unique lyrics are what have made this song a well-known classic about people who “lived beneath the sea in [their] yellow submarine.”
- White Rabbit: This song uses figurative language in almost every line and conveys a deep underlying message. The eccentric lyrics and descriptions throughout make a profound statement about the song’s theme.
- Silent Night: This song recounts a historical event that holds importance for many people. Its simple lyrics truly say a lot in few words, and its imagery is a beautiful depiction of the ideas it is trying to express.
- Moon River: As short as this song is, it truly holds a lot of meaning in only a few lines. The simple but romantic and optimistic lyrics convey a poignant message to the listener.
- Take Me Home Country Roads: The most prominent device by far that is utilized in this song is imagery, and the author used it to thoughtfully depict beautiful scenes in nature. The song may not be as poetic as the rest, but its beautiful images definitely cause it to stand out.
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