I chose the song “Strawberry” by Paul Baribeau from his debut self-titled album to analyze as poetry. This song, or poem, conveys the truth that language is not enough to describe everything that a human being, or even a strawberry, is.
He starts by saying, “To say that you are cute / Would be like saying that a strawberry is sweet / Because a strawberry has secret flavors / That are sharp, and tart, and red, and deep.” He compares the subject of this song to a strawberry, in that they both cannot be described by what they might commonly be described as.
He continues, “And I would love to find you / Growing wild out by the woods / I would make a basket with the front of my t-shirt / And take home as many of you as I could.” He extends his comparison into a metaphor, that they are fact is a strawberry. He cannot describe them through words, but he can conclude that they are at least everything a strawberry is, if not more.
Moving away from strawberries, he then equates them with the ocean. He sings, “Because the ocean is filled with all kinds of colors / And I see all kinds of things when I look at you.” To him, his subject is at least every magical thing that the ocean is.
Going even further, he compares them with outer space. He adds, “And to say that you are funny / Would be like saying that the night sky is black / Because the night sky is filled with stars and comets / And planets that no one has seen yet.” As mysterious and surprising and unknowable as outer space is, his subject is even more so.
He concludes, “I'll try to take you all in at once / But you just go on and on and on.” His subject is more than the night sky, than all of space and time, and more than language could ever even attempt to describe.
Thank you for introducing me to such an adorable new song! Listening to the song for the first time, the song seemed so simple, but I think that's the beauty of the song. The words and the language are simple, but the meaning goes much deeper, as you proved in this analysis.
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