Music Poetry!

Chum

Earl Sweatshirt truly is the Shakespeare of our generation and we see this through his song “Chum” in the Doris album. The song is pretty deep but he seems to be talking about his family life and how it has turned him into the person he is today.

Something sinister to it, pendulum swinging slow
A degenerate moving through the city with criminals

He is using quite ingenious wordplay in the above lines. In physics, a pendulums motion is said to be “degenerate” as friction increasingly slows it down. However, the word “degenerate” can also mean an immoral or corrupt person. Earl is describing the pendulums motion as similar to himself, as well as saying he was a moral person who is becoming more corrupted with time

When he says

Get up off the pavement, brush the dirt up off my psyche
Psyche, psyche

This indicates that his troubles are more complex now, involving his psyche rather than just lewd under-age drinking. The line “pendulum swinging slower, degenerate moving” in connection with the slowed down vocals in the words psyche, might mean that Earl’s degeneracy is slowing down with his age as he brushes the dirt off of his dirty psyche. He’s still inclined as a young adult to do stupid things, but he’s starting to slow down.

Cartoons and Cereal

Throughout Hip-Hop history, Poetry has always been intertwined with experiences and lyrical metaphors to help express and convey an emotion, thus expanding and bring together communities between people through, childhood experiences, love, and mental health. Kendrick Lamar is considerably a more recent hip-hop icon that conveys his poetry with his experiences of drugs, love, hate, loneliness and his childhood home. In his song "Cartoons and Cereal" released in 2012, he emphasizes the parallels of addiction and youth. He focused on the power of idolizing cartoons and being youthful with the power of addiction, when growing up you are exposed to new things. These "adult things" that he was exposed to while growing up; he wasn't shielded by them by parental figures.

[Intro]

I wanna hit line drives…
Wanna lose weight and keep eating...
For you...
Hey, whats up doc

As the song continues, we learn Kendrick grew up around his best friends, his A1 that he went way back with- especially to the reference to sandboxes having a double meaning because its literal and figurative because sandboxes are a symbol of youth and innocent “the Good ‘ol days”, back when life was good and all about fun. And, he continues to say because of their background, being youth his 'brother' was holding a handgun due to gang affiliations and his 'sister' giving birth, due to the systematic oppression of young Black women because used and having their innocence taken away due to lack of information on abstinence and education, it shows the poverty of their neighborhood and their "Worlds"

[Bridge]

Now I was raised in a sandbox, next to you and her
You was holding the handgun, she was giving birth
To a baby boy to be just like you, I-I wonder what's that worth

The ideology of Black boys not having no worth in our society, as just being gang affiliated and targets for police brutality- to be a black Boy to Kendrick means their life doesn’t hold much value because they barely make it to adulthood anyway. So,what’s the real value to Black lives?

I-I wonder if you ever knew that you was a role model to me first
The next day I-I woke up in the morning, seen you on the news
Looked in the mirror, then realized that I-I-I had something to prove

This is shown that, Black boys,look up to Black men peep how they were taught to continuous feed into the cycle of seeing themselves on TV in a negative light, Kendrick says to he will be different by proving that he is different, all of this while growing up while exposed to these factors that will shape his perspectives on his value of his life and others around him

You told me "Don't be like me, just finish watching cartoons"
Which is funny now cause all I see is Wile E. Coyote's in the room

The coyotes symbolize the future obstacles of gangs, and vivid imagination as being a child seeing ‘villains’ try to conquer and win against the innocent and heroes, Kendrick tries to be the hero and still remain good and focused on trying to grow up while being prematurely exposed explicitly by teen pregnancy and gang violence and being targeted because he is a Black male in Compton. I'd argue his song is poetry because it lays a foundation of a experiences that Kendrick feels and convey to make people feel some way about his story through things all humans go through; coming of age.

What Do They Call Me?

"Four Women" is written and recorded by the artist Nina Simone from her album Wild Is the Wind. The song was recorded in 1965 and released in 1966. This song is about the depictions of four women with different skin tones and stereotypes. The women depicted in this song are based off of real women. The song also dates back to the slave era where these stereotypes originated. The speakers in this song are four different African American females. The audience are African American women who relate to the descriptions and stereotypes in this song. T

he main use of imagery really brings out the poetic side of the song by creating a stereotypical picture of each women. The use of imagery and first person throughout the whole song also communicates experience for those who actually live with these descriptions and stereotypes. The lyrics of the song would be divided into four stanzas, one for each woman depicted. The first line in each stanza starts out with a woman stating, "My skin is..." to kick off the description of that woman. The women would go on to describe themselves including, "My hair is long", "My manner is tough", and "My hips invite you" Each stanza is directed to a specific type of woman, creates a specific image for them, and conveys a specific experience that they can possibly relate to which will pull in the African American female audience. They will feel like the song is written about them because, poetically, it is written about them. The song written and sang in first person adds on to the personal feel of the it.

Even if some African American females have not experienced these stereotypes, they can feel the experience of those who have because the first person supports the song being for all African American women. The stanzas end with the question, "What do they call me", "they", meaning those who create and believe in the stereotypes, followed by the names, "Aunt Sarah", "Saffronia", "Sweet Thing", and "Peaches". The names in the song add an emotional dimension to the song by providing an unwanted symbol from those who branded them with it to the women who "fit the description". There is a personal connection with those names and the description behind them to the women who represent them making the audience feel emotionally attached to the song. A song with the capability to be directed to people with the use imagery and first person, communicating experiences, and creating an emotional dimension should be considered a fantastic poem.

She Reminds Me of a West Side Story

Song: "Maria Maria"
Artist: Carlos Santana
Album: Supernatural

My all time favorite song is one called "Maria Maria" off of Carlos Santana's album Supernatural. It tells the story of a girl named Maria, and her attempt to escape the life she's living. To me, this song embodies poetry in the best sense of the word.

I said a la favella los colores,
the streets are getting hotter.
There is no water to put out the fire.
Ni gota de esperanza.

When the parts in Spanish are translated, the stanza states that "If rain were a metaphor for hope, not a drop of it could be found." This line adds to the situation that Maria is in, and how badly she wants to try and escape it. The singer also claims that Maria reminds them of a "West Side story." The beauty in this metaphor is that, while a person obviously can't be a story, they are able to be compared to something all listeners can picture.

I have been reading and writing poetry almost every day after school for the past few weeks, and something I have realized is that poetry can be many things. It's main purpose is to find a way to rearrange words, so that one person's experience becomes a metaphor for another person's life. A song like "Maria Maria" isn't one that everyone may relate to personally, we may not all know a Maria, but we are still able to picture her along with her pain, and her story. Not to mention, Carlos Santana is pretty legendary himself.

Consequences

Camila Cabello's song "Consequences" from the album Camila is truly a piece of poetry. The album Camila was released soon after her departure of Fifth Harmony. The entire album Camila seemed to encapsulate her liberation from her old band and ability to fully indulge in her own style of music and culture. The song "Consequences" is one of her more personal pieces that could've never been released if she were to stay in Fifth Harmony.

Every word is beautifully sang with a sorrowful and painful tone, conveying a story, possibly one of her own experiences, of a toxic relationship. The lyrics strongly suggest she's talking about herself by her usage of possessive pronouns and first person pronouns such as mine, I'm, I, and me. Through her choice of first person pronouns, it not only makes the entire song more personal to the listener and relatable, but also reminds the audience of her own humanity. Often times fans forget celebrities are humans too and face their own heart breaks and toxic relationships like any other human. Through her figure of speech and tone combined, we not only hear her pain and despair, but become aware of who she's directing it to.

For parts of the song, she is directing the emotion and focus towards her ex, however during the section,

    "Hesitation, awkward conversation
      Running on low expectation
      Every siren that I was ignoring
      I'm paying for it"

she herself is the focus. This isn't the only time she is the focus, however it is to me the most powerful in the sense it's extremely relatable to the audience. "Consequence" is truly a piece of poetry, because throughout the entire song, you're there with her during the happy moments of the relationship, the toxic moments, and the reflection after.

How You Gonna Win If You Ain't Right Within?

Lauryn Hill's song "Doo-Wop (That Thing)", from her solo debut album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, should be considered poetry. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was a triumph in the development of the hip-hop genre, and still remains to be one today.

The primary theme within this song is how men and women tend to exploit each other materialistically, and how the obsession of materialism can corrupt a person. The song begins with a message towards women who are caught up in material values:

          Talking out your neck, sayin' you're a Christian
          A Muslim, sleeping with the jinn
          Now that was the sin that did Jezebel in
          Who you gon' tell when the repercussions spin?

Lauryn Hill's incorporation of the concept of religious values into this song was a smart choice. While the particular woman in this verse is saying that she has religious and righteous values, she ends up falling short as true religious values directly contrast her materialistic ones. Additionally, the wordplay utilized with jinn is very effective in enhancing the overall meaning of the song due to the meaning of jinn having ambiguity. In Islam, a jinn is an intelligent spirit with a lower status than an angel, so due to the context of Islam in the verse, "sleeping with the jinn" would go against religious values. Simultaneously, sleeping with the gin, or rather, drinking gin, also violates Islamic values since drinking alcohol as a Muslim is not permissible, or halal. The pun Lauryn Hill uses here is simple yet incredibly effective, and gives the verse much more of an impact that it would have had otherwise.

In the second part of the song, Lauryn Hill shifts her lyrical focus towards the values of men:

          The pretty face men claiming that they did a bid men
          Need to take care of they three or four kids
          And they face a court case when the child support late
          Money taking and heart breaking, now you wonder why women hate men

The use of internal rhyme throughout the lyrics worked here. These lyrics show how material obsession, particularly money, make men prioritize gaining that over all else, including family. When looking at these examples, such as the child support verse, the internal rhyme between "court case" and "support late" contribute to the overall flow of the song. Interestingly, Lauryn Hill's shift to internal rhyme in her lyrics primarily comes when she changes the focus of her song from women to men. Her intent here may have been to emphasize the qualities that men possess when caught up with material possessions.

Ultimately, this song resonates deeply with the flaws of human nature, and emphasizes the mistakes that we as a society often make.

Rico Has a Dark Story

Rico Story by Speaker Knockerz is a single which speaks of an anecdote, and more ignores the music aspect in order to portray the incident in the song. Although Speaker Knockerz is a relatively unknown artist, Rico Story 1, 2, and 3 are very popular songs. Rico Story one is about a man who doesn't have much money and is driven into crime, but later sees that his girlfriend and accomplice ends up rating him out and putting him in jail. He later gets out through some dirty work and while he's out, he encounters his child's mother, who is also the same woman who put him in jail... and that's where Rico Story 2 starts. Throughout the song, Speaker Kockerz rhymes the last word of the sentence with the word in the previous line.

He told her, baby, let's go rob a f*cking bank
she said, okay and then they filled the gas tank
Pulled up to the bank, he parked on the side
He got out the car, she said, I'll stay inside
Put his mask on, load his four-four
Prayed to God and then he opened the door...

By using the use of ABAB rhyme it takes a regular story of someone's life and gives a catchy tone that brings out the "song sound" of the narrative. Along with the music in the background, the rhyme introduced in the song deceives the reader into listening to it as a song rather than a regular story. The overall sound of the song is deceiving because it is a story that is catchy like a song, which works together to build a wonderful piece of music.

Take Me Home, Music Poetry

It’s hard to say poetry is just one “thing”. To boil such a complex art form into one unit would
be impossible. It is not, however, impossible to say one thing is poetry. Take, for example, John
Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Each word carries weight. The song has multiple
meanings. It is truly poetry. The speaker is an adult, who, after a long hiatus, hears the call of
West Virginia, their home. The occasion is not clearly established, but one can infer that the piece occurs during a moment’s nostalgia, as established by the reminiscent, romantic language. The piece seeks to convey the irresistible pull of being, for a moment, caught by the echoes of home. It helps one understand what it’s like to be far from where you grew up and remember the familiarity of
where you once were. The nostalgic tone is set immediately:

Almost heaven, West Virginia
West Virginia is established as a utopia within the narrator’s memories. As they put it,

All my memories, gather round her
The pull of West Virginia is literally occuring on the surface. The text tells the story of a West Virginian away from home. The double meaning, however, exists as a commentary of the nature of “home” itself. West Virginia is not simply a place, it’s an idea. The West Virginia described is not a literal West Virginia. The piece does not occur within West Virginia. As the narrator describes it, “West Virginia” is a manifestation of safety and familiarity.

I hear her voice in the morning hour she calls me
Radio reminds me of my home far away
Driving down the road I get a feeling
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

Her(West Virginia) calls to the narrator. The starry sky and misty moonshine are memories. The “calls”, are nostalgia. At its core, “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” is a song about home. Its words carry multiple meaning, as a poem’s should. It conveys the need for home in addition to an engaging story about someone far from West Virginia. A year from now, most of my peers and I will be far from home. We will yearn for the warmth of youth. Oak Park will become our West Virginia. And I’m definitely gonna crank this.

When It All Falls Down

It’s been almost 15 years since Kanye West released his debut studio album, The College Dropout, awarding the him his very first career Grammy. Presented on this album is a track titled “All Falls Down” ft. Syleena Johnson, a song that I have been bobbing my head to since I was a child. Although, at the time I was more focused on singing along with Syleena’s background vocals as I listened to this song at the loudest possible volume our radio could reach, I have come to learn, appreciate, and relate to every word of this 2004 hit.

According to the article we read that answers the question of what poetry is, I learned that poetry is a kind of language that relays a message more more intensely than ordinary language. With each verse of this song, I feel that listeners are exposed to a new issue that people in our society are plagued with. Kanye goes from reflecting on the life of a young girl who is forced to make important life decisions, then he moves to a reflection of his own self and his own values, and he ends with a verse reflecting and questioning the world in which we live and how we function, all while using his unique word choice to emphasize how much there is a need for a boost and improvement of confidence and self-worth of minorities in our society.

Kanye tells the story of a young woman and how she struggles to create a secure life for herself, but throughout all of this her main concern is the way other people perceive her. Afterwards, he shares his own story and shows how they both share a similar experience. Their story follows:

She has no idea what she doin' in college
That major that she majored in don't make no money
But she won't drop out, her parents'll look at her funny...
She like, "Fuck it, I'll just stay down hurr and do hair."
‘Cause that's enough money to buy her a few pairs
Of new Airs...
Couldn't afford a car, so she named her daughter Alexis
And she be dealin' with some issues that you can't believe
Single black female addicted to retail

Man, I promise, I'm so self-conscious
That's why you always see me with at least one of my watches
Rollie's and Pasha's done drove me crazy
I can't even pronounce nothin', pass that Ver-say-see!

Kanye sets up a story that is relatable to a lot of people. There is a lot of pressure for young adults graduating high school to know what they want to do in life. For some families, education is the main priority, hence why this young lady’s “parents’ll look at her funny” if she decided to cease her education and choose a different path. Despite knowing what her family expects of her, she decides that her appearance and her material possessions will be the driving factors in her life. She is more concerned about the things that will make her look like her life is put together, rather than striving for an education that might allow her to obtain all these things and more with her intelligence. Of course listeners also get to hear a play on words towards the end of her narrative. This young lady names her daughter “Alexis” which is a homophone of “ A Lexus”, a high end car, which would give her another way to say she is capable of owning something of a high value.

In the next verse, the point of view switches to a young man living in America. He is also concerned with how he looks to other people, which is why he always has to be wearing something or owning something expensive. He even reveals that he can not pronounce the name of expensive brands, which is shown by his mispronunciation of “Versace” when he says “Ver-say-see”. This alludes that he does not have the education to pronounce certain words, but it is again another example of people putting more value on material possessions than their education.

This leads me to the second half of verse two and last verse of song which analyzes these experiences in the context of our society and whether or not material possessions will make a difference in these two people's lives.

We shine because they hate us, floss 'cause they degrade us
We tryna buy back our 40 acres
And for that paper, look how low we'll stoop
Even if you in a Benz, you still a nigga in a coupe...
Things we buy to cover up what's inside
'Cause they made us hate ourself and love they wealth
That's why shorty's hollerin', "Where the ballers at?"
Drug dealer buy Jordan, crackhead buy crack
And the white man get paid off of all of that…

These young African Americans feel that material wealth is the only way they will be able to keep up with others around them, which explains the reason they “floss” is because other races often “degrade us”.  They believe that material possessions will allow them to excel in the social hierarchy and become like those that are deemed to be superior due to their wealth. However, in the end, this song reveals that it does not make a difference. To show this, Kanye uses the expression, “you still a nigga in a coupe”. This can be read to mean a coupe as a two door car or a coop, which is a small cage or confined space. This continues the theme of internalized racism that holds people imprisoned in our society. Kanye is saying, no matter their material possessions or wealth, African Americans or other minorities will always be looked at as inferior to the other races which profit off of our insecurities and adversities, shown in the line “the white man get paid off all of that”.  To tie it all together the chorus of this song encourages listeners to think about what will remain when it all falls down and all of their wealth is gone.

All in all, I really encourage people to actually listen to the lyrics of the songs we hear played on the radio and consider the deeper meaning they have to offer.

"High as Hope": Album or Anthology?

Florence + the Machine's most recent album "High as Hope" is the first album she has created since she took to sobriety. In an interview with The New York Times, she said her new album "created a creative bravery" and in an act of vulnerability, she "made a step away from the metaphoric."

According to Laurence Perrine, author of Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry, a true poet uses language resources and "the materials of life" to create a poem. Throughout Florence Welch's 2018 release, she draws on past experiences to inspire her lyrics. Most notably in her song "The End of Love"

The first experience she reflects on is the telling of a potentially spurious story about her family's history:

We were a family pulled from the flood
You tore the floorboards up
And let the river rush in
Not wash away, wash away

In an interview with Belfast Telegraph, she recalls how her great-great-grandfather, a sailor, saved her family from a flood by pulling up the floorboards in the house so the water would rush through and wouldn't wash the house away. When writing the chorus, she considered the symbolic value of extreme weather and decided the story symbolizes the impact the past has on the future and the weight of cleaning up the past's destruction.

She goes on to write about her grandmother's suicide in the song's second verse:

In a moment of joy and fury I threw myself
From the balcony like my grandmother so many years before me

These lines bank directly on "the materials of life" and employ simile as a language resource. She compares her present condition to that of her grandmother when she fell. Furthermore, Welch illuminates a pattern in the way the women in her family love, each having learned from her mother, a "trickle-down" that is comparable to the succession of the feeling of tragedy following her grandmother's death.

We then see allusion and connotation at play in the song's bridge:

And Joshua came down from the mountain
With a tablet in his hands
Told me that he loved me, yeah
And then ghosted me again

This stanza alludes to a passage in the Old Testament in which Moses receives the Ten Commandments. Then, Welch plays with the 21st-century connotation of the term "ghosted" referring to when a person's love-interest suddenly ceases communication without explanation. With this idea introduced, the tablet she references may have a more modern implication as an electronic device.

Despite making reference to specific events and stories, Florence Welch's song is still accessible to her audience. She creates a foundation that is personally significant but also encourages the listener to contribute their own experiences to the text, thus through the application of their imagination, senses, and emotions the song "enlighten[s] and move[s]" the listener.

You Are Appreciated

The song that I chose is called Dear Mama, by Tupac Shakur. It's a song from his album, Me Against the World. This is actually one of the most special, touching, heartfelt songs I've ever came across in life. This song is about the indescribable love that he has for his mother. And even though they had their struggles, she was the one who made sure his needs were met. Tupac Shakur really sets the mood with the way he describes certain events. 

In the first verse, for example, 

I shed tears with my baby sister, over the years
We was poorer than the other little kids

Those lines really make me feel the sadness and the struggle that I'm sure they went through together. 

I would also say that Shakur uses imagery. He gave me the ability to form that mental picture in my head of things that he's obviously experienced in the past. 

In the first verse, he says 

I reminisce on the stress I caused, it was hell
Huggin' on my mama from a jail cell

That can surely make you picture him and his mother, together in the jail facility. 

Then in the second verse, he goes on to say

I moved out and started really hangin'
I needed money of my own, so I started slangin'
I aint guilty, 'cause even though I sell rocks
It feels good to put money in your mailbox
I love payin' rent when the rent is due
I hope you got the diamond necklace that I sent to you

The different devices that he uses are really just amazing, and this song is a perfect example of pure poetry. 

Dear Mama




  

Omar Sharif

Katrina Lenk's performance of "Omar Sharif" in the musical The Band's Visit  is technically stunning, and the somber tone of the music invokes feelings of nostalgia in the listener. The song occurs at a point in the musical when she is remembering childhood memories of listening to Egyptian music in her isolated desert hometown. The song is about how people can connect to things outside of their ordinary daily lives, and how they can use this wide thinking to expand their personal experiences.

There are two main tonal shifts within the song which emphasize the point. Towards the beginning, Dina (Lenk's character), uses vague language to describe how she experienced cultures that differed from her own (Egyptian movies and music) through chance, saying they "floated in on a jasmine wind". The first shift occurs with the phrase "Friday evening, Omar Sharif", as Lenk's voice gets louder and she gets more confident, she begins to describe the wonder that she and her mother held towards these pieces of foreign art. The song uses phrases that aren't exactly descriptive but imply that she needed this escape from tragedy to stay sane in her day to day, like when she watches the TV "in black and white and blurry through tears". Lenk then returns to the softer tone when she repeats the vague lyrics from the beginning of the song, which illustrates the comfort that these movies and music give her, she is soft about them.

The second tonal shift happens with the line "And the TV set becomes a garden", as Lenk grows in volume again and uses descriptions like this first line to show that these pieces of art have literally made their way into her life, and that she is better for it. The word choices here of nature imagery express beauty, a marked change from the tragedy implied earlier in the song, showing that her new experiences are providing her with comfort and making her life better. This is further shown as she goes back to the phrases that reference "jasmine wind" and share the same tone, and creates the feeling of comfort that comes with repetition.

M&M Poet Turned Wrapper

"Cleanin' Out My Closet" by Eminem was released on May 26th, 2002 in Marshall's album, The Eminem Show. This album is highly respected as one of Eminem's best with classics in "Till I Collapse" and "Without Me." Eminem's beautiful artistry and manipulation of words adds incredible new levels to "Cleanin' Out My Closet." This song tells the story of a young Marshall Mathers and his distaste for his own mother and the press. The song starts off with Em's troubles with the press and the people, stemming from his controversial rhymes and white demographic. He continues on to call out his mother for being a terrible mother even after Em's dad left both of them. Eminem tells a story with his music, every single lyric he produces is thought about long and hard until completely perfected.

     Now, I would never diss my own mama just to get recognition
     Take a second to listen 'fore you think this record is dissin'
     But put yourself in my position, just try to envision
     Witnessin' your mama poppin' prescription pills in the kitchen
     Bitchin' that someone's always goin' through her purse and shit's missin'
     Goin' through public housing systems, victim of Münchausen's Syndrome
     My whole life I was made to believe I was sick when I wasn't
     'Til I grew up, now I blew up, it makes you sick to your stomach, doesn't it?

Eminem's use of internal rhymes is especially apparent in these first eight bars of his third verse. (Ln 2), listen & dissin', (Ln 3), position & envision, (Ln 4), witnessin' & prescription & kitchen. Almost every single line in the first eight bars of this verse contains an internal rhyme or more. He also goes on to mention Münchausen's Syndrome which is a mental disorder where a caregiver, usually a mother, harms their child or describes non-existent symptoms of a sickness in order to get sympathy and attention. He uses Münchausen's Syndrome as an extended metaphor for the rest of this snippet, mentioning being made "to believe he was sick when he wasn't" and "it makes you sick to your stomach." In addition to extended metaphors and internal rhymes, in these eight bars alone Em also uses multiple slant rhymes in the form of recognition & dissin, envision & kitchen, and housing systems & Münchausen's Syndrome. Although this is only eight lines from a five minute song, these lines alone show Eminem's poetic prowess. The song as a whole is one of the best made in this century, giving a complete and entertaining story of Eminem's life. The way Em's rhymes work, along with his overall flow and poetic strategies implemented throughout the song, prove that Eminem is not only a wrapper, but a poet.

Imagine There's No Poetry

The song "Imagine", by John Lennon is one of the most beautiful, awe inspiring, and the most successful single of his career. Released in the middle of the Vietnam War in 1971, he was just as much a visionary as a songwriter. The song itself is short and simple, but the simplicity is what allows each word to carry so much weight. Lennon asks his listeners to just imagine; to imagine a place where we live in peace and unity.

According to Perrine, poetry should broaden or deepen the reader's experiences. He also states that poetry should allow the reader to gain a better understanding or new perspective on the world. "Imagine" broadens the reader's understanding of the world by asking them to imagine a reality that many could not fathom.

Lennon starts the song with the first line:

        Imagine there's no heaven
        It's easy if you try

He mentions religion multiple times in the song. His belief was that people claiming that "my God is better than your God" was the cause for a lot of unrest and violence in the world. Many people live their lives in order to get into heaven or to avoid hell. But what if there was no other place after death, and we had to pay our debts in this life. People would have to focus on the present. How would that change individuals behaviors towards others?

In the start of the second verse he sings: 

        Imagine there's no countries
        It isn't hard to do

Countries, boundaries, and claims for land have caused multiple wars in present day and throughout the history of the earth. What if there was only one big country for everyone? There would be no "developed" or "undeveloped" countries. There would also be more camaraderie, as people would not be divided into sections.

The final line states: 

        Imagine no possessions
        I wonder if you can

Many people can imagine no heaven or no countries, but having no possessions is scary for many people. To be able to give up material goods, things we are accustomed to and many things we love, is not an easy feat. But if we were able to, would it make the world a more equal place?

Some could argue that Lennon's words are more relevant today than they were 30 years ago. Will we ever be able to achieve the goal of world peace? Right now, I'm not sure any of us can really imagine it.

Life Is Good, This Is A Good Life

It is time to go on a living spree. Perhaps you've heard the cliche "life's too short." While this phrase's overuse is mostly contributed to the dynamic of material culture in our society today, some individuals seem to embrace this notion. One individual, cultural icon Kanye West, has made this his life's motto. In his song "Good Life," which was the third single on his third album, 2007's Graduation, Kanye tries to get his audience to see that life really is good. Kanye stresses that we tend to fixate on what is wrong in our lives when we really should be embracing the good. We tend to think that life really isn't that good because we are afraid to live. We are afraid to be present. We are afraid to become our full potential.

"Good Life" is a hip-hop/electro-hop song. Its uplifting tone and strong, charismatic beat help to develop the overall theme that life is good. However, according to Kanye, there are some specific things in life that make it good.

                Welcome to the good life!
                Where we got girls who ain't on ain't on TV
                'Cause they got mo' ass than the models
                The good life, so keep it comin' with the bottles

Kanye's use of repetition of diction and punctuated use of a rhyme scheme helps articulate that perhaps, in Kanye's world, the good life consists of attractive women and alcohol.

               Have you ever popped champagne on a plane, while gettin' some brain
               Whipped it out, she said "I never seen snakes on a plane"
               Whether you broke or rich you gotta have this
               Havin' money's not everything, not havin' is

In Kanye's ideal "Good Life," he envisions himself on a plane, with some champagne, receiving oral sex. Kanye proposes that in this lifestyle money won't make you happy, but it will afford you the outrageous opportunities that those who don't have money will never have. Kanye's use of a starting consonant pattern and variation in possession of one word helps to accentuate the outrageousness of his fantasy lifestyle.

               The good life, let's go on a living spree
               Shit, they say the best things in life are free.

Kanye flips the idea of a 'killing' spree into a 'living' spree - carefree enjoyment of what actually inspires happiness. The 'good life' has its origins in the writings of Aristotle. Aristotle contemplated the 'good life' as a result of 'virtuous living,' but somewhere along the way the phrase was appropriated to mean 'living in luxury.' Kanye takes the term back to its roots.

The best things in life are free. However, life is free. So wouldn't that equate life being the best? We are never cognizant to the fact that life is free. Kanye wants you to start living. Will you?

Us and Them: The Poetry Within the Music

Pink Floyd is known for their enthralling and poetic lyrics and psychedelic music. As an extremely progressive rock band from London, they topped charts internationally and were inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Their concept album Dark Side of the Moon, conveys the disunity and fragmentation of society and analyzes human nature.

According to Laurence Perrine, poetry should broaden or deepen the reader's experience by allowing one to be present in the poem. Not necessarily moral nor beautiful, it gives us glimpses into realities we can't even dream of.

Pink Floyd's song, "Us and Them" from Dark Side of the Moon does exactly that. On the surface, it seems to simply be about the cruelty and futility of war. If we look closer, we see that war is used as an extended metaphor for society's dictators.

Us and them
And after all we're only ordinary men
Me and you
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do

The first lyrics in the song establish the us vs. them mentality in war. It is simply a matter of the "other" and a way that we justify the murder of other human beings, or "ordinary men". On a deeper level, it reflects the human experience that we are always comparing and pitting ourselves against someone else in our lives. We dissociate ourselves from this "other" when we're really in the same boat trying to live through life. Overall, this extended metaphor illustrates the self-centered mentality that most of us have.

The song later explores the powerlessness people have over their own lives.

And the general sat
And the lines on the map moved from side to side
Black and blue

The imagery of the general sending men to fight while not suffering the consequences himself puts the reader in the shoes of the common man. The reader can feel the anger and frustration with the general, especially when we see him moving miniature figurines on a map in place of human life. On a level deeper than war, one deepens the experience of feeling powerless - whether that be in the battlefield, the workplace, or in any other hierarchical situation. The use of "black and blue" conveys the battering and sickening experience of being at the mercy of a society-deemed important figure. In reality, it's one man determining the fate of thousands. One merely has to glance at our current political saga to see the real life applications.

Finally, Pink Floyd's references to those in poverty and the seemingly indifference of the person in power that follows exemplifies the speaker's disgust of inequality.

Down and out
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about

"Down and out" refer to those in society who are destitute. The nonchalant tone in the following line that basically says, "Well, whatever!" to society's neglect of its citizens, its human beings, is angering and disgusting. Just these two lines convey the experience of neglect, desolation, and indifference.

We can either look to ourselves to change our faults or we can choose to ignore them and blame them on human nature.
 

Roses Don't Pick Themselves

Drakes song, "Sandra's Rose" is one song containing many messages and undertones all compact into two verses that strike the reader with every word. Drake starts his first theme of being "chosen" and succeeding throughout his hardships.

"My uncle tryna change my energy with stones and crystals
But it's gon' take more than that for me to control my issues
I wasn't made for no casket or no prison cell
Every title doin' numbers like I'm Miss Adele
Sandra knows I pulled us out of a living hell
I'm the chosen one, flowers never pick themselves"

This quotation in his first verse of the song provides us a snippet of Drake's underlying theme of success through hard times. This is evidenced when he says "My uncle tryna change my engery with stones and crystals But its gon' take more than that for me to control my issues" the deeper translation of this could be interpreted that his uncle was trying to cheer him up out of his sadness or depression by buying him jewlery, but he said its going ot take a lot more than materialistic items to make him happy again. In my opinion this is where Drake starts to tell the story inside his song. Following his confession of be in a darkened state of mind Drake continues by uplifting himself saying "I wasn't made for no casket or no prison cell every title doin' numbers like I'm Miss Adell" throwing in a simile, Drake now tells us that he belives in himself and that he wont fall victim to an early death or a prison sentence and instead he will suceed and make hits like the artist, Adell who is known for her award winning music. Lastly in this quotation Drake tell us that his mother, Sandra (who the song is named after) is proud of him for his success "Sandra knows I pulled us out of a living hell" and that he was made for this life as he was "the chosen one". Drake then ties it back to the title of his song by comparing him self metaphorically to a flower saying "I'm the chosen one, flowers don't pick themselves". This last Line of the quotation brings us into the other undertone of the song which is religion/religious remarks. Some may have more knowledge on Drake than others, and for those who don't know religious remarks are very common in his songs.

As we saw the progression of Drake's moral being uplifted throughout that first quotation his happiness and confidence is on the uprise as he describes himself walking "In godly form amongst the mortal men" Looking at this, one can see that Drake now hold himself as someone of a higher power than a normal mortal man through his success that has made him this "godly" figure in use of personification. This is where another Volta occurs and Drake turns to a more religious undertone. later in his second verse Drake recites the lines,

"Church of Pentecost, Holy Spirit synagogue I don't know who's protectin' me but we hit it off "

As decribed before, Drake has now switched his theme to more religiously oriented. Drake says that someone is "protectin'" him and that they "we" are getting along in, another way of saying his success is only growing in stride with his uplifted moral.

Drake's use of personification, similies, imagery and metaphors allows for a deeper meaning and visual aid to support his lyrics. Drake has always been known for his genius in communicating messages through his songs and it is clear that with the use of these poetic devices his music has more layers as it is broken down. This is why Drake has been, and always will be one of my all time favorite artists and will continue to dominate the game.

Reminiscing

Famous R&B and soul singer Frank Ocean is known to tell stories through his songs, which is exactly what he does in one of most popular songs, Think Bout You. In this song, Ocean reminisces about his ex-lover, while trying to remain strong. Ocean displays this poetry through song, as he believes that a music is the best way to deliver an effective story while keeping the attention of the audience.

Ocean's calm song begins with him describing his attitude before and after his love, stating

              A tornado flew around my room before I came
              Excuse the mess it made is usually doesn't rain in
              Southern California, much like Arizona
              My eyes don't shed tears, but boy, they pour when

He begins comparing the state of his room to his life. Before he met his lover, his life was a mess and out of order, but his significant other fixed that. When his lover left, it brought him to tears, which he uses the dry weather of California and Arizona to express that these tears are rare for him, but in this case, it's a hard downpour.

Moving on the pre-chorus and the chorus, Ocean sings

              I'm thinkin' 'bout you(Ooh no, no, no)
              I've been thinkin' 'bout you( You know, know know)
              I've been thinkin' 'bout you, do you think about me still?
              Do ya, do ya?

              Or do you not think so far ahead?
              Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever, ooh
              Or do you not think so far ahead?
              Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever, ooh

In these two stanza's, Ocean conveys irony by using simple language to describe a pretty complex situation between him and his significant other. The repetition of certain words and lines emphasizes that he's constantly thinking about this person and the state of their relationship, wondering if they're doing the same.

It's possible that Ocean is stating lies to suppress his sorrows, when he mentions in his second verse

              No, I don't like you, I just thought you were cool enough to kick it
              Got a beach house I could sell you in Idaho
              Since you think I don't love you, I just thought you were cute
              That's why I kissed you
              Got a fighter jet, I don't get to fly it though, I'm lying down

There could be multiple lies in the verse, such as him saying that he really didn't like this person, his mentioning of owning a beach house, kissing them just because he thought they were cute, and owning a fighter jet. All of these could potentially just be him masking his feelings. The verse quickly transitions from fibs to "I'm lying down" and then into the chorus, highlighting that he can't kid himself with these lies, and that he's really reminiscing about this person.

Overall, Franks comparisons, simply irony, and statements through false claims reflect his complicated and lingering feelings for this mysterious lover.

On a side note, I'd like to say that I never mentioned the word "she" or "her" in describing Ocean's lover, because there were speculations that this song might've been about another guy, but I'm not sure.

Try To Imagine

The song Imagine, by John Lennon, offers a formula for world peace. He does that in only four stanzas. Lennon uses alliteration to have the listener Imagine a better world- a world without violence. He repeatedly asks the listener to Imagine. He first urges the listener to Imagine the world without religion: "Imagine there's no heaven," and "no hell below us." Religious differences have been and continue to be the reason for many wars. He then asks the listener to Imagine the world if people just lived for today and if material possessions didn't matter: "Imagine no possessions,"and "No need for greed or hunger." He addresses the question the listener might have of whether he is just a dreamer. He responds by suggesting that he's not the only one who thinks that the world could be a better place if people come together. If those who listen to Lennon's poem take it to heart, the world would truly "be as one."

  The song: https://youtu.be/7FX4D1jU2m8