Being a pianist, most of the music that I listen to doesn't have words. But, for as long as I can remember, Bob Dylan has always been playing in my house. An incredible artist, many of his songs share similar aspects of the multi-dimensional poetry that we analyze in class, so I thought it would be fun to pick one of my favorites, "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright."
In the literal sense, the poem is about Bob Dylan leaving the girl he is in love with because she won't commit to the relationship. Dylan begins by repeating the phrase, "Well it ain't no use" with various phrases to show that she wouldn't take what he wanted to give her, and really only wanted what he couldn't give her. In a sad tone, he states, "And it ain't no use in turnin' on your light, babe/ The light I never knowed/ An' it ain't no use in turnin' on your light, babe/ I'm on the dark side of the road/ But I wish there was somethin' you would do or say/ To try and make me change my mind and stay/ We never did too much talkin' anyway/ But don't think twice, it's all right." The listener can see from this that Dylan wanted and tried to gain a connection with this woman, but there's no use because she won't try to make things right. Turning on your light could refer to loving him or pretending to love him so he would stay. As a result, there isn't any use in her trying to make him stay, because their feelings about each other in the relationship will always be imbalanced.
The last verse sums up his final attitude of the woman pretty well. He says, "So long, honey babe/ Where I'm bound, I can't tell/ Goodbye's too good a word, babe/ So I'll just say fare thee well/ I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind/ You coulda done better but I don't mind/ You just kinda wasted my precious time/ But don't think twice, it's all right." It is pretty evident that Dylan is bitter about the situation. Even though he loves her, he wants her to know that she screwed up what could have been a great thing. The phrase "Goodbye's too good a word, babe" is harsh! Because there she has no truly good intentions, he only says, "fare thee well". If you look at the phrase "fare thee well," one sees that it sounds like "fairly well". I think that line is pure genius. It sums up what the two people had- something that was just alright.
However, his situation with the relationship just being "alright" can easily be flipped into a metaphor for life and circumstances like these. While the end of the song makes it seem as though he hates the girl, I also see it as, "don't worry about it, everything is gonna be ok." I think Dylan does an amazing job of communicating two opposite messages in the song while still keeping the general theme focused. It leaves the work open for interpretation.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
How Does it Make You Feel?
My favorite band of the "current age"and perhaps my favorite band of all time (although, to be fair, the earlier music is from the last century) is a French electronic band named Air. Their sound is enchantingly ethereal, and the lyrics really work with the music to maximize the effect. The purpose of this post, however, is to focus on the lyrics of a specific song of theirs in an effort to defend it as poetry. For this I chose the song that first drew me to Air, "How Does It Make You Feel?" The sound is nothing short of delicious and the song is simply not the same without it. Nonetheless, the words on their own are very powerful and the lyrical conclusion is what compelled me to explore more of Air's music.
The song is written in first-person and addresses a beloved "you". The speaker confesses his love/admiration, which is "very hard to say in your presence", and works to assuage the fears or doubts she holds about their future together. Throughout his heart-spilling, the speaker continually asks for her feedback, devoting the whole chorus to the question "How does it make you feel?" After many lines of grandiose, figurative praise (not too different to that of romantic sonnets) and 12 iterations of his question, he finally gets her (albeit indirect) response: "Well, I really think you should stop smoking."
Bam! I don't think I'll ever stop savoring that line. The ironic ending really sets off the rest of the poem, which has a sort of strange, eerie tone to it - almost as if the whole time the listener is being asked how it makes them feel and it is disturbing to find that you don't know. The hyperbole existent in the majority of the poem is juxtaposed with a cavalier, 'hypobolic' response. The combination of the two speakers goes beyond conveying each of their individual experiences; it gives insight into their relationship that likely not even they understand, gifting the listener with an experience only they can boast.
Poetically speaking, I think the coolest element of this song is its thematic complexity. There are so many different interpretations even just among the responses on songmeanings.com, none of which necessarily match up with mine. The pondering and the resounding "wow" in my thoughts that this song even now imparts to me is something that I generally look for in poems and what I believe strongly categorizes this song as a poem itself.
The song is written in first-person and addresses a beloved "you". The speaker confesses his love/admiration, which is "very hard to say in your presence", and works to assuage the fears or doubts she holds about their future together. Throughout his heart-spilling, the speaker continually asks for her feedback, devoting the whole chorus to the question "How does it make you feel?" After many lines of grandiose, figurative praise (not too different to that of romantic sonnets) and 12 iterations of his question, he finally gets her (albeit indirect) response: "Well, I really think you should stop smoking."
Bam! I don't think I'll ever stop savoring that line. The ironic ending really sets off the rest of the poem, which has a sort of strange, eerie tone to it - almost as if the whole time the listener is being asked how it makes them feel and it is disturbing to find that you don't know. The hyperbole existent in the majority of the poem is juxtaposed with a cavalier, 'hypobolic' response. The combination of the two speakers goes beyond conveying each of their individual experiences; it gives insight into their relationship that likely not even they understand, gifting the listener with an experience only they can boast.
Poetically speaking, I think the coolest element of this song is its thematic complexity. There are so many different interpretations even just among the responses on songmeanings.com, none of which necessarily match up with mine. The pondering and the resounding "wow" in my thoughts that this song even now imparts to me is something that I generally look for in poems and what I believe strongly categorizes this song as a poem itself.
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
I think the song "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" from
the album Funeral by Arcade Fire is a good example of poetry in song
lyrics. As a bit of context, the band created Funeral after a few
members dealt with deaths in their families. "Neighborhood #1
(Tunnels)" is the first song on the album and like the following songs, it
addresses love, family, and growing up in a poetic way. This song in particular
tells the narrative of the speaker and his love interest to nostalgically
describe the naiveté of young love.
The song begins with childish imagery:
And if the snow buries my, my neighborhood. /And if my parents are crying /Then I'll dig a tunnel from my window to yours, /Yeah, a tunnel from my window to yours.
The first verse is about the pains of growing up.
It juxtaposes the painful coming of age experience of seeing a parent cry with
the playful, childish image of a snow tunnel connecting two houses. The setting
that the speaker goes on to describe is a sort of whimsical suburban place: a
dream-like world in which he and his companion can escape from the harsh
realities of adulthood and the difficulties of family life. The imagery, while
simple in its childish nature, gives the song a nostalgic, longing mood.
Eventually, however, the couple must confront
their past:
Then we tried to name our babies /But we forgot all the names that /The names we used to know. /But sometimes, we remember our bedrooms, /And our parents' bedrooms, /And the bedrooms of our friends.
I think the repetition of the word bedroom here
emphasizes the way the images of his past haunt the speaker. The lyrics have a
sort of stream of consciousness feel here: one memory leads to another. The
choice of the word bedroom in itself is interesting: bedrooms are personal,
emphasizing the close nature of the relationships that the speaker has
abandoned.
The song repeats the verse:
You change all the lead /Sleeping in my head to gold /As the days grow dim /I hear you sing a golden hymn
This is where it's a song about love. The lead
represents the dark thoughts that weigh on the speaker, including memories of
his past. His companion in the song does some metaphorical alchemy to fill his
mind with better thoughts. That said, the gold imagery also suggests he's
idealizing his love interest.
Perrine's definition describes poetry as a way to communicate
experience. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" uses the narrative of a young
couple to communicate the pains of growing up, the beauty of love, but also the
danger of isolation and ignoring the past.
Worsening
I must admit, I was hesitant to discuss this song at first. Baths (Will Wiesenfeld) is a very complex artist and Obsidian, his third studio album, is a very dark and brooding collection of songs that convey emotions I have never felt. Nonetheless, his message is extremely provocative and captivating. "Worsening," the opening song from Obsidian, is about Wiesenfeld's inability to find meaning in a life that has done nothing for him. He finds no purpose behind the common man's faith, and as a result contemplates suicide.
While I myself do not empathize with Baths in this song, his conveyance beyond lyrics by using discordant notes and syncopated rhythms creates a very unresolved and distressed song. "Worsening" by Baths is one of the most interesting and poetic songs I've heard in the past few years, and the musicality of his work in both Obsidian and Cerulean makes Baths an extremely eccentric and peculiar up-and-coming artist.
The song opens with:
Birth was like a fat, black tongue,In this opening verse, Baths uses an extended simile to express the discontent he felt from birth. The multifaceted imagery creates a concept of the black, malicious burdens that are placed on Wiesenfeld from the day he was born. As it is, the image of a baby being brought into a cold and dark world, shivering, makes the listener uncomfortable, yet you become intrigued by Weisenfeld's low, shuddering voice.
Dripping tar and dung and dye
Slowly into my shivering eyes.
I might walk uprightIn this moment, Baths scrutinizes his choice to go on in a world that brings about nothing but severe disappointment and depression. This stanza is extremely effective through its use of ambiguity. This ambiguity stems from his own confused mental state, and it keeps the audience unclear of his intentions. As a man with no purpose (and aware of such), he is debating whether or not to continue going about his life, and whether or not that will still lead him to suicide.
But then again
I still might try to die.
Never prayed, never paid any attention,Baths expresses here the bland tone of his life that led him to feel so unsatisfied. A man with no faith, he cannot care; he cannot love. He employs an anaphora to effectively talk about his inability to feel. By beginning every phrases with "Never," we understand that the simple joys in our lives that we find impossible not to feel at times are completely void from the artist's life.
Never felt any affection,
Never a lot of thought to life.
Where is God when you hate him the most?This last stanza is surely my favorite in the song, yet the most discomforting. Baths observes that God cannot exist if He does not respond to those who attempt to communicate with Him. He (as Baths puts it) does not punish those who hate nor does He reciprocate those who devote their love to God. By personifying the earth in association with Hell, Baths is practically inviting Hell to take him and the other "lifeless [and] worsening souls" to its depths. Banishing those souls to Hell, as Baths perhaps believes, would signify that God does in fact exist.
When the mouths in the earth come to bite at my robes,
Hell that sits below, of you would do well to bellow
At the cold, the lifeless, the worsening souls.
While I myself do not empathize with Baths in this song, his conveyance beyond lyrics by using discordant notes and syncopated rhythms creates a very unresolved and distressed song. "Worsening" by Baths is one of the most interesting and poetic songs I've heard in the past few years, and the musicality of his work in both Obsidian and Cerulean makes Baths an extremely eccentric and peculiar up-and-coming artist.
Le Photographe est mort
The song that I choose to defend as an incredible example of poetry is "Taro" by alt-J off of their first album, An Awesome Wave. Being the closing song to a revolutionary new album and style of alternative music, Taro is based on the story of Gerda Taro and Robert Capa. The two were war photographers during the mid-20th century and were in a relationship. The song itself is focused on the four second period before and after Robert Capa is blown up by a mine while photographing in Indochina. It also mentions Taro, who was killed in the Spanish Civil War twenty years earlier. The audience that alt-J seems to be aiming for is to highlight some of those lost from the horrors of combat-related death. No one thinks about others like medics or photographers who die in battle, and the emotional connection between Taro and Capa make for a provoking and interesting lyrical masterpiece.
The first peace of poetic form that I found was the two lines to end the first stanza. The lines go "They advance as does his chance, very yellow white flash/ A violent wrench grips mass, rips light, tears limbs like rags." The transition and lack of information to the listener about what exactly his chance of encountering is, until the mine has already exploded and hit him. The description of the explosion and the force that the mine has is amazing and violent as it "rips light" with its own flash. All of this action and drama occurs in such a small sliver of time but creates a horrid picture for the photographer.
Later on, as Capa has landed after the explosion, his position is described as being, "From medic from colleague, friend, enemy, foe/ Him five yards from his leg, from you, Taro." This line offers a gruesome look into Capa's position, while also offering a deeper and different look into his position. It also adds an interesting, almost limbo aspect to the position he is in, where he is equidistant from medics and friends and his now detached leg and his love, Taro.
The last section of interesting poetic language used in "Taro" is the repeated line of, "Do not spray into eyes, I have sprayed you into my eyes." The meaning of this goes with the explosion and his profession as a photographer at this time. When someone gets blown up, you would expect their vision to be poor after a "very yellow white flash," But the image of his secret wife is sprayed across his eyes instead of medicine, making his coming death calm and safe. Also, the line ,"All colors and cares glaze to gray,shriveled and stricken to dots." goes with Capa's photography, almost describing it as an outside view of a photo of his own death. Being a wartime photographer, Capa took many pictures of dying men, so the image of himself is quite interesting as he becomes what he took.
Also, although I may get some push back from Mr. Heidkamp, I think that the rhythm of this song makes it more poetic than others. Instead of focusing on rhymes in four strict lines, the words flow and connect in a fluid manner and make the sound much more majestic than if it were upbeat and parallel.
Overall the song and basically everything by alt-J is poetic in some way. Just watch the music videos from any of their albums, from the reverse murder in "Breezeblocks" to the modern version of Raphael's school of Athens in "Tessellate." If you want a video full of deeper meaning, check that out. :333
The first peace of poetic form that I found was the two lines to end the first stanza. The lines go "They advance as does his chance, very yellow white flash/ A violent wrench grips mass, rips light, tears limbs like rags." The transition and lack of information to the listener about what exactly his chance of encountering is, until the mine has already exploded and hit him. The description of the explosion and the force that the mine has is amazing and violent as it "rips light" with its own flash. All of this action and drama occurs in such a small sliver of time but creates a horrid picture for the photographer.
Later on, as Capa has landed after the explosion, his position is described as being, "From medic from colleague, friend, enemy, foe/ Him five yards from his leg, from you, Taro." This line offers a gruesome look into Capa's position, while also offering a deeper and different look into his position. It also adds an interesting, almost limbo aspect to the position he is in, where he is equidistant from medics and friends and his now detached leg and his love, Taro.
The last section of interesting poetic language used in "Taro" is the repeated line of, "Do not spray into eyes, I have sprayed you into my eyes." The meaning of this goes with the explosion and his profession as a photographer at this time. When someone gets blown up, you would expect their vision to be poor after a "very yellow white flash," But the image of his secret wife is sprayed across his eyes instead of medicine, making his coming death calm and safe. Also, the line ,"All colors and cares glaze to gray,shriveled and stricken to dots." goes with Capa's photography, almost describing it as an outside view of a photo of his own death. Being a wartime photographer, Capa took many pictures of dying men, so the image of himself is quite interesting as he becomes what he took.
Also, although I may get some push back from Mr. Heidkamp, I think that the rhythm of this song makes it more poetic than others. Instead of focusing on rhymes in four strict lines, the words flow and connect in a fluid manner and make the sound much more majestic than if it were upbeat and parallel.
Overall the song and basically everything by alt-J is poetic in some way. Just watch the music videos from any of their albums, from the reverse murder in "Breezeblocks" to the modern version of Raphael's school of Athens in "Tessellate." If you want a video full of deeper meaning, check that out. :333
La PoesÃa de Juanes es como la PoesÃa de los Dioses
Juanes is one of the most popular musicians in Latin America. His pop hit "A Dios le Pido," which literally means "I ask God," was released in 2002 and has been both a Latin-American and international anthem ever since. I chose to defend this song as poetry because it has a lot of meaning to me in context. We listened to it almost daily on my study-abroad trip to Spain two summers ago, so it reminds me of my friends on the trip and my whole experience in general.
For the purposes of this analysis, I will be using the English translations of the lyrics, but some of the phrasing in this version of the lyrics will be a little awkward because some of the words and expressions do not translate perfectly. (This version of the English lyrics is not perfect, but it is the best I could find.) I highly recommend listening to the song in Spanish, though, as it is a beautiful piece when it is all tied together.
The song is a call for peace, love, and unity. I believe that Juanes wanted to portray the persona of a regular young Latin-American person as the speaker in the song. The concepts addressed in the lyrics, like peace, love, and posterity, are things that many young people living in the often poor, violence-filled, and corrupt countries of Latin America wish for. The audience, thus, is the entire world population that is faced with the ugly realities of war, violence, and injustice. The song involves the speaker recalling how he asks God to bless and protect his family, friends, and community in times of crisis in order to ensure peace and justice in the lives of future generations. The song, then, serves the purpose of making a call for peace. Also, according to Perrine, poetry both broadens and deepens an experience. I believe that "A Dios le Pido" does just this by giving the listener an introspective look at the wishes of a regular man but taking them beyond country borders to reveal a collective worldwide desire for peace. We would not know this person's deep thoughts if they were not revealed to us in such as catchy a way as through poetry. The "border-less" aspect of these lyrics fits Perrine's definition of poetry as being universal.
Juanes's poetic lyrics include many examples of multidimensional language. The frequently used word "God," for example, has many interpretations when used in the context of the other lyrics. The use of "I pray to God that" followed by numerous wishes throughout the song adds to the universal plea for peace that serves as the song's purpose. When the speaker says "I pray to God that that my people not spill so much blood," the context implies that the "God" receiving the plea is not just God himself, but the people of the speaker's country whom he wishes to bring to peace. The poem also utilizes parallel syntax with the lines "I pray to God/ That my mother not die/ And that my father remembers me" and "I pray to God/ For the children of my children/ And the children of your children." The lines have similar structure with the reference of multiple people and the use of the word "and." The fact that the speaker is wishing for these people to be blessed also adds depth to the universal and community aspects of the poem's meaning by creating a multi-generational image of the world that needs peace to thrive. Finally, the lines "I pray to God/ If I die, may it be of love/ And if I fall in love, may it be with you" use multidimensional language in that the "love" in question can be either romantic love or love as peace. The "you" that is the object of the love, then, can either be a romantic interest or one's community. These dimensions add even greater depth to the song's "universal peace" purpose.
I strongly believe that "A Dios le Pido" qualifies as a poem, and how incredible is it that the lyrics can be poetic in TWO languages????? That's pretty impressive, if I must say so myself.
For the purposes of this analysis, I will be using the English translations of the lyrics, but some of the phrasing in this version of the lyrics will be a little awkward because some of the words and expressions do not translate perfectly. (This version of the English lyrics is not perfect, but it is the best I could find.) I highly recommend listening to the song in Spanish, though, as it is a beautiful piece when it is all tied together.
The song is a call for peace, love, and unity. I believe that Juanes wanted to portray the persona of a regular young Latin-American person as the speaker in the song. The concepts addressed in the lyrics, like peace, love, and posterity, are things that many young people living in the often poor, violence-filled, and corrupt countries of Latin America wish for. The audience, thus, is the entire world population that is faced with the ugly realities of war, violence, and injustice. The song involves the speaker recalling how he asks God to bless and protect his family, friends, and community in times of crisis in order to ensure peace and justice in the lives of future generations. The song, then, serves the purpose of making a call for peace. Also, according to Perrine, poetry both broadens and deepens an experience. I believe that "A Dios le Pido" does just this by giving the listener an introspective look at the wishes of a regular man but taking them beyond country borders to reveal a collective worldwide desire for peace. We would not know this person's deep thoughts if they were not revealed to us in such as catchy a way as through poetry. The "border-less" aspect of these lyrics fits Perrine's definition of poetry as being universal.
Juanes's poetic lyrics include many examples of multidimensional language. The frequently used word "God," for example, has many interpretations when used in the context of the other lyrics. The use of "I pray to God that" followed by numerous wishes throughout the song adds to the universal plea for peace that serves as the song's purpose. When the speaker says "I pray to God that that my people not spill so much blood," the context implies that the "God" receiving the plea is not just God himself, but the people of the speaker's country whom he wishes to bring to peace. The poem also utilizes parallel syntax with the lines "I pray to God/ That my mother not die/ And that my father remembers me" and "I pray to God/ For the children of my children/ And the children of your children." The lines have similar structure with the reference of multiple people and the use of the word "and." The fact that the speaker is wishing for these people to be blessed also adds depth to the universal and community aspects of the poem's meaning by creating a multi-generational image of the world that needs peace to thrive. Finally, the lines "I pray to God/ If I die, may it be of love/ And if I fall in love, may it be with you" use multidimensional language in that the "love" in question can be either romantic love or love as peace. The "you" that is the object of the love, then, can either be a romantic interest or one's community. These dimensions add even greater depth to the song's "universal peace" purpose.
I strongly believe that "A Dios le Pido" qualifies as a poem, and how incredible is it that the lyrics can be poetic in TWO languages????? That's pretty impressive, if I must say so myself.
The A Team
When I heard about this assignment, my mind immediately jumped to Ed Sheeran's "The A Team" from the album +. I always thought the song was beautiful, but it wasn't until I really looked at the lyrics that I truly appreciated it as poetry. Ed Sheeran has said in interviews that he wrote the song after visiting a homeless shelter and talking to the people about their lives. From that, he compiled a song about the fall of angel. "The A Team" invites the listener to experience the life of a girl who just can't catch a break in life. While she is a prostitute and a cocaine addict, the main point of the song is that under all of that she is a good person. The girl wants to get out, and is not happy with her life, but she's trapped in the addiction. She is slowly killing herself, but she can't stop. I really like this song because it shows the many dimensions of a person's life. If we see a homeless person on the street, we judge them or at least expect in some way they have been mixed up with drugs. In this song, Ed Sheeran has created sympathy, and shown us their lives, goals, and fears. He successfully conveys that unfortunately, sometimes good people can be forced by circumstances to make bad decisions, and try as they might, they can't get out.
This theme is represented by many poetic devices, but perhaps most by the multidimensional use of cold imagery. The song opens with the line "White lips, pale face/ breathing in the snowflakes." In this line, the snowflakes represent cocaine, and the drug addiction. However, one of the main lines of the song, "Its too cold outside/ for angels to fly" uses cold in a different way. In this line, I interpret the cold to be the challenges that overwhelm and weigh down good people. These people are angels underneath, but this world does not permit them to "fly" because of bad decisions and circumstances. Ed Sheeran also uses irony to show how things never seem to go right in lines such as, "Dry house, wet clothes" and "Call girl, no phone." For some reason (perhaps a cocaine addiction) her life seems to always be in shambles. That being said, the girl realizes that she has made mistakes in life, and she wants to change. I think one of the most powerful lines in the song is, "And she don't want to go outside tonight." In this line, outside functions as both literally outside, and also the world of prostitution and drugs. She doesn't want to repeat the pattern of the prostitution, the high, and then the crash, but ultimately she will have to. She thinks that maybe if she can stay inside, her life will be okay. Another line describes, "Stuck in her daydream." She dreams of a better life, but can't achieve it because of the addiction. In the end, she is disappointed with her life, but can do nothing to change. The song ends, "An angel will die/ covered in white/ closed eyed/ hoping for a better life." Through this song, listeners understand sometimes good people get caught up in bad things, and they want help and an escape, but can't get it. The song tells a tragic story, but it has definitely left me with an enhanced experience and understanding of this poor girl's struggle.
This theme is represented by many poetic devices, but perhaps most by the multidimensional use of cold imagery. The song opens with the line "White lips, pale face/ breathing in the snowflakes." In this line, the snowflakes represent cocaine, and the drug addiction. However, one of the main lines of the song, "Its too cold outside/ for angels to fly" uses cold in a different way. In this line, I interpret the cold to be the challenges that overwhelm and weigh down good people. These people are angels underneath, but this world does not permit them to "fly" because of bad decisions and circumstances. Ed Sheeran also uses irony to show how things never seem to go right in lines such as, "Dry house, wet clothes" and "Call girl, no phone." For some reason (perhaps a cocaine addiction) her life seems to always be in shambles. That being said, the girl realizes that she has made mistakes in life, and she wants to change. I think one of the most powerful lines in the song is, "And she don't want to go outside tonight." In this line, outside functions as both literally outside, and also the world of prostitution and drugs. She doesn't want to repeat the pattern of the prostitution, the high, and then the crash, but ultimately she will have to. She thinks that maybe if she can stay inside, her life will be okay. Another line describes, "Stuck in her daydream." She dreams of a better life, but can't achieve it because of the addiction. In the end, she is disappointed with her life, but can do nothing to change. The song ends, "An angel will die/ covered in white/ closed eyed/ hoping for a better life." Through this song, listeners understand sometimes good people get caught up in bad things, and they want help and an escape, but can't get it. The song tells a tragic story, but it has definitely left me with an enhanced experience and understanding of this poor girl's struggle.
You're Damaged
The first album that came to mind when we were asked to choose a song that we would defend as poetry was Cerulean Salt. It is not my favorite album or even in my top five favorite albums of 2013 but the earnest delivery of its lyrics reminded me of many poetry readings I had heard. Katie Crutchfield the artist at the center of Waxahatchee writes lyrics that are specific which seem to be two things that good poems often are. The song "You're Damaged" is the albums closing track and is about the difference between adult and child friendships.
The speaker of the poem is a disenchanted adult who has found life to be less exciting than she had imagined it to be growing up. The audience of the poem is her friend who the speaker has known since she was eleven and who she has stayed in touch with over the years. The song is taking place when they are together after years of being apart and find that their relationship is not the same as when they were young. The song depicts the distance between the two friends that developed as they aged and the subsequent unhappiness it caused.
The poem shows that the two friends were happy and close as children in a stanza in which they run with "sabers and sticks," sabers being the swords they pretended the sticks were, "to [their] peace." The lines show that they always pictured themselves living their lives happily side by side. But, as the lyrics point out, they were always destined to separately experience "chaos, condolence, [and] defeat." In the present time, the friends are sad and unable to connect. The speaker uses the metaphor of herself having a shell to describe the barriers that they put up emotionally. The lyrics conclude "We’ll cut our hands agape and manifest / Compassion we'll lose with time and test," conveying that through their pain of growing up together they will develop compassion which they ultimately lose as they age further. The lyrics are effective because they are a collection of short sentences that are self contained ideas that create an abstract story. The disjointedness of the lyrics gives it the feeling of a memory which connects to the central literary device of flashbacks used in the song.
"Ain't No Rest for the Wicked"
Cage the Elephant's song, "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" is a bonus track from their album, Cage the Elephant. This song is broken up into three stories each dealing with a different theme: lust, temptation, and greed. This song is about what lengths people would go to for money. It plays on the idea that people are forced to do this because of the flaws in society. It also mentions how once they get started in this life they have no where else to go but forward. "I know I can't slow down,/ I can't hold back though you know I wish I could". The first story, the narrator runs into a prostitute. After offering her services, the narrator asks why she does this. In the second story, the narrator is held up at gunpoint. The narrator then says that he will comply if he first tells him why he does this. In the third story, the narrator turns on the TV and sees a preacher robbing from his church on the news. The prostitute and the mugger both reply to his question with:
According to Perrine's Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry, "Poetry takes all life as its province...poetry as a whole is concerned with all kinds of experience--beautiful or ugly, strange or common, noble or ignoble, actual or imaginary." Since a poem has to do with experience and the response made by the reader, "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" could be a poem because it tells a story of three separate encounters he had with greed and it created a response from the reader that there is a flaw in our system, that people are being forced to do whatever it takes for money because they don't have any other choice, and that once they start they don't have any option except to keep going.
The writer of "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" uses imagery, irony, paradoxes, and repetition to enhance the meaning. Imagery is used when the writer describes the prostitute. When he says that she is such a "sweet young thing" he seems to be taken by surprise that someone so young and innocent looking is prostituting herself for money. The writer uses irony to show how it is ironic that the person you would think to be the most holy, the preacher, is actually stealing from his own church just for money. The line, "I know I can't slow down,/ I can't hold back though you know I wish I could,/ No there ain't no rest for the wicked,/Until we close our eyes for good" is an example of a paradox because it almost contradicts itself when it says that they want to stop but they can't and they won't be able to until they are dead. This helps enhance the meaning that people are forced into these situations with no way out. Repetition also plays a role in enhancing the meaning because when the prostitute and the robber are asked why they would do such a thing they both reply with the same answer that they did it for money. It shows that money plays such a large role in peoples lives and their actions.
"There ain't no rest for the wicked,
Money don't grow on trees,
I've got bills to pay,
I've got mouths to feed,
Ain't nothing in this world for free.
I know I can't slow down,
I can't hold back though you know I wish I could,
No there ain't no rest for the wicked,
Until we close our eyes for good."I think this song looks deeper into the problems humans face when they are put in a difficult situation. When faced with lust, greed, and temptation, most will give in and the ones that do have a difficult time stopping once they start. This song reminded me of the quote, "The love of money is the root of all evil", because the song is saying how money corrupted these peoples lives in different ways.
According to Perrine's Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry, "Poetry takes all life as its province...poetry as a whole is concerned with all kinds of experience--beautiful or ugly, strange or common, noble or ignoble, actual or imaginary." Since a poem has to do with experience and the response made by the reader, "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" could be a poem because it tells a story of three separate encounters he had with greed and it created a response from the reader that there is a flaw in our system, that people are being forced to do whatever it takes for money because they don't have any other choice, and that once they start they don't have any option except to keep going.
The writer of "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" uses imagery, irony, paradoxes, and repetition to enhance the meaning. Imagery is used when the writer describes the prostitute. When he says that she is such a "sweet young thing" he seems to be taken by surprise that someone so young and innocent looking is prostituting herself for money. The writer uses irony to show how it is ironic that the person you would think to be the most holy, the preacher, is actually stealing from his own church just for money. The line, "I know I can't slow down,/ I can't hold back though you know I wish I could,/ No there ain't no rest for the wicked,/Until we close our eyes for good" is an example of a paradox because it almost contradicts itself when it says that they want to stop but they can't and they won't be able to until they are dead. This helps enhance the meaning that people are forced into these situations with no way out. Repetition also plays a role in enhancing the meaning because when the prostitute and the robber are asked why they would do such a thing they both reply with the same answer that they did it for money. It shows that money plays such a large role in peoples lives and their actions.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst
Kendrick Lamar features on his newest album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, a song entitled "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst." This 12:03 minute song adds to the albums theme of Kendrick rapping about his past experiences of living in Compton. The song is split up into two parts; Sing About Me and I'm Dying of Thirst. The three verses in the first part are all from different point of views. In the first verse he raps from the perspective of a friend of Kendrick's whose brother has just been killed with Kendrick by his side. Kendrick's friend seems to be talking to Kendrick on the phone and he tells him that he is happy for Kendrick for being able to rise from Compton, aka the m.A.A.d city, and not succumb to the gang violence and other bad influences the city has to offer. On the other hand, Kendrick's friend is a VICTIM of Compton (I capitalize victim because this message Kendrick is trying to get across is positive and not negative). The song reads "Everybody's a victim in my eyes/ When I ride, it's a murderous rhythm and outside became pitch black/ A demon glued to my back whispering, 'Get em'/ I got 'em, and I ain't give a fuck." Kendrick uses the imagery of a murderous rhythm and the blackness outside to show how Compton is a dark place to be raised and his friend is subconsciously being told by himself, "a demon glued to my back," to go out and seek revenge for his lost brother.
In the next verse, the point of view comes from a sister of a prostitute who Kendrick rapped about in his previous album, Section.80, in a song called "Keisha's Song (Her Pain)". Keisha's sister is yelling at Kendrick for featuring her sister's private life in his album which in turn has effected his and her life of being a prostitute as well. She goes on to acknowledge that it isn't her fault that she has taken this path in life by saying, "See, my hormones just run away and if i can get 'em back/ to where they used to be then I'll probably be in the denim/ Of a family gene that show women hot to be woman/ Or better yet, a leader, you need her to learn somethin'/ Then you probably need to beat her, that's how I was taught." The play on the word "gene" in reference to denim shows the importance of this line. She is saying that maybe if she grew up in a place where she was loved instead of a foster home she wouldn't be in the place she is now.
In the final verse, the audience finally gets Kendrick's point of view where he brings it all together. After asking himself if he is scared of dying he says "If it's today, i hope i hear a/ Cry out from heaven so loud it can water down a demon/ With the holy ghost 'til it drown in the blood of Jesus." He references a lot of biblical terms to show how when he dies he hope to make it to heaven even though he is surrounded by sin. Finally he gets to the "what" of his song, he ends up speaking to the earlier speakers in the song and tells them that he needed to sing about them because if he didn't then he would be "Cursing the life of twenty generations after her soul." Kendrick is sharing his experience with the world from these different points of view in order to show people "something that's realer than the TV screen" in order to save his hometown of Compton.
In the next verse, the point of view comes from a sister of a prostitute who Kendrick rapped about in his previous album, Section.80, in a song called "Keisha's Song (Her Pain)". Keisha's sister is yelling at Kendrick for featuring her sister's private life in his album which in turn has effected his and her life of being a prostitute as well. She goes on to acknowledge that it isn't her fault that she has taken this path in life by saying, "See, my hormones just run away and if i can get 'em back/ to where they used to be then I'll probably be in the denim/ Of a family gene that show women hot to be woman/ Or better yet, a leader, you need her to learn somethin'/ Then you probably need to beat her, that's how I was taught." The play on the word "gene" in reference to denim shows the importance of this line. She is saying that maybe if she grew up in a place where she was loved instead of a foster home she wouldn't be in the place she is now.
In the final verse, the audience finally gets Kendrick's point of view where he brings it all together. After asking himself if he is scared of dying he says "If it's today, i hope i hear a/ Cry out from heaven so loud it can water down a demon/ With the holy ghost 'til it drown in the blood of Jesus." He references a lot of biblical terms to show how when he dies he hope to make it to heaven even though he is surrounded by sin. Finally he gets to the "what" of his song, he ends up speaking to the earlier speakers in the song and tells them that he needed to sing about them because if he didn't then he would be "Cursing the life of twenty generations after her soul." Kendrick is sharing his experience with the world from these different points of view in order to show people "something that's realer than the TV screen" in order to save his hometown of Compton.
We Can Fly
So I have to preface this by saying that, despite Yes being a progressive rock band formed in 1968, the song I'll be referring to was released in 2011. Therefore, even though they are a bunch of old guys, it's still current music. It's just not a canned pop song.
"Fly From Here," the namesake composition on the album Fly From Here by Yes is a modern epic poem, and despite its length, is not the only song on the album (therefore I will analyze it as one song).
First, a little context. A brief, underdeveloped version of this song was written in the 80s at the height of the band's popularity, but was never used on its intended album. Just before the creation of the modern "Fly From Here," the band's lead singer dropped out due to health issues. The song, therefore, was inspired by the band's past bonds and successes and served as an indication that they were ready to move into the modern era even without their lead singer and continue to make music for the love of the music itself.
The speaker is a man on a metaphorical airfield and later, in a metaphorical plane. The extended metaphor continues throughout the song and is representative of his journey moving on from the past and "flying" into a future experience. The audience, although not specifically described, is a person or people whom he wishes to join him in his journey. Although never clearly stated, the song is from the perspective of one of the band members to the others, as a progressive attempt to get them to come together and create new things despite, and in light of, events in the past. The song is divided into segments. The first is an optimistic imploring of the speaker to get the band to acknowledge the past but then move on from it and head to a new destination, where they can only go if they all awaken and change from their stagnant past and present. The second is reminiscent of the past and reveals the current attitude of the group members: lonely, and despite individual efforts, lost in motivation and purpose. It explains how the elements of the past, people and their individual desires to "face the dawn/ Alone," still linger, but that they've exhausted this era and must turn around and come back together to move onward. It ends with the speaker "watch[ing] the skies" for the group to return so they may proceed. The third part reflects the potential struggle in coming back together, and how returning to their former glory will not necessarily be easy. The final portions reprise the optimism and reflect how, if they all come together and believe in themselves, they can move forward into the future and "fly."
The song also possesses a general theme, which is that in any sort of relationship, it is important to act together and though the journey may not be easy, travel onwards and seize the moment. It broadens the experience of moving forward.
Other than the overarching airfield metaphor, there are lots of other clever uses of literary language. In the very first portion of the song, they sing, "Formless memories lingering." The word memories here serves a couple purposes. One, is the reference to literal memories of the band's past experience. The other is as a descriptor of the aforementioned "prop-shaft airliners," as old and no longer more than memories. The word "lingering" not only describes the manner in which the memories sound, but its connotation imparts the feeling of the memories: not pleasant or unpleasant, but persistent and having a presence despite their being over.
Another repeated metaphor that enhances the feeling of waiting to move onward is when the narrator states, "I sit alone and watch the radar," and "I watch the skies." Both actions indicate the searching the speaker must do while waiting for the other members of the relationship to get on board with moving forward and taking off, so to speak. When the skies become clear and the radar shows others, they can truly move on. It's not only a waiting game though, but requires patience and navigation. If a radar is needed, the journey won't be easy.
One of the most powerful moments of the song is right before, and including the "turning point":
Remember, "Every day that you waste/ Is one more that you've lost."
"Fly From Here," the namesake composition on the album Fly From Here by Yes is a modern epic poem, and despite its length, is not the only song on the album (therefore I will analyze it as one song).
First, a little context. A brief, underdeveloped version of this song was written in the 80s at the height of the band's popularity, but was never used on its intended album. Just before the creation of the modern "Fly From Here," the band's lead singer dropped out due to health issues. The song, therefore, was inspired by the band's past bonds and successes and served as an indication that they were ready to move into the modern era even without their lead singer and continue to make music for the love of the music itself.
The speaker is a man on a metaphorical airfield and later, in a metaphorical plane. The extended metaphor continues throughout the song and is representative of his journey moving on from the past and "flying" into a future experience. The audience, although not specifically described, is a person or people whom he wishes to join him in his journey. Although never clearly stated, the song is from the perspective of one of the band members to the others, as a progressive attempt to get them to come together and create new things despite, and in light of, events in the past. The song is divided into segments. The first is an optimistic imploring of the speaker to get the band to acknowledge the past but then move on from it and head to a new destination, where they can only go if they all awaken and change from their stagnant past and present. The second is reminiscent of the past and reveals the current attitude of the group members: lonely, and despite individual efforts, lost in motivation and purpose. It explains how the elements of the past, people and their individual desires to "face the dawn/ Alone," still linger, but that they've exhausted this era and must turn around and come back together to move onward. It ends with the speaker "watch[ing] the skies" for the group to return so they may proceed. The third part reflects the potential struggle in coming back together, and how returning to their former glory will not necessarily be easy. The final portions reprise the optimism and reflect how, if they all come together and believe in themselves, they can move forward into the future and "fly."
The song also possesses a general theme, which is that in any sort of relationship, it is important to act together and though the journey may not be easy, travel onwards and seize the moment. It broadens the experience of moving forward.
Other than the overarching airfield metaphor, there are lots of other clever uses of literary language. In the very first portion of the song, they sing, "Formless memories lingering." The word memories here serves a couple purposes. One, is the reference to literal memories of the band's past experience. The other is as a descriptor of the aforementioned "prop-shaft airliners," as old and no longer more than memories. The word "lingering" not only describes the manner in which the memories sound, but its connotation imparts the feeling of the memories: not pleasant or unpleasant, but persistent and having a presence despite their being over.
Another repeated metaphor that enhances the feeling of waiting to move onward is when the narrator states, "I sit alone and watch the radar," and "I watch the skies." Both actions indicate the searching the speaker must do while waiting for the other members of the relationship to get on board with moving forward and taking off, so to speak. When the skies become clear and the radar shows others, they can truly move on. It's not only a waiting game though, but requires patience and navigation. If a radar is needed, the journey won't be easy.
One of the most powerful moments of the song is right before, and including the "turning point":
Only ghosts are in the empty corridors
And they're all strangers
Who never cared
I know them from some other life
When things were different
And we both were in the air
And they're all strangers
Who never cared
I know them from some other life
When things were different
And we both were in the air
The "ghosts" imply the haunting quality of the past memories, but also show their lack of relevance for the present and future since they are not real. They exist in "empty" areas, and are people from the past who are not invested in the relationship at the moment and were never as connected as the people in the relationship could be now. The past then becomes an "other life," and the ghosts who are strangers in the present are acknowledged as being once known. The last line refers back to the plane metaphor; there was a time when both parties were flying, but they have since landed and need to take off again. After this segment, a string of lyrics all beginning with "Turn" and ending with "around" emphasize the importance of this turning point; their separate planes, either landed or flying in different directions, must turn around and reconvene to form one journey again and move on from the past and into the future.
All in all, the song reflects through many creative uses of the language what it feels like to have to transition into a new future, from the optimism to the desperation to the struggle to get going, and leaves its listeners with a deeper understanding of both the band and motivation to move on from the past.
Remember, "Every day that you waste/ Is one more that you've lost."
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Wounded Rhymes
This week, we were asked to pick a song and defend it as poetry. I chose I Know Places from Lykke Li's Wounded Rhymes album. When I first heard this song, I felt like it had come at the perfect time. It was a perfect reiteration of how I was feeling, so I couldn't help but interpret it in a way that directly related to what I was going through.
When I first heard it, I thought of a friend of mine. I, for the first time, was experiencing what it was like to be there for someone when they really needed it most. I soon realized that watching a loved one suffer and feel so alone and helpless was something I couldn't quite put in words, but knew that, although I may not have known at the time how I was going to help him, I knew why I wanted to and why I could. For me, this song represents that feeling, without being too specific, for a variety of relationships.
I think the speaker is speaking directly to a certain individual in their life that feels alone and clearly needs a great deal of comfort. The lines "Where the highs won't bring you down babe/ No, the highs won't hurt you there babe" personifies the highs and speaks to the "you" and reassures them that regardless of what has happened, the "high" that can be achieved alone in that place with the speaker is something that can not fail "you". This "high" she continues to refer to, in my opinion, is the power of love and understanding that is far more powerful and infallible than any drug. The speaker goes on to say "Don't ask me when, but ask me why/ Don't ask me how, but ask me where/ There is a road, There is a way/ There is a place, There is a place". This symbolizes the speaker's commitment to finding a way to help heal the subject of the song, even though it may be unclear at that moment exactly how they are going to do it and how long it will take. Rather, she emphasizes the fact that there is a why and a where: Why- Because she can love them Where- Alone, where the speaker can protect the subject from further harm and show them the love they need. The "places" the speaker knows of is representative of the speaker's idea of a safe haven where he or she plans to save the person from their pain. The speaker goes on to connect this "place" to home, which is arguably one of the most comforting places an individual can go in a time of healing. The home aspect makes it appear welcoming and safe, even though the "I know places" line hints that this place of healing is not home, but is away.
In the final stanzas, the speaker reassures the subject that they can look to him or her for dependability, support and understanding. The speaker says, "Now won't you lay and wait/ Wait on me," which contributes to the purpose of the song: that in difficult times, the speaker will find a way to help the subject heal.
When I first heard it, I thought of a friend of mine. I, for the first time, was experiencing what it was like to be there for someone when they really needed it most. I soon realized that watching a loved one suffer and feel so alone and helpless was something I couldn't quite put in words, but knew that, although I may not have known at the time how I was going to help him, I knew why I wanted to and why I could. For me, this song represents that feeling, without being too specific, for a variety of relationships.
I think the speaker is speaking directly to a certain individual in their life that feels alone and clearly needs a great deal of comfort. The lines "Where the highs won't bring you down babe/ No, the highs won't hurt you there babe" personifies the highs and speaks to the "you" and reassures them that regardless of what has happened, the "high" that can be achieved alone in that place with the speaker is something that can not fail "you". This "high" she continues to refer to, in my opinion, is the power of love and understanding that is far more powerful and infallible than any drug. The speaker goes on to say "Don't ask me when, but ask me why/ Don't ask me how, but ask me where/ There is a road, There is a way/ There is a place, There is a place". This symbolizes the speaker's commitment to finding a way to help heal the subject of the song, even though it may be unclear at that moment exactly how they are going to do it and how long it will take. Rather, she emphasizes the fact that there is a why and a where: Why- Because she can love them Where- Alone, where the speaker can protect the subject from further harm and show them the love they need. The "places" the speaker knows of is representative of the speaker's idea of a safe haven where he or she plans to save the person from their pain. The speaker goes on to connect this "place" to home, which is arguably one of the most comforting places an individual can go in a time of healing. The home aspect makes it appear welcoming and safe, even though the "I know places" line hints that this place of healing is not home, but is away.
In the final stanzas, the speaker reassures the subject that they can look to him or her for dependability, support and understanding. The speaker says, "Now won't you lay and wait/ Wait on me," which contributes to the purpose of the song: that in difficult times, the speaker will find a way to help the subject heal.
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