Some see the ugliness in the most beautiful things but others see the beauty in the most hideous of things. The poem William Street by Kenneth Slessor demonstrates this thesis statement as he talks about how he sees the beauty in the street that is renowned for its ugliness and the unsightly surroundings it is engulfed with. This poem's literary techniques and imagery gives the readers an insight into the environment and the surroundings that are seen vividly even though they are described through the use of foreshadowing. Each stanza gives the readers a different understanding on what is going on during the poem.
Frank Ocean once said, “When you 're happy, you enjoy the music. But when you 're sad, you understand the lyrics.” Why does one have to be sad to “understand the lyrics”? Evaluating a song and being given the ability to relate enhances one’s respect for the composer. For example, when one first listens to “Danny’s Song” by Kenny Loggins, they probably believe the song is about love, however, once a person analyzes the lyrics the realize that the song is actually a story of a couple who are having a baby boy.
For this discussion I choose a musician Louise Armstrong song from Pandora. When I type Louis Armstrong song, there were hundreds of his records. I choose a “Stardust” track from the album called “Don 't Get Around Much Anymore “. This song is composed by the popular song composer by Hoagy Carmichael in 1927. This song has many versions that recorded by other jazz great musician added to Armstrong.
In a society where songs with meaningless lyrics and repeated phrases gathers the most publicity, it is surprising to find songs that exhibit meaningful lyrics and thoughts. Unlike most hip-hop songs that contain useless repeated lyrics, Kanye West’s 2008 hit “Heartless” contains lyrics full of meaning. After producing this song, he was starting to approach the zenith of his career. This song became an instant hit for not only its soothing beats or sounds, but for its impactful lyrics that take the listener multiple attempts to really understand. This song tells the story of a tragic breakup between two individuals that cannot seem to get along.
Theme: Friendship Song: “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” – Randy Newman “You've got a friend in me. You got troubles then I got them too. We stick together, we can see it through cause you've got a friend in me.” Justification: This song relates to the relationship George and Lennie had because even though Lennie was always getting in trouble, George was beside him no matter what. Also, when they got to the ranch, Slim said to them that is not common to see such good friends like George and Lennie, who travel together and look out for each other.
1. After viewing the documentary and listening to each song by Rodgers and Hammerstein the song that made the most impact on me was the song “Some Enchanted Evening.” The song consists of very smooth and romantic melodies. Due to that I am a hopeless romantic I really enjoy the song lyrics and melody. The song was very catchy that I ended up singing the song for the rest of my day.
Heartbreak Hotel is a song that was recorded by Elvis Presley and was written by a high school teacher named Mae Axton and a steel guitar player named Tommy Durden. It was recorded and released in January 1956 by RCA Studios. Elvis was only 21 and Heartbreak Hotel was his first song with the new record label RCA in Nashville, Tennessee. He recorded the song with his band the Blue moon boys. It was his first million-seller and the bestselling single of 1956.
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine is a hybrid and communal text constructed out of varying poetic form accompanied by contrasting imagery, and historical events. Rankine, although the author of this text is not necessarily its narrator. She plays with prospective, switching the fundamental meaning of “you” and pulls from the personal experiences of her friends, colleagues, and surrounding community. Rankine is able to incorporate “an emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity in [her] writing”, blur the line between various genres, and “[reject] … elaborate formal aesthetics in favor of minimalist design”, which are the pillars of postmodern works (Klages). She utilizes historical and modern events such as the Jim Crow laws, affirmative
“What’s Going On” I believe protest music is any song that is associated with change or the defiance of a prior principle. It does not matter if the song or genre was written for the purpose of revolution or if the song is a rally cry or only meant to spread awareness, but if the lyrics and the feeling of the song invoke those ideas, it may be considered protest music. Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” was written about the Vietnam War, but people choose to interpret the song as a cry for civil rights. A song does not need to begin as socially aware to be considered a protest song because it’s about how it’s interpreted by others and used.
In “I Lost My Talk” by Rita Joe, the poem describes how her experiences at a Residential School attribute to her identity and empowerment through poetry that uses symbolism, imagery, and visual mental images to illustrate themes, white dominance, and empowerment. The poem is written in the point of view of an indigenous woman born in the time during the residential school crisis. This was a time when genocide was taking place, mothers separated from their children. Kids were segregated like it was 1957, in other words, the white 's were in their own educational system and the indigenous were forcefully put in schools to be assimilated of their raising. To be assimilated is to strenuously forget about your history, culture, language, and traditions.
Hip-hop is an influential form of music that displays an artist’s honest and revealing story that many of the general public can relate to. One of the many songs that I can relate to is “Love Yourz” written by J Cole. The song talks about how Cole reflects on the most important things in life such as love and happiness. He realizes that the money and fame didn’t bring him the happiness he desired. To gain true happiness, he needed to appreciate himself and those that love him.
The five song playlist that I chose is Fireworks, Set fire to the rain, The way, Love the way you lie and Firestones. All of these songs relates to the novel in different ways. The song Fireworks by katy Perry relates to the novel Fahrenheit 451 because in this song it is saying if you ever feel Like a plastic bag drifting through the wind wanting to start again. Guy Montag had committed mistakes that he might regretted.
As time passes, people often think of their pasts and what they have done in their life, both positively and negatively. The lyrics of the song resonate with everyone, even the famous singer Macklemore who produced the song “Good Old Days.” In the song, he reflects on his past and the times he missed or regretted. Macklemore also writes “We’ve come so far, I guess I’m proud” which also shows that he’s happy with the choices he made and that they have gotten him to where he is now—a famous musician and writer. The music in the song has an upbeat and appealing tone to it with excellent lyrics, which made it a top 40 song in the U.S.
When I first listened to this song, I felt that it was a song of majestic significance. The sound of “Aint no mountain high enough” made me feel happy as a listener, its uptempo beat and pleasing rhythm allowed me to feel a sense of hope. After researching this song in depth, and diving into its historical context, I have not changed my reaction to the song. Seen as one of the most powerful and beautiful musical compositions of our generation, the Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell duet encompasses numerous western originating genres, such as soul, pop and rhythm and blues (R&B). This songs instrumentation includes bells, the tambourine, the snare and the bass guitar.
The song that I chose was “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield. It was released in 2004, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It also hit number five on the Billboard Hot 100. Natasha Bedingfield has another popular song “Pocketful of Sunshine” and was really only popular in 2004-2006. You can find her songs on multiple 00’s playlists.
