Sweetbreads By Andrew Bird Analysis Essay

Midterm Analysis: “Sweetbreads” The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the dialect variety found in the song “Sweetbreads” by Andrew Bird. This song contains a variety of linguistic features uncommon to Standard English that are of interest to the researcher. Such features are analyzed using the SPEAKING method. In regard to setting, little is known about where and why this song was written. What is known is that the song first appeared on the album “Fingerlings” in 2002 (it was later reimagined and retitled “Darkmatter” on a later album in 2007) (“Andrew bird on apple music,” 2016). The song was recorded live in an informal concert setting. Furthermore, the setting in which it might currently be listened to is also likely informal. The main participant, Andrew Bird is a Chicago native (“Andrew bird on apple music,” 2016), although it is not immediately clear. Andrew Bird does not exhibit any typical features of this region such as the vowel sounds associated with the Northern Cities Vowel Shift (Wolfram & Schilling, 2016, p. 112). Although Andrew Bird is the only speaker it is clear that he

His brief spoken introduction to the song defines the usage of his made up word, “sweetbreads”, to mean the parts of an animal that are being consumed. On one hand, the speaker’s usage of a joke, “I guess that's why they’re called variety meats”, and his calling the song “really awful” indicate irony, informality and a lack of seriousness in key. However, several other lines within the song indicate seriousness and genuine curiosity or interest regarding the subject (ex. “Everywhere we go we find that sweetbreads means a different thing”; “tell me your thoughts about sweetbreads”). Taking into account these different levels of seriousness, the key of the speech sample might be categorized as serious overall, with some irony and