The Drums Rhetorical Devices

The entertainment industry encompasses the composition, production, and marketing of music. The music industry has emerged as a dominant business and has maintained popularity by means of adapting alongside social movements, and representing different major classes of society. Music has been used by entertainers as a method of expression, and therefore often sheds light on prominent issues by illustrating relatable stories, or reactions to common problems. For example, The Drums, a modern Indie musical group, has composed the lyrics to the hit song “Money” to include imagery and repetition that work to expose the everyday struggle that impoverished Americans undergo.

The indie group The Drums composed the lyrics to the hit song “Money” to

The Drums’ usage of the literary device of repetition is important to the overall delivery of the song, as the repetition reveals the speaker’s feelings about lower-class life. The song repeats the chorus a total of seven times, stating the lines “I want to buy you something, but I don't have any money / No I don't have any money” (16-17) throughout the song as constant reminders to the listeners of the subject’s financial situation. The repetition of this specific line symbolizes life experiences in the lower class, as the poor often become stuck in the routine of trying to get by through means of working hard, but rarely see any pay off for the labor. This constructs a sense of learned helplessness and depression that The Drums convey within the lyrics of the song with the purpose of showcasing working class couples’ lifestyles of stress, outbursts of anger, and chaos. This is specifically established in the line “you hit me yesterday because I made you cry” (3), as the author gives an example of an outburst of anger. The speaker's justification of being hit, seen in “because I made you cry” (3) reveals that the couple’s fights have become routine and that the couple justifies each other’s angry outburst. Further, the song concludes by repeating the chorus six times. The repetition of the chorus gives the song an overall vibe of an outburst of sadness and a cry for help that a working class American would likely feel. The repetition, in addition to the contextualization created by the lyrics to the song, works together to create an image of the stereotypical lifestyle of disarray and reveals the depressing lifestyle that working class citizens are forced to