Theme conclusion

     With each song that I analyzed there was a common theme between them that they all shared. That theme is the idea of being able to overcome struggles and leave the past behind. Whether the struggles are everyday things or huge issues these six songs that I chose address and give the message of continuing on with your head up through the stress and sadness. Although each of the songs have their own twist on the theme they still hold true to it. In both of the songs "I hope you dance" and "the climb" we see the use of a mountain to describe struggles that are an inevitable future encounter in everyone's life. The songs, however, have different ways of telling people to just get through them and never give up. One ("I hope you dance") the speaker says to never be scared of what struggles lay ahead for you, while in "the climb" the message is very similar but focuses more on the struggles at hand. These two were the only songs with such a close connection within the theme. Yet all of the songs describe the way of getting over things and furthering one's life by staying strong and not letting a rough day or event get to them. A unique way that the song "Breakaway" pursued the message was that, even though the speaker never really mentioned a time in their life when they were facing hardships, they believed that they had the power and strength to emerge from their young life and turn themselves into something successful by just getting through whatever they experienced in their hometown. The song "let it be" made use of biblical allusions in order to convey the message of keeping your faith strong and using that to fuel the strength in order to get over issues. Through the use of repetition and strong similes the song "carry on" provides the background of what happened and why the speaker was in the hard situation and with the repeating of the line "carry on" he enforced the fact that even if you go through some horrible experience you need to continue on and think of the positive things that will come to you in the future. The song "shake it out" is a very deep song that has so much meaning and depth that allows for the song to be interpreted and allowed to be heard when you feel sad or depressed and need to keep your hopes up. The theme of staying positive and strong in order to get through times in which you may think you won't recover, is used in many songs to allow the audience to feel like they aren't alone in their situations.

Theme analysis song #6: "Carry On" by FUN

In the song Carry On by FUN there are many different examples of oxymorons, similes, metaphors and figurative language to express the fact that bad situations can be escaped and you can pick yourself up from them and “Carry on”. The allegory used within the song in the very first verse is “Well I woke up to the sound of silence…” which is obviously an oxymoron because the use of the word “sound” to describe the silence is kind of contradictory since silence has no sound. The example is used to describe how the speaker feels about the tension in the situation that he is in, usually the silence that occurs can be awkward and mysterious making someone feel lonely. Perhaps it is described as a song because the speaker is in fact alone and the silence is the constant sound (or lack of sound) that he experiences on a daily basis. The following line is “and cries were cutting like knives in a fist fight”. The cries are compared to knives in a fist fight. Perhaps the speaker is going through a breakup and the cries of his now ex cut through the silence much like a knife would cut someone in a fist fight. One of the lines that furthers the meaning of the song in order to convey it’s message is an example of figurative language. “I’ve closed enough windows to know you can never look back”, perhaps this could also be an example of an allegory. The meaning of this line is that the speaker has been through enough hard situations to know that looking back to the past could create problems and drag you back down to feeling the same way you do when you are in that specific situation. Another form of a simile used in the song is “and you’re sinking like a stone, carry on” the subject’s emotions are being compared to the sinking of a stone and how they can revert back to the troubled times when they feel alone. Yet the speaker still assures his audience that you can still carry on. Although all of the literary elements that I have listed thus far are describing the pain and sadness that life can bring one of them that reassures the point that you need to carry on through the bad times is a metaphor “may your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground, carry on” the metaphor means that when you look back at your past you shouldn’t look back at the bad things that have happened to you but you should look at when you overcame them and picked yourself up from those points in your life. Again the reassurance that you can make it through is the repetition of the phrase “carry on” at the end of the sentence. The song begins with a scene revealing a time in someone’s life where they would feel alone and be hurting but throughout the song the phrase “carry on” insures that although things seem bad you can easily get over them eventually and carry on with your life.  

Theme analysis song #5: "I hope you dance" by Lee Ann Womack

In the song I hope you dance by Lee Ann Womack she uses idioms, metaphors, figurative language and also allegories in order to provide the message of keeping your head up and continuing on through your struggles and other hard times that one may come into contact with throughout their lifetime. In the very first verse of the song the speaker opens up with an idiom which is “you get your fill to eat but keep that hunger” which is kind of opposites because she hopes that this person is full yet still wants them to be hungry. The idiom allows for the speaker to express how she feels about the person that the song is intended for and how even when they are “full” they still have the availability to grow and further themselves. There was a plethora of very powerful metaphors within the song. “I hope you never fear the mountains in the distance” is used by the speaker in order to convey that struggles and other hardships that one might face in the future are like mountains in the distance. The “mountains” or struggles are inevitable but they should not be feared or worried about until they present themselves.  Another example of a metaphor in the song is “I hope you never lose your sense of wonder, you get your fill to eat but still keep that hunger” which is a comparison between the sense of wonder that the subject has to food and hunger. When you look at the two lines together they create a meaning that portrays a message of still having a sense of wonder even when you get the answer to something you look for more meanings and answers to other things in life that keeps the ability for the subject to be happy and stay full of energy and excitement. “Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens” is an allegory. The speaker does not literally mean that when a door closes they wish another would open. The phrase is meant to mean that when an opportunity does not work out she hopes that another opportunity will present itself. There were a few lines of the song that I believe are very poetic and important when considering my theme but I could not pinpoint what the poetic element that went along with them would be. For the sake of the analyzation I will just label them as figurative language. The first example that I came across was “I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean”. I believed this line to be one that impacted a lot of the song. It means that even when you “stand besides the ocean” you feel small in regards to your ego. Womack uses this to express the importance of being humble and not having an inflated ego throughout your life. Another line that I found to be influential to the song is “when you come close to selling out, reconsider” which means that whenever you feel close to quitting you don’t stop and continue to try. The whole message of the song, like pretty much every song I have picked, is that although there are things in life that could hold you back you shouldn’t fear them. You should keep yourself open to opportunity and seize every one that you can.

Song cover comparison: "Valerie" by The Zutons (later Amy Winehouse)

           The song Valerie by the Zutons was covered and made relatively famous by the popular singer Amy Winehouse produced by Mark Ronson. The song is originally sung by a man and Amy Winehouse turned it into her own when she made her interpretation of it to make it her own. The original song that was by the band the Zutons who had a more rock and roll type of sound to it. The vocals were also different because obviously it was sung by a man when it was first released, and later when Amy Winehouse covered it she added her own type of style and vocals to adopt it as her own. The version by the Zutons has more tones of rock and roll while in Winehouse’s she exhibits more of a bluesy or possibly pop vibe to it. The way that the song is presented in the Zutons’ version is more like they are talking about a girl that they know or possibly are in love with. While, the way I took it, in Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse’s version of the song it is portrayed more as a friend perhaps. She is speaking like they are close friends and she cares about her, although the song did not change the lyrics, the way it was sung seems more happy and playful than the original version. The music video by the Zutons is a real music video that shows the band in a prison, much like the song says in one of the verses. Yet in Ronson and Winehouse’s version it just is a video of them on stage and Amy Winehouse is singing the song, much like a concert video. The messages do not exactly change just the fact that it could go from a guy talking to an ex of his to the version that Amy Winehouse sang is more like her speaking to an old friend. If that is considered changing the meaning then I guess that it somewhat changes. The tempo of the song is more upbeat and peppy than that of the original by The Zutons. The instrumentals are very different as well. While there are more drums and other rock instruments in the original version and the newer version has more peppy and pop-like instruments. The vocals also have a difference because there is a slower tempo to the way the singer sings the song compared to Amy Winehouse. He also stresses different words and syllables than she does in order to create a unique sound that is not copied. The intended audience is kind of hard to place but I can only assume that the audience for The Zutons’ version is probably directed more towards men and people who enjoy rock music. Winehouse’s version is most likely directed towards females and the more hip and pop-type audience of the modern day people.

Top 3 Songs that make me feel HAPPY

One song that makes me happy is the song Count on you by Bruno Mars. I feel like this song just has such a cute little beat and meaning to it. The song includes many different versions of figurative language that are highly unlikely but somewhat intriguing and magical. For instance when the speaker says “If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea I’ll sail the world to find you” which is so cute and is an exaggeration and I think a metaphor because there is not anyone literally stuck in the middle of the sea and sailing the world is not really going to happen. Through the use of the imagery the speaker makes the song, at least to me, feel as if he is speaking to a friend or someone he is really close to and would do anything for. I just love the overall message of the song and how it sounds, it makes me think about my best friends and how we are so close and would do anything for each other.

The next song that makes me feel happy is the song Rather Be by Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne. This song makes me feel happy because of the overall upbeat and happy mood that it exudes. The song uses many examples of hyperboles to stress that no matter where the speaker is she would always rather be with that one person, or perhaps a group of people. The hyperboles make me think of how I feel when my college friends leave for school and I don’t get to see them until the summer. The song also has a cute little oxymoron “we’re different and the same” which makes me feel like how even though my friends and I are not the same people we get along well together and we have great times.

Fancy by Iggy Azalea makes me feel happy for a few different reasons. The song has a few similes and different examples of figurative language. The lyrics just make me feel so fancy. The song can be a good one to listen to when I just wanna feel like I’m super posh and like I’m like the queen of England or something like that. The song uses imagery of different objects or scenes that a really rich person would experience and it makes me feel like me and Iggy can relate concerning the fabulous life that she lives.

Top 10 Poetic Songs

American Pie: I would have to say that this song is poetic because it contains many devices that reveal an intricate story of the three musicians (Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper). The devices show how their passing made “the music die”. The song has so many historical allusions as well.

Yellow Submarine: The song exudes a happy and dream-like feeling by using many different examples of imagery and different literary elements that further the happy vibes. The song includes many metaphors in simplistic terms since it was meant to be written for children. Like the submarine is a metaphor for pressure that people feel and the sea of green is money. It has so many literary elements that, on the surface, don’t seem very relevant but they are talking about the society and how life is.

Sympathy for the devil: This song uses many allusions concerning the devil, in fact the whole thing is from the perspective of the devil. The song also alludes to how the different things in history have to do with the devil.

Hotel California: The song kind of tells a story about how this traveler arrives at the hotel. The song is mainly imagery in order to show the point of view of an outsider. By telling it like this and making the hotel and woman seem so luxurious they show that it’s speaking about the upper class and how their lives seem so good. So it tells a story that has underlying meaning; the rich life is not all it cracks up to be. The first part of a song symbolizes what the high life is fantasized to be while the second part shows the reality of it.

White Rabbit: The song is one big allusion to the book/movie of Alice in Wonderland. It shows the way the song is a constant allusion through and through by the title which is a reference to Alice in Wonderland.

Star Spangled Banner: This kind of is really poetic considering the song started off as a poem and later put to music. Also who can argue with America?

Silent Night: the song is a big allusion to the story of Jesus and Christmas. With vivid imagery the story is told

Moon River: This song consists of many examples of imagery, allusion and also hyperbole. The song may be short but it packs a big punch.

Stranger in Paradise: This song has a lot of examples of metaphors in order to explain the way that the speaker feels.

Tenderly: The song uses a lot of personification and different metaphors. It also has many different versions of figurative language that I couldn’t quite put a name to.

Theme analysis song #4: "Let it be" by The Beatles

In the song “Let it Be” by the Beatles there are examples of allusion, symbolism, and also metaphors in order to portray the fact that people can get over hard times and keep themselves strong. An example of an allusion is the line “when I find myself in times of trouble mother mary comes to me” which is alluding to Mary in the bible in order to show that something higher up than himself is helping him through the hard times he is facing. “mother mary” is a religious reference which the speaker uses in order for him to portray his religion and how by using his religion is a symbolism for looking towards faith or something higher up in order to get through tough times. The way I took it would be that by alluding to religion the speaker means that when he’s in a bad time in his life he prays, looking to religion, to solve (or just get through) his problems. “And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me” when the speaker refers to an hour of darkness it is a metaphor that compares his troubled times to an hour of darkness. Darkness is usually symbolic of a bad event and something that has negatively impacted the speaker. This is also an example of figurative language because she isn’t literally in front of him giving him advice and answers on what to do in order to make things better to get over his hard times. “And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me” this is both a metaphor and symbolic. It is comparing the speaker’s bad moments to a cloud but the light is being compared to something that is bright in their life. The night is symbolic of a bad memory as well and the light that is shining on the speaker could be the realization that they can get through it and have the ability to overcome their hard times.