Tag: Music Poetry

Moving on

On By Khylie A.In Music Poetry, Uncategorized2 Comments

“Come Back to Earth” is a solid opening for “Swimming” a 13-track album by Mac Miller. While I thoroughly enjoy the album, none of the remaining 12 tracks compare to the rawness and vulnerability conveyed throughout this song. The song starts out strong and provides a refreshing contrast to songs found on prior albums “GO:OD AM” and the “Divine Feminine” which articulates the lust and lavishness of life. The speaker in this piece is the writer himself, however, I do believe that it’s subjective to how you interpret the piece and how/if you relate to it.

The melancholy tone of the song remains stagnant, and when analyzing and listening to the lyrics it served as an aid in understanding the meaning of the piece as a whole. I went back and forth with myself unable to come to a conclusion until finally, I settled upon the speaker not only conveying their want to find peace of mind, but also the struggle that came with it as it caused them to have to accept and move on from the past.

The song opens and closes with statements that I assume many can relate to:

My regrets look just like texts I shouldn’t send
And I got neighbors, they’re more like strangers
We could be friends
I just need a way out
Of my head
I’ll do anything for a way out
Of my head

The syntax of the lyrics while fairly simple conveys an idea that I feel is extremely relatable. That idea being that: Regrets are all consuming they take your choices and make you question the validity of what you’ve done and open the gates for self doubt to set it. Miller comparing regrets to unsent texts articulates how when you have/haven’t done something you know you should/shouldn’t have done (much like texts you want to send but are afraid to) the unknown and the what if’s consume you and leave you unsettled making it harder to move on from the past. Furthermore, Miller’s depiction of neighbors signifies how you can be surrounded by people and still feel alone and out of place. Both constantly causing turmoil as they can lead one to overthink and produce unwanted thoughts they can’t stop.

Miller goes on to speak about the feeling of temporary relief:

And I was drownin’, but now I’m swimmin’
Through stressful waters to relief

The two lines are what I woulds say are the most powerful words sung in this piece. I think they metaphorically represent calm before the storm, the temporary moments of feeling free; like you can finally move on before spiraling and giving into temptation/unwanted thoughts. I overall felt these lines resonated with me the most.

Prior to reiterating the first verse while the tone remains melancholy Miller continues to express his anxiety and internal struggles:

Grey skies are driftin’, not livin’ forever
They told me it only gets better

I think by personifying the sky Miller’s vulnerable state is being articulated as it shows a raw view of how he’s struggling to organize and understand his thoughts. All of which I feel ultimately ties back to wanting to accept the past and use it to move on and grow and the simultaneous struggle there is to find peace with the past.

Music Poetry: A Defence of Song 33

On By Ben Ko.In Music PoetryLeave a comment 
I saw a demon on my shoulder, it's lookin' like patriarchy
Like scrubbin' blood off the ceiling and bleachin' another carpet
How my house get haunted?

Within the first lines that Noname sings in her 1-minute and 9-second single titled Song 33, released in June of 2020, it is clear that the upcoming song will be nothing short of a masterpiece. Song 33 was written and released during the peak of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests centered around the police murder of George Floyd. The main topic covered within this song, however, is the disproportionately common and infrequently-covered murders and disappearances of women of color, more specifically black women who, while being 13 percent of the female population, accounted for 35 percent of all missing women in 2020.

Within these first 3 lines, Noname has already constructed a full image of the message she is trying to send within her art. She begins by describing the patriarchy, the system that upholds the racial and gender inequalities that cause and maintain both this lack of coverage and increased disappearance rate, as a demon on her shoulder, an evil force constantly influencing her and other people’s actions, while being impossible to get away from. Next, she references cleaning up a murder scene and acting like said murder never happened, much like how society tries to cover up and ignore these missing black women, assisting in the crime through inaction.

Why Toyin body don't embody all the life she wanted? A baby, just 19 
… 

One girl missin', another one go missin' One girl missin', another

Noname continues this theme throughout the rest of the first verse by mentioning the murder of Oluwatoyin Salau, a Black Lives Matter activist from Tallahassee, Florida, who, at the age of 19, was found dead one week after being reported missing. Just hours earlier she had Tweeted about a sexual assault she had endured. Her story got relatively little coverage and Noname is pointing out an abundance of stories like Oluwatoyin’s. Then, in the closest thing to a chorus within the song, Noname repeats, “one girl missin’, another one go missin’”. This use of anaphora, both in the line itself and in its repetition between every verse, works to both make the line stick out and stay with the reader and also creates a parallel with the way how society treats these women, not as people with lives, but as inconsequential losses.

But n****s in the back, quiet as a church mouse
…
It's time to go to work, wow, look at him go
He really 'bout to write about me when the world is in smokes?
When it's people in trees?
When George was beggin' for his mother, saying he couldn't breathe
You thought to write about me?

After the anaphoric chorus, Noname proceeds to call out the silence she has noticed from other artists, comparing them to a church mouse, a clever simile using two words strongly associated with quiet while simultaneously sending the message that if just one starts making noise about this issue, or squeaking, it will, because it is surrounded by silence, be heard by many. She then digs deeper, further examining the tendency rappers around her have of writing about each other rather than about issues within society. It could also be argued that Noname is speaking about the media, of reporters writing about celebrities and media personalities while glossing over the actual problems that people around the world are affected by.

After another chorus of repetition of “one girl missin’, another one go missin’”, Noname continues,

Yo, but little did I know, all my readin' would be a bother
It's trans women bein' murdered, and this is all he can offer?
…
And this the new world order
We democratizin' Amazon, we burn down borders

Here, in the last verse, Noname partially expands her focus, bringing up the murders of trans women, in this context, she is clearly focusing on black trans women, who are even more disproportionately likely to go missing or be murdered. She then transitions off of focusing on the present and shares her idea of a better future. Clearly, she believes that the only way to stop this issue- to get the demon off her shoulder- is to rebuild the system in which we live. She speaks about how we are “democratizing Amazon”, both a reference to growing support and numbers of unions within large corporations like Amazon and the idea of giving more power to the workers of a company. Proceeding this, she mentions burning down borders. This could be taken in multiple ways, either abolishing the physical borders between countries for a freer world or abolishing the metaphorical borders that separate people into groups- gender, race, class, sexuality, etc.

Song 33 is not only a great song but a deep, complicated piece of poetry. In the chapter “What is Poetry?” within the book Perrine’s Sound + Sense: An Introduction to Poetry, by Laurence Perrine, he defines poetry as “a kind of language that says more and says it more intensely than does ordinary language.” Simply, poetry is an art that translates a complicated thought and/or feeling into a shorter but no less complicated or emotionally intelligent volume of language. If Song 33 does not match this definition I do not know what does. Within only 1 minute and 9 seconds and a total of 3 distinct verses of 7-8 lines, Noname is able to distill not only powerful messages surrounding current societal issues but her own picture of a better, more equal world into a truly moving song.

A Dance with the Devil

On By Grace H.In Music, Music Poetry3 Comments

“Its Called: Freefall,” a song by Rainbow Kitten Surprise, is apart of an album entitled: How to: Friend, Love, Freefall. While I thoroughly enjoy the rest of the album, along with numerous other songs by RKS, nothing quite compares to “Its Called: Freefall.” The speaker is at his rock bottom, facing mental health issues, presumably depression and from his encounters with the devil, possibly suicidal thoughts. The entire song is revolutionary and each line adds a greater depth to the meaning.

While I have gone back and forth about the meaning of this song, I settled on the speaker searching anywhere for comfort or acceptance in a sea of internal struggles. For starters, the song opens up with a greeting from the devil,

Called to the Devil and the Devil did come
I said to the Devil, “Devil, do you like drums?
Do you like cigarettes, dominoes, rum?”
He said, “Only sundown, Sundays, Christmas”

To me, any interaction with the devil insinuates a type of desperation. When people are known to make a “deal with the devil,” it is almost always because they feel they have no other choice. I find this to be true within “Its Called: Freefall.” Furthermore, within verse two, the speaker reveals the apparent root of the struggles. His friends are subpar, despite being a great friend to them. However, with his complaining comes the devil yelling at him. Within this fight, the devil uses a compelling metaphor,

Don’t get me ventin’ on friends who resent you
‘Cause all you’ve ever done is been a noose to hang on to

While this is not the reason for my possible suspicion of suicidal thoughts, these lyrics do help reinforce it. It is because the devil compares him to a noose that the severity of his situation is revealed. He is at his lowest and as the devil acknowledges his claims of bad friends, his reason for his feelings becomes apparent.

The pre-chorus and the chorus then solidify this idea of acceptance.

You could let it all go
You could let it all go
It’s called “freefall”
It’s called “freefall”

Originally, I was torn between the meaning of the chorus. However, the meaning I pondered was the choice of suicide. The devil is known to rule things of that nature and it would make sense for his to urge such an action. For this man to kill himself, the devil would gain another man in hell, ultimately supporting his goal. The devil tells the speaker he could get rid of his despair and “let it all go,” inevitably finding peace through suicide. Furthermore, by repeating these phrases numerous times, like a demonic chant, it adds to the convincing aura of the song. The entire song is a conversation between the devil and the speaker. Another line I think solidifies my interpretation follows,

Called to the Devil and the Devil said, “Quit
Can’t be bothered, better handle y’all shit
Keep about your wits, man, keep about your wits
Know yourself and who you came in with

This is the first place the devil dismisses the speaker. Originally, the devil kept pushing the chorus, trying to get the speaker to join him in hell. By repeating with “you could let it all go,” makes it the speaker’s only option. It is because the devil repeats this phrase almost every other verse that the desperation becomes apparent. For the speaker to go back to the devil, time after time, even though he gets the same answer consistently, shows just how lost he is. Finally follows one of the last verses in the song,

Called to the Devil and the Devil said, “Hey
Why you been callin’ this late?
It’s like 2 AM and the bars all close at 10 in Hell
That’s a rule I made

This verse, by far, is my favorite line in music history. Despite the fact that I can clearly imagine this conversation and the characters within it, it powerfully adds to the desperation of the speaker and the tone of the song. I think for a lot of people, desperation and dark feelings occur at night. And for the speaker to call on the devil at 2AM, almost like a friend, it shows how difficult of a headspace the speaker must be in. However, by the devil saying “that’s a rule I made,” I think the speaker is brought back to reality. I think he almost views the devil as a friend, presumably because his current friends taught him nothing but heartache, so the speaker is looking in all the wrong places. However, when the devil concretely displays his power, like his ability to create things, the speaker resurfaces and the song ends.

Overall, I think despite the devil’s numerous chants, the speaker does not want to kill himself. If he wanted to, he would have chosen that option the first time the devil offered it. However, I do not think the speaker has a better of a person to turn to, hence his multiple conversations with the devil. Yet, he did not give into the temptations of the devil and realizes his wrong turn at the end of the song.

In my opinion, this song is the definition of a poem. By each line having multiple interpretations and meanings, it follows the same structure of poems we have read in class. This song is my favorite and I think the depth it alludes to really cements its standing as my #1.

Baby Keem: 16

On By Grayson A.In Uncategorized2 Comments

In 2021, rap artist Baby Keem released his world renowned album The Melodic Blue. The song 16 was featured on the album and quickly became a hot track within the hip-hop community. 16 generated tons of buzz because of its unique way of portraying Keem’s ideals about life and his perspective on mentorship. He offers parental-like advice in a creative and nonjudgmental way – something most of his supports presumably demand.

16 offers an opportunity for one to forgive and forget, while leaving the past behind. The song depicts an individual who has broken the trust of his friends and family, but comes to realize that he can regain their trust by apologizing for his wrongdoing. As the song transitions, we gain a new perspective of the speaker, one that is harnesses the ability to realize that the mistrust experienced by both parties is not very serious from the gecko. This song demonstrates a clear theme that: a person must apologize to regain the trust of their loved one, but in hindsight, our struggles and difficulties are never really that crucial, and life continues to move on. The multidimensional lyrics reiterate this notion.

Drown yourself in expensive fabrics

This quote serves as the first time that Keem offers context into his coping mechanisms for his struggles. He sheds light on the broken friendship with his mother and girlfriend. These coping mechanisms provide the audience with reasoning for as to why Keem first struggle to apologize for his wrongdoings. Instead of apologizing, Keem indulges in luxury goods and material objects. This insight further enhances the meaning of the song and reemphasizes the importance of apologizing. This line correlates to the struggles of initiating an apology to someone you may have hurt, and how at times, our minds can be consumed with distractors.

What’s love? I guess I’ll never understand

In the quoted line, the listener, for the first time, hears Keems acknowledgement of his wrongdoings. This point in the song marks the transition from the denial period to acceptance, in this cast, wrongdoing and moving towards apology. Keem is able to take a look in the mirror and realize that his struggles with his girlfriend are beyond himself. In order to gain her trust, he must acknowledge what he has done wrong. Additionally, this quote builds on the theme of coming to realize that things are truly never that serious and life continues to flow.

Every time I say sorry, I do that shit again

Keem chooses to end the song with this necessary and powerful line. This quote incapsulates the multiple messages of the song, from the importance of apologizing to the significance of messing up again. Furthermore, this end line magnifies the meaning of the song by reinforcing the importance of apologizing, but also realizing that trust might be broken again. Realizing that life continues to move on even with our struggles, goes hand in hand with understanding that wrongdoing *might* occur again.

Letting someone go and what you lose

On By Owen SIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Often times someone does not realize what they have until its gone. Sometimes you don’t realize the true value of someone and all they bring until they are gone. This is what happened to singer songwriter Passenger and he wrote about it in hit Let her go in his album all the little lights. He wrote this song after a breakup and the lyrics are about him realizing how important this person was in his life and all the factors they brought to his life. He uses long metaphors and strong language to convey what he feels and tells it as a cautionary tale of beware of what you can lose. He starts out the song with the multidimensional lyrics

Well, you only need the light when it’s burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

The quote talks about how you don’t realize you need the light or the sun until its gone and one realizes all it did for you. The word burning is strong as it can show his love is still burning for the person, the candle light is low, and he feels like he is burning now that he feels empty. The multiple uses of the word conveys all the different emotions he feels as he is writing this and trying to convey them all in the song. He also uses metaphors to show what his love was like when he says

Only hate the road when you’re missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go

He comparing the feeling of being homesick when you miss your home to how he misses the person he loved. This also shows the anaphora in the song. The melody that is repeated multiple times starts with only. This repetitions shows all these different things come together to show how much he loves her and misses her.

Finally he uses imagery to convey his emotions to fully help the listener understand what it is like.

Staring at the ceiling in the dark
Same old empty feeling in your heart

The imagery of someone heartbroken in the dark after the light before mentioned went out feeling empty is well conveyed here. He is able to convey his strong emotions into the words and that is why this song is a form or poetry. Many different ways Passengers is able to convey the feeling he has and what he has realized after the person he loved is gone.

Taylor Swift’s “Dear John”

On By Abby R.In Uncategorized1 Comment

On October 25th, 2010 Taylor Swift released her third studio album, Speak Now. The 5th track on the album was entitled “Dear John” as an ode to Swift’s short-lived and controversial relationship with singer-songwriter John Mayer. Swift has called the song a “last email” that you send to an ex, unloading everything that was left unsaid. Some also interpret the song to be representative of a Dear John Letter, an old expression used that refers to a wife or girlfriend writing to inform a man their relationship is over. The lyrics emulate the hurt and frustration Swift felt over how she was treated by Mayer, and how she ignored the warnings she received.

And I lived in your chess game, – But you changed the rules every day

Lines 7-8

This lyric uses the comparison of their relationship to a game, with Swift claiming Mayer changed the rules to suit whatever his needs were at the time. When she didn’t please him or follow his “rules” he would lash out at her creating an extremely toxic relationship. This use of comparison is powerful because it shows the manipulation and gaslighting occurring throughout the course of an entire relationship in just two lines. These lines invest listeners right away in their relationship, and give them a clear idea of the exact conflicts taking place.

All the girls that you’ve run dry – Have tired, lifeless eyes – ‘Cause you burned them out – But I took your matches before fire could catch me, – So don’t look now, I’m shining like fireworks over your sad, empty town

Lines 29-32

The use of fire and light imagery is used to show Swift’s feelings after breaking free from Mayer. Throughout the whole song she is recalling what she escaped and how she denied him the satisfaction of ruining her like he did in his previous relationships. Fire is often associated with knowledge and the entire song is about her knowing better now, repeatedly saying “I should’ve known” at the end of each chorus. Swift, unlike the other women, was able to escape Mayer before she completely lost herself. The last line is a sort of emphasis on the overall theme of the song, that she’s better off than he is, now knowing the extent of his corruption.

Don’t you think I was too young to be messed with? – The girl in the dress wrote you a song – You should’ve known, you should’ve known – Don’t you think I was too young? You should’ve known

Lines 37-40

The repetition of the line “you should’ve known” in this final stanza solidifies Swift’s overall message of reflection and regret, while also leaving the intended listener, Mayer, with a message: that he should have known better. This line diverges slightly from the previous iterations of the chorus which end with “I should’ve known” instead. She was 19 years old at the time of their relationship and he, twelve years her senior, certainly knew better. It is only at the very end, after Swift recalls everything Mayer did to her and the lessons she learned, that she flips the message on him. The repetition reinforces the idea that Mayer is in the wrong and now that Swift understands what she went through, she places responsibility on him, not just on herself. Over and over again she emphasizes the realization, she should have listened to the warnings and seen the signs, but ultimately the blame lies with him. It is at the end of the song that Swift emphasizes the growth she achieved after their relationship, no matter how painful it was to get to that point.

Count Me Out as Poetry

On By Lily D.In Uncategorized2 Comments

While life is full of joyful experiences, there are also many moments of isolation. In his expository two-part concept album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar reflects on his self, insecurities, and psyche. He specifically references how he handles depression and pressure when it feels like the world is against him in his song Count Me Out. In reflecting on his own experience he centralizes his idea and turns criticism into motivation. His self-reflection provides listeners relief with the opportunity to relate their experiences to his own feelings of depression and isolation.

He is successful in utilizing multidimensional language to depict his struggling.

“I ain’t there too much, I’m a complex soul
They layered me up, then broke me down
And moralities dust, I lack in trust”

Kendrick Lamar

The word “layered” contributes multiple meanings to this phrase and song as a whole:

  1. Figurative imagery of feeling suffocated
  2. Reference to the media’s depiction of Kendrick Lamar
  3. Provides contrast to when he was “broke[n] down”

Additionally, He attributes his self-reliance to his ability to overcome his feelings of depression and isolation.

“I fought like a pit bull terrier, blood I shed could fill up aquariums
Tell my angels, “Carry ’em
Even my strong points couldn’t survive
If I didn’t learn to love myself, forgive myself a hundred times, dawg”

Kendrick Lamar

In using both a simile and a metaphor in the same line he is able to effectively demonstrate his ability to overcome his pain.

In comparing himself to a “pitbull” and the description of the figurative blood he shed being enough to fill up an aquarium it is evident that he had to endure pain in order to overcome his pain. It is also a unique way to express this as he represents his emotional turmoil by equating himself to a dominant animal and alluding to the physical amount of work he did.

He ends his song with the final lyric “Anybody fightin’ through the stress?” This rhetorical question ties together his song by relating it to the listeners. He is able to universalize his experiences to those of his audience.

I’ve Never Seen a Man Die

On By Reid M.In Music Poetry, Uncategorized2 Comments

One constant of human experience is death; something particularly true in inner-city neighborhoods victim to high crime and gang violence. In the song, “I Seen a Man Die,” by Scarface in his album, The Diary, he analyzes the effects of murder and gang violence on the participants and communities surrounding them. The album is devoted to giving the listener the experience of crime in majority minority inner-city communities. He expresses the emotional maelstrom giving cause to so much rap music, and, in the words of NPR, “(H)e explosively deflates the stereotype of gangsta rap as empty nihilism endangering communities.” The Diary is arguably the magnum opus of his long and illustrious career, and he gives his most cogent and moving presentation of his cynical worldview in it.

The central idea behind “I Seen a Man Die” is the failure of crime-affected communities and the prison system to rehabilitate or disrupt the brutal pattern of gang violence. By seeing the world through the eyes of a convicted murderer, Scarface broadens our experience by humanizing and giving motivations behind an oft demonized group; in addition, he expresses his inability to live clean, as he is inevitably drawn back into the criminal underworld and pays the ultimate price for it. Scarface uses this intricate and moving song as a call to action to reform the prison system and combat cycles of gang violence in black neighborhoods.

Scarface uses several techniques to express this. First of all, his repetition of the eponymous chorus expresses his persona’s confusion over the gangsters values that have been inculcated in him.

I still got to wonder why

I never seen a man cry, ’til I seen a man die

By using this confusion as the refrain of the song Scarface is drawing attention to his community’s failure to keep young men from the gangster lifestyle that celebrates killing your enemies. The received values that say murder is admirable and respected in the gangster lifestyle are clashing with his real life experience of guilt, shame, and sorrow. He’s not a psychopathic or nihilistic man, rather he has been let down by the community, which has allowed the destructive gangster values to take root. This call to attention of the failure of the community to keep young men on the right path is further reinforced by his criticism of the prison and rehabilitation system.

And he’s young plus he came up in the system
But he’s smart and he’s finally makin’ eighteen
And his goal’s to get on top and try to stay clean
So he’s calling up his homie who dun came up
Livin’ like this now they dealin’ with the same stuff
And had that attitude that who he was was worth it
And with that fucked up attitude he killed his first mate
Now it’s different, he’s in dead dirt

Although he has been punished by the prison system, he still lacks any real way to make a living. Scarface draws attention to the commonality of this issue by discussing that his friend deals with the same issue. Seeing through the illusion gangster lifestyle, yet lacking any reasonable recourse, as prison has only alienated him more from his old community, he is forced back into crime. And as a result, he is shot and killed, as the narrator tells him to let go.

I hear you breathin’ but your heart no longer sounds strong
But you kinda scared of dying so you hold on
And you keep on blacking out, and yo pulse is low
Stop trying to fight the reaper just relax and let it go
Because there’s no way you can fight it, though you’ll still try

Scarface in this verse is making an allegory. He, in the garb of the narrator, is equating death and following the gangster lifestye; Scarface is fundamentally expressing the fatalistic sentiment that once you go down that path, death is the only reward. He is emphasizing that the gangster lifestlye leads to nothing but death, and that communities and institutions need to make a far greater effort to change it.

This song is a blistering critique of a worrying trend in black neighborhoods, and demonstrates an excellent example of a tradition of activist Hip-Hop.

Poetry in Frank Ocean’s Pink+White

On By ELEANOR RIn Poetry1 Comment

As conveyed in the title “Pink+White”, Frank Ocean explains his passion for a person and his perspective on the world through his memories. He interlaces the ups and downs that come with feelings of love and attachment by comparing them to either light or darkness with seemingly no in between. 

The first set of lyrics in the song serves to describe a strange pink and white landscape then contrast it with a more realistic black and yellow landscape in order to highlight the randomness and lack of control we have in the world. 

“That’s the way everyday goes

Every time we’ve no control

If the sky is pink and white

If the ground is black and yellow

It’s the same way you showed me”

The following verses make an undeniable statement about the importance of love and trust during disastrous times. Ocean uses a metaphor about the atmosphere and north and south geography to describe his attachment to someone he loves. The description of feeling “south” contradicts the cold loneliness of the north and provides a sense of comfort. The comparison to the Earth and its atmosphere describe how Ocean felt powerless in such a vast world and was unable to grasp the events taking place in his own life. 

“If you could fly then you’d feel south

Up north’s getting cold soon

The way it is, we’re on land

So I’m someone to hold true

Keep you cool in this good life

Won’t let you down when it’s all ruined”

Ocean uses vivid imagery throughout the song to tell specific memories from his earlier life. The peaceful music and fond portrayal of the memory give the listener a sense of peace yet the subtle ominous intermissions scattered throughout, such as the mention of a hurricane, send a different message. The guitar strums softly in the background while the lyrics recall children playing. 

“In the wake of a hurricane

Dark skin of a summer shade

Nosedive in the flood lines

Tall tower of milk crates

It’s the same way you showed me

Cannonball off the porch side

Older kids trying off the roof”

On the surface the song seems to be recalling fond memories from his past until the end of the piece. Ocean uses repetition of the line “the same way you showed me”. The repetition of this line, written in the past tense suggests that he had been talking about the happy memories and affection of someone he lost throughout the song. After repeating this line multiple times in seemingly random spots in the song he sings 

“That’s the same way you showed me, showed me

You showed me love

Glory from above

Regard my dear

It’s all downhill from here”

This shift in tone continues until the end of the poem where he reminisces about cigarettes and tragedy and how he has nostalgia for his past despite the fact that it was a more difficult time in many aspects. As the song progresses from fond memories to more dark moments of his past it becomes apparent that Ocean’s purpose in these lyrics was to describe how relationships tend  to go wrong after the “glory”. This however does not mean that the two were never good, in fact using the term “glory” suggests that at one point things were going very well between them. Instead he is pointing his experiences in how after a relationship reaches a peak it begins to fail shortly thereafter each and every time leaving him feeling out of control.

“2009” by Mac Miller is Poetry

On By Clark T.In PoetryLeave a comment

Mac Miller is a 21st century rap artist who sadly passed away in the year 2018 by a tragic drug overdose. The song “2009” starts off with a wonderful piano solo that really sets the mood for the song as a whole. The song then transitions into Miller himself who comes in with a very soft tone of voice. Mac has always been known for his well thought out rhyme schemes and he shows that here in this song as well.

The song starts with the chorus that is repeated many times throughout.

“I don’t need to lie no more
Nowadays all I do is shine, take a breath and ease my mind, and
She don’t cry no more
She tell me that I get her high ’cause an angel’s s’posed to fly, and
I ain’t askin’ “Why?” no more
Oh, no, I take it if it’s mine, I don’t stay inside the lines
It ain’t 2009 no more
Yeah, I know what’s behind that door“

These lines here specifically hit hard to the listener and to Mac himself. They represent his past times and what he had to go through in that specific year which was 2009. Mac battled many things including depression that was fueled by a deadly drug addiction, as well as relationship issues that were also prominent in the ideas for his songs.

This song specifically I think can really fit into that category of poetry. The song throughout has a rheme scheme representing that as of a poem and flows like a poem as well.

” Nowadays all I do is shine, take a breath and ease my mind, and
She don’t cry no more”

These specific lines really show Mac Miller’s ability to use a certain flow and his descriptive langue to show his troubles with his relationships and how he is coping with them and as well as how he is doing in the moment of the song.

Verse 1 also features some extremely powerful lines that if read out loud you would assume is poetry.

“Now every day I wake up and breathe
I don’t have it all but that’s all right with me
Take it nice and easy, took a flight to see me
Send you back home with a light that’s beamin’
The whole team ’bout to figure it out
We ice cold, that’s what winter about
And sometimes, sometimes I wish I took a simpler route
Instead of havin’ demons that’s as big as my house, mhmm
Have a ball with a dribble and bounce”

Here, Mac Miller uses an aaaabbbbb rhyme scheme that also features a metaphor. Using this scheme and combing it with a metaphor helps the reader better understand how Mac is feeling mentally at this state in this song (at this state in his life). Mac’s lines here also show his thankfulness for just the fact that he was here and living at this point in time, even though he may not have everything in life.

Verse 2 also illuminates some very powerful lines

“You don’t ever gotta worry
Even when it’s 7:30 and the time is runnin’ low
When your heart get cold
See what’s behind all them unturned stones
And I’m a pro when it come to my job
But really I’m just tryna start believin’ in God
Now when it gets hard
I don’t panic, I don’t sound the alarm”

Once again, Mac uses rhyming to emphasize the significance of woman in his life. Mac also shows his newfound relation and hopefulness that he can now make God significant in his life. Comparing praying to God and sounding the alarm creates a powerful metaphor and really shows how much god means to him and how he feels safe to have him.

This song truly represents poetry. It lines not only represent things much bigger than the words on the page like poetry, but also has a form and rhyme scheme like an actual poem. Mac Miller is an artist and with his use of words, he could easily have written an award-winning poem if he were still here today.

The Poetic Understandment of Love

On By Ann Marie H.In Music PoetryLeave a comment

To fulfill or understand the notion of love may be impossible, however when written down the meanings are endless. To some, the song “Blue Eyed Girl” may just be another love song explaining the gratitude one has for his partner, but to the eye’s of poetry: a masterpiece is born within. Written by The Arcadian Wild and released on their first album, The Arcadian Wild, the song relays the importance of unconditional love and the impeccable impact love may have. In the album, “The Arcadian Wild”, love is written in traditional and non-traditional gestures, but mainly it lies in the perseverance of the eyes. The lasting connection that is drawn from one’s eyes helps explain what love means to one another, making this song a poetic masterpiece. 

As the song begins, immediate gratification is brought to the listener’s ears through the lyrics of the first verse. Lincoln Mick, lead songwriter, displays a type of love where one partner can really can the other for the better. In this case, the narrator was a lost person before meeting her, and he was waiting for the day they may be together. 

Well, I’d been writing songs about you

Before our paths ever crossed

And since I’ve been hanging around you

I’ve been feeling a little less lost

The narrator acknowledges the rhythm of her spirit created in him and only wants the world to see this side of her. The story of their love was that she saved him. She saved him from the grey world surrounding him, the dullness filling his life, and finding a will to continue on. He only wishes throughout this song, with revealing a signature feature of hers, that the world will interpret the beauty that lies within everyone. 

Let the colors of your soul spill out for everyone to see

In a world of black, and white, and gray

You paint something beautiful every day

Through words of love and admiration, a poetic masterpiece is being produced. The poetic language being used, one could argue, resembles the truthness to their love story. Each one is to further display what this love from the blue eyed girl has done to impact his life. Instead of stating the obvious and letting the lyrics sit dully, the uses of allusion, diction, and metaphors help enhance the narrator’s meaning and importance of this blue eyed girl.  

I’ll march right along to your beat

And the rhythm of your spirit makes me

Feel much more alive

There’s wisdom in the way you speak

And I see “I love you” in your eyes 

In the particular verse brought to attention above, these uses of poetic language are strongest. The way his love is described to the audience through the diction chosen is very much alive. Using bright words such as spirit, alive, or even I love you all speaks to the audience to feel how he is feeling for the blue eyed girl. The uses of diction create butterflies in one’s stomach that last long enough to envy the love that exists in these verses. The metaphor that is fluent in this quick stanza is the last line, which goes back to the title of the song, “Blue Eyed Girl”. The metaphor that exists in the idea of eyes is represented throughout the song, however in this exact line, the strongest and realest meaning is shown. What the narrator is trying to express for why eyes mean so much to him is answered with this simple line. Knowing the impact of how the blue eyed girl created a new way of life to the narrator has been formed through each stanza, there has been subtle allusion to how she has truly impacted him. Alluding to the wisdom that she speaks is mentioned in this line, it represents how she has worked through personal confections with him. This poetic masterpiece, a sonnet one may argue, relays the everlasting impact of love with only a tone of love.

Getting Better

On By Josiah JIn PoetryLeave a comment

Upon a first listen, the song “I Wanna Get Better” from Bleachers’ album Strange Desire can be seen merely as a catchy song to be blasted from car speakers while speeding down the highway. Upon further listening to the lyrics, however, you quickly realize that it is an emotional experience about someone battling depression merely moments away from killing themselves. The song, from the point of view of someone who is in a back and forth battle with themselves for their own life, details the extreme power depression can hold on a person and the devastating effects if that person can’t find an escape. The speaker’s deep sadness and longing are highlighted through the lines

While my friends were getting high and chasing girls down parkway lines

I was losing my mind ’cause the love, the love, the love, the love, the love

That I gave wasted on a nice face

In a blaze of fear I put a helmet on a helmet

Counting seconds through the night and got carried away

So now I’m standing on the overpass screaming at the cars,

Hey, I wanna get better!

The speaker is merely moments away from killing themselves in that instant, but they are stopped by a desire to get better. Bleachers use of rhythm illustrates the overwhelming panic and pain that the speaker was feeling and how quickly they were driven to the overpass. Although all else seems lost, they hold on to life because they have one person that inspires them to do so. The speaker then says, directly after the previous lines

I didn’t know I was lonely ’til I saw your face

I wanna get better, better, better, better,

I wanna get better

I didn’t know I was broken ’til i wanted to change

I wanna get better, better, better, better,

I wanna get better

This one person in the speakers life is the only one that gives them the motivation to keep going. Bleachers is able to demonstrate the importance of finding and keeping those people close to you for when it does seem impossible to keep going. Bleachers’ use of repetition serves multiple purposes in the song. Not only does it get stuck in your head, but it shows how the speaker is at their breaking point. Many people face depression and loss on a daily basis and sometimes it looks like there is no way out or reason to keep living. It is also often difficult to know, like the speaker, the extent to which you are feeling lost or that there is no way out until it is too late. It is only because of that one person in the speaker’s life that the speaker does actually want to get better and keep going.

Bleachers is able to detail the extent of the speaker’s sadness through use of specific words and phrases. the lines

Now I’m a stranger

And I miss the days of a life still permanent

Mourn the years before I got carried away

So now I’m staring at the interstate screaming at myself,

Bleachers use of the words ‘stranger’, ‘permanent’, and ‘mourn’ highlight the speaker’s desire to return to a consistent life that they once had. They feel alienated and alone and feel as though they have lost themselves, a feeling that many people share at some point in their lives. In addition, the shifts in time throughout the song serve not only to communicate the backstory of the speaker, but also to provide a link between what the speaker is thinking in the moment to the audience. The speaker and audience may share some of the same feelings and emotions and provide solace for the audience by showing them that they are not alone in their feelings.

Throughout the rest of the song the speaker goes through a back and forth on that overpass of whether or not they will keep living before, ultimately, the song resolves with the chorus of them deciding to keep living and get better. Through this song, Bleachers conveys an important and powerful message to the world. The song serves to remind people that there are people in the world who love you and care about you and even though sometimes it may look like there is no hope left they are there to support you in getting better.

A Bittersweet Love

On By Olivia MIn Poetry2 Comments

In “A Case of You” from Joni Mitchell’s album Blue, Mitchell is explaining to her ex romantic partner that no matter what happens in their relationship, no matter how intoxicating he can be or how unhappy he makes her, she can still separate herself from him and their relationship and whatever happens she can still come out of it okay and standing on her own two feet. 

This is best demonstrated in the chorus;

Oh you’re in my blood like holy wine

You taste so bitter and so sweet

Oh I could drink a case of you darling 

Still I’d be on my feet

When describing him as “in my blood like holy wine”, she’s saying that he’s a part of her, he’s in her blood. Relating him to wine gives the sense that he can be almost intoxicating. But then she goes on to say how she could drink a case of him, continuing the simile of him being holy wine, and she’d still be standing on her feet. She knows that she won’t get swept away by him, he doesn’t have that much of an effect on her. While he’s a part of her, she can still separate herself from their relationship and be able to stand on her own if she needs to. Additionally, she describes him as both bitter and sweet. This implies that she knows that this love could be bad for her but she thinks it’s worth it. She can justify being with him because she knows if anything did happen she would be okay. 

She again shows her confidence in her ability to survive any possible conflict in the relationship in a conversation she has with his mother.

I met a woman

She had a mouth like yours

She knew your life

She knew your devils and your deeds

And she said

“Go to him, stay with him if you can

But be prepared to bleed”

This conversation between her and his mother isn’t exactly painting him in the best light. She mentions his devils and deeds and his mother warns her that she should be prepared to be hurt. These lines are immediately followed by another version of the chorus where she maintains, even after this warning, that she’ll be okay without him if she needs to be. The warning from his mother of “be prepared to bleed” clearly means she should be prepared to be hurt. However, when it’s followed with “you are in my blood” it seems to suggest that if something did happen and he did hurt her she could bleed him out and get him out of her system. Throughout the song-poem, she continues to express how she doesn’t think he can really hurt her because he doesn’t have that much of an effect on her. She again emphasizes this in these lines by saying that if something did happen she could get him out of her system and get over it.

What lies beyond the illusion of life

On By Tim MIn Poetry1 Comment

Disguised in recognizable electric guitar riffs, a distinctive organ solo, and catchy rock enthusiasm, Kansas’s hit 1970s rock song “Carry on Wayward Son”, written by band member Kerry Livgren and included in the album Leftoverture, is, at its core, a philosophical exploration of the purpose of life.  

Following the first chorus and instrumental riff, the narrator begins the second stanza by describing their life as full of “noise and confusion”.  They wish to escape this chaos, to “get a glimpse beyond this illusion” — which is to say, they wish to find a higher purpose to a life of pain.  Yet, they fail in their attempts to discover this higher purpose to life, revealed through an allusion to Greek mythology — specifically, the myth of the inventor Daedalus and his son Icarus.  In this myth, Daedalus fashions two pairs of wax wings to allow himself and his son to escape imprisonment; however, Icarus becomes overconfident and ignores the warnings of his father, deciding to fly higher and higher until the sun melts his wings and he falls to his death.  In alluding to this myth, it seems that Livgren implies that finding a higher purpose in life is not a simple act of will — rather, it requires anyone seeking this higher purpose to remain grounded in reality.  But, this allusion does not hint at what Livgren believes to be the higher purpose of life, only how to achieve it.  The former is the job of the chorus:

Carry on, my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more

Spoken to the narrator by “the voices”, the chorus is the key to understanding what Livgren implies is the higher purpose of life.  The first step in understanding the meaning of the chorus is deducing what, exactly, the narrator must be “done” with in order to have peace.  The aforementioned second stanza describes the narrator as attempting and failing to escape a chaotic life of “noise and confusion”, so we can make the relatively safe assumption that “the voices” are telling the narrator that there will be peace when he is “done” with these vain attempts to escape chaos — that is to say, “the voices” promise peace when the search for the meaning in life is abandoned, and the chaos is accepted as a part of life.  Though it seems counterintuitive at first, this philosophy is notably reminiscent of that of Meursault in The Stranger — life is unchangeable and must be accepted for what it is, without any higher purpose at all.

In the following stanza, the narrator describes themself as “Masquerading as a man with a reason” — which is to say, they are portraying themself as someone they are not, implying that after hearing the advice of “the voices”, they have accepted life as not having reason or a higher meaning, but are just not willing to publicly show this.  This hesitancy to reveal their belief is entirely understandable — after all, one of the most important features of The Stranger is the constant societal dismay towards Meursault’s nonemotional and existential mannerisms.  In order to avoid this societal dismay, the narrator goes to long lengths to hide his existentialist beliefs, even setting out in search of “winds of fortune” — that is, material profit and benefit — in order to appear to broader society as holding the belief that there is actually a purpose of life: to profit materially, a widely-shared belief in modern capitalist societies, allowing the narrator to blend in well and avoid the consternation of society.

But in the eighth stanza, we run into an issue with this entire assumption that “the voices” are offering the narrator an existentialist perspective on life.  “The voices” tell the narrator that his life is “no longer empty”, implying that he has found a purpose in life, and the following line tells the narrator that “surely heaven waits for you”, clearly establishing that “the voices” were telling the narrator from the beginning that a higher purpose of life does, in fact, exist: religion and reaching the afterlife.

But how is this reconcilable with all of the evidence that I used to argue that “the voices” were existentialist?

Well, one of the beauties of poetry is that it is open to interpretation. The interpretation that “the voices” were existentialist is entirely valid — it just likely is not the songwriter’s intended interpretation.

Going back to the chorus, in order to explain that “the voices” were existentialist, I assumed that the chorus was telling the narrator that there will be peace when he is “done” with his vain attempts to escape chaos.  But another, equally valid interpretation is that the chorus was telling the narrator that there will be peace when he is “done” living — that after a life of chaos comes an eternal afterlife of peace.  Under this interpretation, the narrator is not hiding his existentialism when he is “Masquerading as a man with a reason” or plotting “a course for winds of fortune”; instead, he seems to be resisting the advice of “the voices” to continue living life with the purpose of reaching an afterlife, and instead is only pretending to live a religious life as he continues to seek profit from material fortune — at least, until “the voices” return and tell the narrator again to trade the material for the spiritual.  And of course, the myth of Icarus teaches us that to ignore the advice of authority would be a dangerous decision.

I’d love to know — what do you all think?  Do you think Livgren intended to teach the audience that religion and reaching afterlife is the ultimate purpose of life, or that there is no ultimate purpose of life at all?  Or do you have a totally different idea of the purpose of life that Livgren and Kansas promote in “Carry On Wayward Son”?

Poetic Techniques in “Ghost Town”

On By LucaLIn Poetry2 Comments

In the song “Ghost Town” in the album titled Ye by Kanye West, there is concrete evidence of poetic elements that add to the song’s message and impact on the listener. The main idea that the song revolves around is letting go, and getting away from the pain that life brings. The song shifts from the hopes in the future to wanting to get out of the pain of life and leave it behind. A feeling of numbness is present here, and it is clear the speaker is dealing with some issues that he wants to get out of.

One main poetic element that Kanye uses in “Ghost Town” is the repetition of the lyrics “some day,” especially near the beginning of the poem. This repetition adds to the song by emphasizing the way the speaker is looking towards the future with hope, and feels that the future holds an escape from the hardships of the present.

Another poetic element that Kanye incorporates in this song is the line “I put my hand on the stove, to see if I still bleed.” This line serves as a metaphor for the speaker simply feeling pain just to feel something. While the speaker did not actually put his hand on a stove, this line represents doing something just to feel vulnerable or hurt. This could be in reference to drug use or to intentionally making poor choices and accepting the punishment.

Furthermore, the line “Some day I wanna lay down, like God did, on Sunday” utilizes an allusion to religion and to the bible, and the actions of God. This adds to the song by emphasizing the passion for which the speaker believes that the future will be different from today. This reference to God also emphasizes the good intentions that the speaker has in “laying down.”

It Ain’t No Use (debating whether or not this is a poem)

On By Brigid BIn PoetryLeave a comment

The seventh song on Bob Dylan’s 1963 album “The Free Wheelin’ Bob Dylan” is an ode to lovers gone by. Titled Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright, the song tells the story of the ending of a long relationship between the narrator and an unnamed woman and their searches for a life outside of each other’s company. The narrator expresses his wishes for them to continue on with their lives, claiming that dwelling on their past can do them no good, and any attempt to fix the kinks in their relationship is simply a waste of energy.

Dylan conveys the couple’s past quarrels through the narrator’s reminiscing. The narrator seems to feel some kind of apathy toward his former lover, repeating the same phrase throughout the song.

It ain’t no use

Despite the repetition, the narrator changes the meat of each line to gradually convey the reasons behind the couple’s downfall. One instance of this is in the song’s second verse.

It ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe

That 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

Still 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

So don’t think twice, it’s all right

Dylan uses the woman’s light as a metaphor for their lack of communication as the narrator explains that trying to communicate now would make no difference. She never shared her thoughts with him or allowed him to understand her, leaving him not knowing her light. He remains on a dark path without her light and expresses a wish that she would ask him to stay, but remembers how poorly they communicated and decides they would be better off apart.

Dylan fills the narrator’s final words to his former lover with a sense of bitterness; the diction calmly calls her out for wronging him but also shows forgiveness that reflects the inner growth the narrator has undergone because of their relationship. Knowing that neither one of them is solely to blame, he consistently takes time to reassure her that their parting of ways should not cause any feelings of guilt or unhappiness. Not being right for someone does not make you wrong.

I’m walkin’ down that long, lonesome road, babe

Where I’m bound, I can’t tell

But goodbye’s too good a word, gal

So I’ll just say fare thee well

I ain’t sayin’ you treated me unkind

You could have done better but I don’t mind

You just kinda wasted my precious time

But don’t think twice, it’s all right

In a song of only 3 minutes and 41 seconds, Dylan manages to effortlessly build the story of two complicated individuals finding themselves at the end of their time together. The listener can absorb the simplistic beauty of their story, one that may have been rather mundane if it had been written by anyone else, and begin to see themselves in the character’s light. Forgiving themselves, absolving themselves of guilt, the two of them part ways cordially, returning their status to strangers. They move on and resume their lives without the weight of their past keeping them from further growth.

In 2016, Bob Dylan received a Nobel Prize in Literature for his revolutionary contributions to storytelling in American music.

Poetry In Music

On By Katarina O.In Poetry2 Comments

Sam Smith is an artist who is particularly known for his sad romantic songs. The song “Too Good At Goodbyes” was released on September 8, 2017, as part of the album The Thrill Of It All. In this song, Smith is describing a rollercoaster of a former romantic relationship. He depicts the problems with a relationship that is on and off and the emotional toll that it has.

I’m never gonna let you close to me

Even though you mean the most to me

‘Cause every time I open up, it hurts

So I’m never gonna get too close to you

Even when I mean the most to you

In case you go and leave me in the dirt

In the chorus, Smith is illustrating the distance that is created after a breakup. Despite, getting back together, he is not able to move past their breakup and it harms their relationship. He is not able to forget what happened between them and therefore is no longer able to be as close with his partner in an effort to protect himself.

I know you’re thinkin’ I’m heartless

I know you’re thinkin’ I’m cold

I’m just protectin’ my innocence

I’m just protectin’ my soul

In this verse, he is describing why he is unable to open up to his significant other. He argues that he is not a cruel person but has to distance himself in order to protect himself from being hurt again. He is unwilling to endure any more pain and therefore feels the need to close himself off from his partner.

‘Cause every time you hurt me, the less that I cry

And every time you leave me, the quicker these tears dry

And every time you walk out, the less I love you

These lines illustrate the love that is lost as a result of the turbulence in the relationship. Smith describes how he becomes more detached from his significant other every time that they break up and is unable to return to how their relationship was previously. Their relationship weakens whenever they break up and they become more distant as a result of protecting themselves.

A Tribe Called Poetry

On By MADDOX NIn Music Poetry2 Comments

A Tribe Called Quest is a hip-hop group that formed in Queens in 1985. The fourth song on A Tribe Called Quest’s second studio album, The Low-End Theory, is “Butter“. Butter is a great example of the ability of The Tribe’s wordplay, specifically by one of their four members, Phife Dawg.

In Butter, Phife Dawg immediately brings us back to his alma matter in 1988.

1988 senior year at Garvey High

Where all the guys were corny but the girls were mad fly

Phife then gets into what his life was like for him at his high school.

I was the b-ball playing, fly rhyme saying

Fly girl getting but never was I sweating

In 1988, the year Phife’s taking us back to, Phife is pursuing a professional basketball career but is eventually convinced by the rest of the tribe to rap instead. Phife is a self-proclaimed “fly girl getter” but soon has to choose between girls and music.

‘Cause when it came to honeys I would go on a stroll

Until I met my match—her name was Flo

Phife meets “Flo”, which is a metaphor for him recognizing his rhythm and flow. Flo is his match because Phife realizes that he should be a rapper instead of a basketball player.

Yesterday your eyes were brown but today they are blue

Your whole appearance is a lie and it could never be true

Later in the song, Phife describes that Flo’s appearance is a lie because he finds the rap industry is different than he expected.

In his young rap career, Phife realizes that the music industry is fake and heartless.

If your hair and eyes were real, I wouldn’t have dissed ya

But since it was bought, I had to dismiss ya

Flo is given fake ears and eyes because Phife thinks that the music industry puts material growth first, something Phife doesn’t want.

On the outside “Butter” is a story about a guy getting girls, but on the inside, it is a song about the struggles of a young rapper getting into the music industry.

Is This America?

On By OWEN CIn Poetry3 Comments

This Is America- Chldish Gambino

The song “This Is America”, by Childish Gambino (Donald Glover), was released on May fifth, in the year two-thousand and eighteen. The song is in the genre of rap and was written by many other artists of color. The song tackles gun violence, mass shootings, and the systemic racism black people face in America to this day. The artist also uses repetition and rhythm to make this rap into a form of poetry.

Guns in my area (word, my area)

I got the strap (ayy, ayy)

I gotta carry ’em

This is America- Childish Gambino

This quote is addressing the gun violence issue in America. The way that Glover pronounces the words makes it flow that every line has the same amount of syllables and causes a rhythm along with his powerful words. I argue that this song is poetry for the same syllable structure found in many poems. The way he is using poetic devices to communicate that the gun violence issue in America is so prevalent that it is affecting his own neighborhood, let alone himself that he needs a gun to combat the issue.

This is America (skrrt, skrrt, woo)

Don’t catch you slippin’ now (ayy)

Look at how I’m livin’ now

Police be trippin’ now (woo)

Yeah, this is America (woo, ayy)

This Is America- Childish Gambino

This part of the song is a reference to the police brutality against black people and the crimes committed against them. Gambino uses the word now three times to end a line, the poetic element of repetition being used to stress how current this issue is. There are instances of police brutality against black men and women frequently and the problem has not gotten better since this song was released. Gambino used his platform to draw attention to the injustice in the form of art. Although there is music behind this, its poetry due to the metaphors, repetitions, and imagery that each line holds. The performance piece can also help argue that it is poetic. In the music video there are exploding cars, dance moves involving guns to people’s heads, and violent choreography simulating the pain that systemic racism has brought to society.

America, I just checked my following list and

You go tell somebody

You mothaf***** owe me

This Is America- Childish Gambino

This specific part in the song is one of the most powerful, because it’s one of the only parts that genuinely rhyme and isn’t repeating a word. Its also one of the central themes of the song that America needs to treat people of color better and change the oppressive system. This is also one of the few lines that has an entirely different line structure separating it from the rest, making it stand out more.

Donald Glover uses repetition, metaphors, and changes how words sound to make a song that is also poetry. He uses these poetic devices to communicate the prominent injustices placed onto black people in America, and uses his widely known platform to do so.

Letting Go and Letting Be

On By Michael D.In Poetry4 Comments

While not a part of the Beatles’ most influential albums, “Let It Be” is one of their most powerful songs. Released in 1970 as part of the album Let It Be, it is a true example of poetry. It exemplifies that despite the randomness and horrors of life, the world will keep going. Instead of dwelling on everything, people should keep going and the life will work itself out.

For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see

There will be an answer, let it be

Paul McCartney, the writer of the lyrics for this particular track, uses multiple definitions of “parted” to enhance the meaning. In both instances it means split, but it can mean both split internally and split between groups of people. This double meaning enhances the significance of the line, and conveys both meanings at once. It also accentuates the imagery of the song, because it shows the listener groups of people fighting against each other and with themselves. These complexities qualify it as poetry, according to Laurence Perrine. It brings the reader into the experience.

And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines on me

McCartney, in using light as a symbol, complicates the meaning and turns this track into poetry. Light, especially light coming from the sky, is typically used in literature to represent wisdom or the divine. Clouds and darkness, on the other hand, are ominous and foreboding. In “Let It Be”, these symbols convey relaxing and letting go as a way out of darkness. This use of figurative language turns a regular song into poetry, as it takes a simple idea and deepens it. In other words, according to Perrine, poetry “increas[es] the range of our experience and [is] a glass for clarifying it” (What Is Poetry, 3), and this line satisfies.

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom, “Let it be”

This line from “Let It Be” shows the human experience, thus poeticizing it. It shows that during struggles, people lean on others and their wisdom to help walk them through. It also draws on our memories of others: when McCartney writes “comes to me”, he implies that his mother appears in the form of a memory. This section of the song follows the broadening our experiences poetic requirement outlined by Perrine, in that it illustrates something that everybody has experienced — recalling old wisdom.

“Let It Be” is a prime example of poetry in the music world, and it brings together a lesson for everyone on how to go through life, human experiences, and the acknowledgement that despite the world being messed up, Earth will keep turning and we can move on.