Allusion And Criticism In '99 Red Balloons'

In Bruno Mars's song, “Grenade”, he uses words, literary devices, and phrases to show the overall theme of disappointment, heartache, and how some people will do crazy things for the people they love, even if it isn’t a two way street. He uses examples to show a possible past relationship where he loved a girl so much that he would do anything, but she did not return the affection. This ties into the theme of disappointment and heartbreak. Bruno Mars uses literary devices, most commonly hyperboles, to show the theme of heartache and how some people will put everything on the line for love, even if it goes against their own well-being.

The voice of the song is very serious. However, there is also a sad voice in there too. “In Thirty Three in Germany when Hitler came to play, Liberty was gradually eroded day by day. Till they gassed and shot deserters. While the decent people cowered, And thought the things they never dared to say.”

There is no denying that over a multitude of years, music has inevitably found ways to challenge power and power structures around the world. Music has found a way to use not only lyrics, but also the gender of musicians and genres of music to oppose powerful entities. Throughout music 's long lived history, lyrics have been the most obvious example of musical oppositions to power. Music and songs have been created to protest wars, raise awareness to violence, express pride in one 's race and culture, and challenge political forums, only to name a few examples. For example, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel was created to oppose United States involvement in the Vietnam War, along with raising awareness of both drug and race problems in America. Furthermore, lyrics are a way in which an artist or composer can specifically tailor a message to explicitly state their take on a given institution or outlet of power. On the other hand, lyrics have also been used in a coded fashion to indirectly attack structures of power rather than explicitly attacking structure of power, which has been proven useful in times of serious civil oppression. Lyrics tell a story, and historically singers and songwriters have used them in a multitude of ways to construct a variety of messages that have challenged societal norms and structures of power.

Throughout history music has been used as a method of communication and protest. This trend spiked particularly during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and is shown throughout the decades with different groups or genres to continue in increasing popularity throughout the decades (Candaele). One particular song that portrays this is “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” written and sung by Billy Joel. “We Didn’t Start the Fire” exemplifies a popular song taking a stance against contemporary social issues in 1960s-1980s America, particularly involvement in the Cold War.

A dance-rock protest song from West Germany, during the Cold War partition of Germany. The song describes a nuclear war starting because of misinterpreted signals from a bunch of balloons.

In the song he says “we didn't start the fire it was always burning it was always burning to the worlds being,but we did ignite on trying to fight”. Saying that we made the fire worse by trying fight it. But he's also saying that he hopes that we make it better throughout time with the younger generations. With also telling about very important people also. Like Richard Nixon, Malcolm X, and Marilyn Monroe.

A man once said that music is the heart and soul of a person. He was correct, because the Rolling Stones put their heart and soul into their music. It was said that in the University of California students taking musical courses learned about how the Stones changed music and its evolution (Weiner 136). The Rolling Stones put much effort in making their music, revealing the darker yet bolder side of rock and roll (“The Rolling Stones Biography” 2). In a way, the music created by the Stones had a topic of new realism, or a harsh reality. But they also wrote catchy tunes to party along and bop around with. With the title “World’s Greatest Rock Band,” (Weiner 146) the Stone’s music definitely lived up to its title.

Within each individual there is good and an evil with no fine line of division. Each is shown and cannot be inhibited. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses figurative language to represent his allegory within the story itself. Using many types of figurative language, good and an evil is represented as the basis of the story that an individual reverts back to their true evilness with themselves in dire situations. Both Jack and Ralph represent this as they go through their time on the island attempting to work together as a cohesive unit.

I initially came across this band when they were first starting to gain popularity and cross into the main stream with indie rock/pop. The title of the song hints at what they are going through and at what’s to come in their future as a band. In the chorus, the lyrics are: This seems like their acknowledgment of the fact –with the release of this album—that they are going to get screaming and blindly adoring fans that don’t really care about them as musicians. The hysteria or Lisztomania from these fans sometimes represent a riot because they loose control of themselves. The band understands how the music industry works, so they want to enjoy their new found success and fame until the masses become bored or tired of them. This is also a cue I took when I first heard to lyrics to just enjoy the moment and not think too much about the meanings behind the music. We were all just going to enjoy the ride that is music. In the end, like most songs in this genre, the cheery and fast paced nature of the song works to mask the sad undertones that an in depth look at the lyrics can

In the early 1950s when Rock and Roll was born, it was so new and so different than anything heard before that by the time the above song was released more than 25 years later, it seemed like nothing had existed before it. Punk Rock had a similar effect on the

The sentence structure of the previous quote helps prove the theme of human unimportance because every line of the poem does not have a complete sentence. The line “but a cosmic spec” not only is an extremely short line of the poem, but also provokes how small

“Another Brick in the Wall” explores the life of fictional protagonist Pink Floyd from his childhood days in post-World-War-II England to his self-inflicted isolation as a world-renowned rock star. This song highlights the significant influence of the paranoia and anxiety ridden world around him and how it caused destructive consequences to himself personally. Born during the final moments of World-War-II what that claimed the lives of 300,000 British soldiers including his father, to an overprotective mother who equally gives love and many anxieties to her son. This caused him to build a mental wall between himself and the rest of the world so he can live in a constant state of alienated equilibrium free from life’s emotional troubles. This could be suggested to allude to the post World-War-II period where the alienation and isolation of individuals who were suspected to be communist was evident throughout society. Every incident which caused Pink pain is another brick in his ever growing wall to be alone. Having a fatherless childhood, a domineering mother, an out of touch educational system, a government who treats its citizens like chess pieces, the superficiality of being famous, an estranged marriage and even the drugs that he turns to in order

These images helped the Rolling Stones to be loved not only by the rock aficionados but also by the public. Otherwise, it is doubtless that the Rolling Stones could have easily turned out as a small, minor downtown-indie band and eventuate in the mere imitation of the Beatles. Yet the images portrayed in the media was a whole new idea from Rolling Stones’ musical careers, and it grabbed the public’s attention in a easy way. Sexually charged, down and dirty, hard partying and arrests wherever they went. Sexuality being a central theme in many lyrics, the lyric from Sex Drive says “I got this sexdrive driving me mad; I've got to drive you crazy; best you've ever had,” Sexual songs and images triggered the sexual desire of people, attracting countless number of fans. Sex has been a key term in the career of The Rolling Stones. Their portrayal from media, staging, album work into sex is a primary factor in their persistent and everlasting musical

The British invasion began with the popularization of the rock group “The Beatles”. Their fame created an open door for other rock groups from england to make their debut in America. Although more intense, the music from the british invasion, and music influenced by it, also reflected the peace loving counterculture that was incorporated in folk music. Songs like “Revolution” by The Beatles and “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones clearly express the concerns that the public had for their own safety during war times. “Revolution” is about exactly what you would expect with the lyrics “We all want to change the world / But when you talk about destruction / Don't you know that you can count me out.” These lyrics, and akin lyrics found throughout this popular rock age, pushed many people to realize that it is better to be pacifist and fight anger with peace, rather than put american lives in jeopardy. Not only did these tunes reflect popular sentiment, they educated people on the importance of unity over segregation and

Throughout the 1960’s, popular music empowered youth and emphasized this portion of the population as a whole. As the cold war comes to an end in history, society’s unnerve, especially among the newer generations, assembled ideas in order to create a certain understanding of their desires. However, unlike most of social uprisings in the past where demands were normally written through official documentation, in the sixties, rebellion is introduced in a lyrical manner through Rock Music. The fascination with this type of music reflects the controversy in times of war regarding race, gender, and social class. The propositions that the lyrics in Rock Music request, influence society to the day, as these involved uncompromisingly but