Analysis Of The Song ' Happy ' By Pharrell Williams

In the song “Can You Run,” the SteelDrivers sing about the Underground Railroad in the United States during the 1800s when the Civil War took place. In the song, the SteelDrivers sing in the point of view of the slaves who ran away from their owners. The song is mostly consistent with the actual events of the freedom of slaves during the Civil War era. When the SteelDrivers sing, “Can you run, to the freedom line of the Lincoln soldiers?/ Where the contraband can be a man / With a musket on his shoulder,” it is a reference to the slaves were made free from their owners once they were able to pass the border between the Union and Confederacy (United States, National Park Service). The slaves who escaped to the Union were called contrabands,

Throughout Kanye West’s prolific career, he has possessed an intricate sound that has separated him from his hip-hop counterparts. After the immense praise he received on his breakout album, College Dropout, it was no surprise that Kanye West would perform at the same level on his second album, Late Registration. West presented an innovative and soulful sound to the hip-hop industry, earning individuals’ ears and hearts.With lyrics that discussed themes of poverty, drug abuse, and domestic issues and samples that provided a sense of nostalgia, Kanye West was steadily transforming into a political icon far beyond the means of his hip-hop artistry. With such empowering and sincere lyrics, Kanye West served as the voice of historically marginalized people, whose voices were seemingly unheard before. In the song “Drive Slow,” West’s guidance and empowering message remained evident, as he joined forces with GLC and Paul Wall to create a soulful song that offered assistance on how to overcome barriers in life. Through the use of suggestive details, figurative language, and vivid storytelling, West utilizes the automobile culture to assert how individuals can achieve success of every field of human endeavor through constant efforts in the right direction. In addition, he also attempts to convey that one must “drive slow” in a car in order to appreciate the environment that consists outside of the automobile. West creates a double entendre of the word “drive slow,” expressing that

Jay-Z describes his life through his music by making his own rhythm, lyrics, beat and flow because he wants people to understand his story and to be aware of the struggles that most people have to face since they don’t have the voice to speak through.

The rhetorical triangle is basically the starting point every songwriter uses to create their music. If not executed correctly the song could not be delivered right or loss in translation to the listeners. The triangle focuses on the audience, the communicator, and the message which comes together to create the content. An example of the use of the rhetorical triangle would be the song “Pursuit of Happiness” by Kid Cudi. This song could be interpreted in many different viewpoints based on the way you view the use of drugs and alcohol. One listener can perceive the song as a method of justifying the use of drugs, while the artist can view it as the struggles of a man trying to find true happiness and escaping his problems. With that said the rhetorical triangle could be used in many ways but only a few ways can be found to be effective. The rhetorical triangle is demonstrated accurately in this song through the uses of ethos, logos, and pathos to support the statement that not everything you believe can bring you happiness will. It could also be interpreted from the point of view of audience who the message is addressed to.

‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem is about being famous in the music industry with the difficulty of pressure that occur in the music industry for popularity. Eminem uses dynamics and instrumentals to stay in a constant rhythm after verse one with repetition of the chorus. ‘…You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime.’ The listeners are able to gather the truth about the music career and become more aware of what the composer feels when getting on the music stage to sing.

The case I chose to write about is Pharrell Williams hit 2014 "Happy". The song was released in 2013 and has accumulated over 46 million views on YouTube since then and has won various awards and nominations as well as appearing in the popular animated movie Despicable Me 2. Although the case as of now has not been taken to court, the track’s rhythm sounds oddly familiar to a song written by Marvin Gaye in 1965 titled “Ain’t That Peculiar”. The family of Gaye has had previous issues with Pharrell and other popular artist plagiarizing as well. In 2013 the family sued artist Robin Thicke and Williams for their song “Blurred Lines” on the grounds of copyright infringement for sounding almost exactly like Gaye’s song “Got To Give It Up”. Early

Aubrey Drake song uses a powerful use of emotions and words to get the readers’ attention of what is going on in his life. The song “The Calm” stresses in Drake’s life, and it also refers to an apology towards his mom. Despite it all, the song has unusual phrases, imagery and feelings making the reader feel what he was feeling. Through these elements he shows the theme of confidence and forgiveness.

I was never really much of a dancer. At a young age, my movements were always stiff and slow and never matched the beat. It was hard enough that I could not dance, it was even harder on me when people pointed out that flaw, despite what people thought, I kept dancing because it became my thing.

You can accuse Kanye West of being many things, but the one thing you shouldn’t accuse him of is being boring. The Life of Pablo is a hip-hop gospel based album really explores Kanye’s faith through struggle and failure. This album is nothing like his last, Yeezus but it sure does bring power like any of his albums.

Phillip Chbeeb and Renee Kester uploaded a dance entitled SLIP that they have choreographed to the song SLIP by Elliot Moss. It was published on June 11, 2015. The dance includes many things that show a strong relationship between the two dancers. What you can notice is the way they trust each other and their facial expressions. Chbeeb and Kester used these components and other movements to show a relationship between the two characters in this story that is being told. In this dance, there are two people who are in love try to stay together, but in the end they don’t because many things are pulling them apart.

With racial tensions around the world at a high, “Redbone” by Childish Gambino provides an important sound and lyrical combination to examine within the context of contemporary black stereotypes and millennial culture, proving it is a song worth the world’s attention. “Redbone” is a single released in late 2016 from the album “Awaken My Love!” by Donald Glover, under his rap-persona Childish Gambino. The song has gained mass popularity, debuting at 75 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 16 as of the date of this essay (Billboard, 2017). The album is quite unique given its exploration and interpretation of traditional and modern sounds from black culture and music.

California has been the home to many stars from the Kardashians to Steve Jobs. Compton was the birthplace of infamous rap and hip-hop group, N.W.A. Inspiring many other young rappers to make it “Straight Outta Compton”, other rappers such as Kendrick Lamar. In 2012, Lamar signed on with Interscope Records and Aftermath entertainment. That year Lamar’s album, “good kid, m.A.A.d city”, was released marking Lamar’s major label debut. The album was highly praised by critics and got four Grammy Award nominations. The album focuses heavily on Lamar’s hometown, Compton, as he explains how the city affected his life.

Positively 4th Street written in 1965 is a song that is folk rock. In this song, Bob Dylan used this song to point fingers at his folk establishment he felt that unfairly criticized him. To me, that’s pretty cool because now days, artists wouldn’t have the power to do that, with facing the chance of losing that record label. In this song I heard some different kinds of musical elements. Another fun fact is the main cause of the music establishment for reacting negatively to this song was all due to him having the use of electric instruments being played. After a short 4 measure introduction, Dylan plows away at verse after verse, all based on the same eight measure harmonic pattern. The song concludes with part of a thirteenth through a chord

In this comical comercial, an eskimo man is getting ready to take a journey on a sled pulled by huskies. The man says goodbye to his wife and sets off. While the camera displays him riding the sled, it’s also showing a beautiful view of the mountains beside him. Next the screen goes black, bringing the scene to a view of the mountains. Afterwards the camera then shows a glimpse of the snow on the ground rumbling and then it turns to the car racing towards it from a distance as the song “Movin’ On Up” by 50 Cent is playing. reveals that the eskimo man and his dogs are the buoyant, beaming passengers, and they’re bobbing their heads and tapping hands(& paws) to the music playing. The camera begins to exhibit different parts and functions of

The world seems to be a dark and unforgiving place, but happiness is hidden within. It is found in a beautiful view, an uplifting song, or a compliment from a friend. According to the Ted Talk video, The Habits of Happiness, Matthieu Ricard claims that everyone “has a deep, profound desire for well-being or happiness”(Ricard 2:39). Ricard uses the three techniques of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to captivate and move his audience. With the use of metaphors, personal experiences, and even graphs Matthieu explained to his audience the full force and perception of the bendable word that is happiness. This Ted Talk dove into philosophical meaning on just how to achieve well-being, without having everything in the world.