Citizen An American Lyric Analysis

The theme of 123rd Street rap is one that can't be compared to any other poem. The reason for this is that it has such a deep reality to it and it is only a poem. One good reason to love this poem is it show someone to appreciate the life that one has and to not take what you have for granted. The line “Automatic bullets bounce off stoop steps”(Perdomo 2) should make anyone who doesn't live this everyday reality appreciate the life that they live. The poet saw the life that people have to live and put it into words and makes you understand in just a few lines.

In Citizen: An American Lyric written by Claudia Rankine, there is a passage where a man is stopped because he fits the description of a “criminal”. The speaker faces immense trauma just trying to relay to the officer that he is not the perpetrator they are looking for. In fact he is just another person trying to get home from a long day at the office. The officers refuse to listen which angers the victim and causes him to curse at the officer saying, “Go ahead hit me motherfucker.” (Rankine 107) While the victim could not have been held for the original reason, he was now charged with speeding. The victim was then taken down to the station on new charges. After being wrongfully targeted, held, fingerprinted, and stripped, he was finally let

The song ‘Dear Mr. President’ by American Singer and songwriter Pink, Alecia Moore, is an open letter from her to then president George W. Bush. This song addresses issues like homelessness, gay rights and abortion, these are all issues that President George W. Bush seems to ignore because they don’t affect him. Dear Mr. President was released in 2006 which is a time when America was facing with issues of same sex marriage, Iraq war and certain laws including gun rights and the no child left behind act. Pink was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania to parents Jim and Judy Moore. After her parents divorced, it sparked a rebellious attitude from Pink. After this, she found solace in music and by the time she was 14 she was already an experienced singer and performed at a particular nightclub every Friday night. Through the use of anaphora, allusion and aural imagery, Pink allows her audience to feel how she feels about President George W. Bush.

I chose the song, "Remember Pearl Harbor," for a few reasons. First, I listened to each song and researched each song 's history. In doing so, I was left dumb-struck at my true ignorance as to what had transpired that fateful day, the days that led up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the days that followed. Secondly, the relevance of the song, “Remember Pearl Harbor,” grabbed my attention; not only did to the historical value within the song touch me, but the era always proved to be an fascinating piece. The farther I delved into the answers for the paper, the more I was enthralled by the complexities and, had the planned attack been seen through to the end, what could have actually transpired.

Then the Harlem Renaissance came along the American dream shifting from wanting everything to just wanting certain things to change. In the poem “Let America Be America Again” wrote by Langston Hughes in this poem he says “America was never America to me”(Hughes 1). His American dream was that everyone would be free and equal, that it wouldn’t be like the rest of the world that is “... dog eat dog ...”(Hughes 5). He points out that those who work hard struggle to live no matter their race or country of origin. The immigrants dreamt of freedom and an easier life to find out it wasn’t much easier. At one point he says “Except the dream that’s almost dead today”(Hughes 10) in this line it sounds as if he’s saying the American dream is dying. The American Dream during the Harlem Renaissance was that they wanted all to be equal and free and not have to fight for

Called “Made in America,” by Kanye West and Jay-Z, their collab explains there thoughts and feelings toward America, religion, and personal success. Born in Brooklyn NY and Atlanta GA, both self made stars had an unrelenting work ethic. They both weren't handed success but “hustled” their way in the streets. The themes developed in the song explains the adversity of youth, and the trials they face in becoming successful. Released in 2011 on the “Watch the Throne Tour,” this song is compared to many legends such as late period Michael Jackson. Kanye West and Jay-Z persuade their audience with allusion to show the importance of certain civil rights leaders, opposing forces to show a part of their story, and euphemism to show their struggles to survive in their situation.

The iconic American dream is to live by a beach, lay on lounge chairs, get tan from the sun, sink feet into the soft sand, listen to the calm waves roll in, and laugh with friends and family. However, the reality is money has to be earned through work to make a living, children have to be born to continue the generations, and time flies by too fast for people to live the American dream. Malcolm Kelley and Tony Oller are two young, twenty-four year old men who are not thinking about starting their own families or getting a job at high paying corporation, like a regular post-college adult would do. In the song, “American Dream,” they talk about moving to California to find exciting opportunities and “live and die before they get old” (line 35).

Gwendolyn Brooks, Ann Petry, and Ralph Ellison explore a vast number of crucial dynamics and dichotomies within their work. During the 1940s and 50s, there were a lot of heightened issues happening within the United States. These issues were racially and gender based. There were a multitude of tensions between blacks and whites, but within these tensions problems between men and women were heightened. The issues also stretched to include the immense differences between the rich and the poor.

Has society ever made you feel dissociated, lied to, or ashamed of the attacks of your homeland onto others? Society has a nasty way of making us forget who we truly are in this world of the future. It likes to pretend as if everything is sunshine and rainbows in a world that’s fueled with too much hatred to function properly. It forces the world’s people to discover what impact their country truly has on the rest of the world, and most of the time it isn’t pretty. The song Meant to Live by Switchfoot touches upon all of these topics and more.

This theme is captured in several of the song's lyrics. Lock the door, kill the light No one's coming home tonight It's getting colder [7x] ...Crowbar - No Quarter lyricsCrowbar - No Quarter lyrics lyrics: Close the door, put out the light You know they won't be home tonight The snow falls hard and do ...Tool - No quarter LyricsNo quarter lyrics: Tool version Lock the door, kill the light. Lyric ZZ is proud to present to you very accurate Jeff Black No Quarter Song lyrics. Misheard lyrics are instances of when a song lyric can't be understood, and the mind ...Led Zeppelin :: No Quarter LyricsLed Zeppelin lyrics :: Song lyrics for No Quarter. These No Quarter lyrics are performed by Tool Get the music video and song lyrics here. Lyrics Tool

Rankine reveals a tragic fact that even as a powerful developed country which believes in freedom and democracy, there are still so much injustice in US. This certainly would be ironic, wouldn't it? As what the book named, Citizen, legally, it means a natural person who has the nationality of a certain country, and according to the constitution of this country, he has the rights and obligations. From the point of view of its generation, as a legal concept, the citizen is closely linked with the democracy. However, in Rankine’s prose, imagery and poetry, "citizen" becomes a powerful proof of the contemporary racism in America. For instance, in the p148, the waiter returns the card to your friend instead of you. The people in the restaurant

AM is currently the Arctic Monkeys’ latest-and-greatest album. Coming out in mid-2013, this brilliant new collection of hits can clearly show how far the Sheffield band has come since their terrific debut back in 2006. They have evolved from smashing punk rock, to deep, slow, near-depressed stories, to what it is now: the recollections of the life of a rock star, filled with drinks, drugs, love, and ladies.

Why does Irving say on page 28 “never need an American look beyond his own country for the sublime and beautiful of natural scenery”? Irving explains how beautiful America is, and its no need to find beauty other places, when the beauty is here in your own country. He describes the beauty of his native home and he will always be a true American.

Throughout time the Latino community has figured out a way to progress their rich experiences, and history through the means of corridos. Corridos (ballads) are a form of artwork, song, a means of expression, and most importantly an outlet. The corrido is an epic-lyric-narrative song that changes as society’s issues evolve. Corridos provide a point of view that is rarely communicated since they are created and listened to by the urban and rural working classes instigating that they are unworthy of serious study. Moreover, the corrido articulates life stories that include variations of social and political problems, however also embracing the triumphs of the Latino people. Corridos create a medium that helps humanize, dignify, and make sense of their experiences. Rich histories lie behind the accordion, base, and the 2/4 beat. Ultimately, corridos empower the Latino community emotionally, culturally, and politically.

In the song “Coward of the Country” by Kenny Rogers Tommy was a trouble character. Tommy was passive aggressive, protective, and a caring character. Tommy had a hard life, his aunt raised him while his father died in prison. Tommy’s dad tried to tell Tommy that violence wasn’t the answer, but he didn’t listen. But at first Tommy was passive aggressive character.