Country Song Analysis: U2's Music

Sweet Jesus! Rebellion never sounded so good, that’s what Green Day taught me with their song “American Idiot”. Witnessing America drown in a multitrillion dollar debt and foolish societal injustices will make even the sanest person go nuts.

U2 the band exemplifies the ideas of transcendentalism as shown in Beautiful Day, Invisible, and With or Without You. U2 makes their songs part of the world. Different descriptions of nature and human identifications of their song titles. In U2 Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen, Jr. are the makers of the band.

Artists write or compose things for a specific reason, usually this is to convey a feeling to the listener or reader. When words are placed with music, it can change how a person hears or thinks of a song. In the song “Run” by George Strait he creates a feeling of desperation and longing not only with his lyrics, but also with the melody that goes along with it. Music is powerful, and it can change your attitude towards something just by the sound and tone of music. By adapting a song into a letter, one can either change the meaning of the whole song or allow it to give the reader the same feeling as before. I changed George’s song into a letter to show how things can be different or the same when you take music out of a piece.. In my adaptation

“Girl In A Country Song” provides an alternative equipment for living through the rules of how women and men should behave. Throughout the introduction of the video, the women are portrayed as weak and dressing in a way to only attract the male eye. This is seen through the way that the women desire the men’s attention and acceptance, which goes along with the societal norm of women being less than men. However, towards the end of the video, women are portrayed in a more dominant role. Teaching women viewers that they aren’t less worthy than the men, and that they should speak up against sexism is crucial. To summarize, the text teaches us that it is inappropriate to view girls as anything less than exceptional, which challenges American hegemony and ideology.

The Grateful Dead, the most popular so called underground band of all time. This band has underwent many changes, some good and others bad throughout their thirty or so years of performing. I plan to prove that a band that has remained together for thirty plus years isn’t as easy as many would assume. In fact I would have to say the “down” times in the band almost equal the outrageously great time they had. Despite all the down times the amazing music of the Grateful Dead always made it possible to bring smiles to empty faces anytime anywhere. Even now that the bands figure head (Jerry Garcia) has passed on, the family that he created (Deadheads) and left behind will never forget him or his music.

In America, our identity often comes from the culture we live in and develop for ourselves. The identity of many Americans is also developed by their actions. Some groups develop an identity by speaking their native language, like some members of “Chinatown” in various American cities. Others develop their identities by the way they dress, music they listen to, and their sexual identity. We can clearly see some of the largest factors used to develop one’s identity is the area in which they live in and their actions throughout their day to day life. In Kenny Chesney’s song American Kids we see the development of identity from the hometowns and actions of these so called “kids.”

Music will never stop evolving into various styles and sub-genres, but over the last 30 years country music has taken snowballed into a clash of old school country and pop styles. After the "third generation" of country music grew past the honky tonk, consisting of a very basic ensemble of guitar, bass, and vocals, a change was needed to revive the country music industry. Artists had to create new styles of country, such as Countrypolitan, which aimed towards the mainstream pop markets. Despite changes in time differences, style, and technological advances, there are parallels between the songs at the top of the billboards between each generation, the love for the United States of America.

Smashing anything from pumpkins to instruments, Rock & Roll is a form of art with flare. Generations of people from the 50’s to modern day have enjoyed a little bit of rebellion in their life. But while the rebels continue to rage against the machine of society, that society is constantly changing. Different issues become highlighted and more relevant as others fall to the wayside, but Rock music does not stand by jovially. With constant adapting and innovating, Rock & Roll always finds something to scream about.

I choose the song “Humble and Kind” performed by Tim McGraw in 2015. You can find the song here on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awzNHuGqoMc. “Humble and Kind” was written by Lori McKenna in May of 2014 (by herself) who is Nashville’s top songwriter. She wrote the song to reflect the life and way she wants her kids to grow up. Tim McGraw was asked to perform the song for her, were he gladly accepted. Lori herself later performed the song next few years. I would believe that this song would fall other the pop music form. As for country music is not really “country” anymore; it is a mixture of almost every form of popular music in America. The song is precisely what it sounds like: A humble, kind, acoustic-driven tune that softly

Each decade comes with a new set of values, morals, and judgements. The 1960’s was the start of the breakdown of carried-on norms. The younger generations were aggressively expressing themselves with promiscuous clothing, hippy music, and ideas of new freedoms for genders and race. “The Harper Valley P.T.A.” is a narrative song written by Tom Hall to make a statement about the growing display of hypocrisy in small towns. Hall wrote the song in 1968 after a true story he had heard as a child in his hometown. Harper Valley P.T.A. shames the hypocritical leaders for deeming others immoral for their flaws.

Immigrants brought their music to this land and continued to sing their songs, remembering those they’ve left behind in their journeys all while creating new moments and memories. None of the music was written down, rather, it was passed on orally. The music they brought really was the roots of music as we know it today. Throughout this episode, the various stories told follow the origins of American roots music and its development through the 1920s. As the episode begins, the images and sounds of flowing water can be seen and heard. These images and sounds are used to describe the understanding that music in our country can be compared to a stream – constantly flowing to different areas and times,

According to Statistics Canada in the 2011 census, Midale, Saskatchewan has increased its population by 21.6%. This is an incredible response from the 2006 census where Midale had seen a drop of 6.9% from the previous census. Of course, this may be due to the recent development of oil resources in the area. Nevertheless, it could possibly be due to the tenacity of the farmers in the area that are reflected in singer/songwriter, Brad Johner’s, song, The Farmer’s Back. Midale was incorporated as a town just about 115 years ago. Agriculture has been an important resource since its beginning. Johner grew up in this area of southeast Saskatchewan and writes about his fond memories and rural lifestyle in many of his songs.

Brooks and Dunn: In April 1996, Brooks & Dunn's fourth album “Borderline” was released to little critical acclaim, however the first single off that album became the their signature song, Although, B.W. Stephenson’s 1972 single “My Maria” was a top-10 hit and made him a popular songwriter, Brooks & Dunn's version had reached iconic status, you could not turn on country radio without listening to this song. In addition, it spent three weeks at number one in mid-1996 and peaked at number 79 on the Billboard Hot 100. Furthermore, it was the year's top country song according to the end of year Billboard charts. Although, they were reluctant to record "My Maria" because they had not previously recorded any cover songs, it garnered them a second Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Group or Duo, and the duo won the 1996 Entertainer of the Year award from both the CMA’s and ACM’s making them the first duo to win that award. Here’s a couple more hits from the Borderline album.

One of my favourite bands of all time is Nirvana, because this was the first rock band I started listening to at the age of twelve and this established my taste of music until nowadays. However, they had a big influence on their contemporary pop-rock musical industry in the early nineties, as well. Despite the fact that they released only three studio albums in seven years, Nirvana is often regarded as one of the most influential, effective and remarkable rock bands of the century.

My favorite recording band of all time is Queen. I grew up with their songs. My parents would play their song all the time. We would go out and I would hear queen play in the car. I learned to bond with their songs and I learned to love their music. To me their music is unique.