Man In The Mirror Analysis

Popular singer Elton John once said; “music has healing power; it has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours”, and for most, music is the portal to an out of body experience. African American lyricists especially have been found to use the art of music to escape the real world, commencing from the slavery era and onward. The blues song titled The Tracks of My Tears does just that; expresses the ability to remove your soul from a treacherous reality. Similarly, the lyrics from popular modern songs, written by black artists, speak volumes about what is presently going on in the country, parallel to the way African American slavery songs did. Music written at an earlier period have been found to correlate to music of the past through providing strong emotion toward present day commentary.

Listening to the lyrics of your favorite song you automatically start to have a connection with that song. Then the song starts to represent you and your life because of the lyrics. Some songs show about being a fighter,having freedom, or just being you. There's a billion of songs out there and there's a billion of people who connect with those songs. Usually the most common reason why some songs represent people is by their past experience. For me some songs represent me because I decided to follow my dreams,living in the moment, and get right back up.

Musicians use the environment around them to find inspiration. Artists during the Vietnam war used their views on the war to form their protest songs. Modern artists incorporate their views on racial discrimination, inequality, and false accusations of the media.

Millions of people in the world listen to music for all different reasons. Most people all over the world listen to different genres of music in order to relax, but not too many people pay attention to the actual lyrics of a song. If you listen to the lyrics of a song you will realize that many songs have important messages or themes to them. An example of this is the lyrics of the song “Changes” by Tupac Shakur. If you listen to this song, you will realize that Tupac raps about not only the problems that African Americans face from society, but also the struggles that poor people in society have to endure and overcome. Many

P- Throughout the years, many artists use song writing to express their emotions, especially heartbreak, loneliness and sadness.

Songs, used to create messages, give singers the ability to speak about concerns that are relevant in the current everyday life. A powerful ways songwriters achieve this is by applying the use of imagery. Lyricists use this help readers of literary works to understand specific ideas that the writer is trying to convey. By using symbolism in songs, singers can discuss issues in ways that connect with the listener on a deeper level. Using this method in songwriting is crucial when discussing important subjects; influencing the public in a way that is not direct and more effective. In “ Don’t You Cry For Me,” songwriter Cobi uses repeated images of trees and individuals hanging as metaphors for his feelings towards facing injustice. It is through

The universe is created for society to cherish all God’s creations; it could be anything to admiring nature to loving all animals. The expectations for the world are difficult to maintain, so unfortunately, society often leads to major destruction. There is unnecessary homicides, animal cruelty, toxic waste in the rivers and many more heart-wrenching actions that deteriorates the world. As a society, we have to turn a negative into a positive, but firstly, we have to change ourselves before we help others. Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”, exposes all of the humanity issues and suggests that we should fix the world by recognizing our flaws first. The theme of the song is about self-improvement and imagery, tone and repetition are the poetic devices that are used in the song.

This paper primarily explores Michael Jackson’s song, "man in the mirror." The song "man in the mirror" is inspirational about making a positive impact and personal redemption in the world. It was released in 1988. This catchy song tries to explain that changing the world is possible (Wallerstein 2). Many sociological concepts are displayed by Michael Jackson in the context of song’s lyrics. The band of the song tries to express their concerns with the actions and views of the world of the present day. Basically, the band reflects upon the world's realism as their question the mentality. This song is surrounded by the

"Man in the Mirror" was written by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett and co-produced by Michael Jackson, and released from the album Bad on August 31,1987 and released as a single January 16,1988 (YouTube). Siedah Garrett had an idea about a man looking in a mirror in her head for quite some time and took her ideas to her writing partner Glen Ballard. Once Garrett shared her lyric ideas, Ballard added some soulful vocals to help make the song become more powerful, which helped make the lyrics even stronger. The straightforward lyrics about making a change to yourself first caught Michael Jackson’s attention for his album Bad he was working on. “His chemistry with Garrett was so strong that he invited her to duet with him on another Bad single” (Yahoo! Music). The uplifting lyrics of making a change to yourself first, with the combination of Michael Jackson’s voice took off on the charts in no time. “Even though it wasn't a song he wrote himself, it was a message that was strongly identified with him and reflective of his own philosophies, as demonstrated through his actions and expressed in some of his own lyrics” (YouTube). “Man in the Mirror” became a world-wide hit in the late 80’s helping to inspire people to make a change within themselves and to help others.

“Man in the Mirror” is about a man who believes that only by changing himself will he be able to change the world. The main focus of the song is a man’s struggle to improve himself morally after witnessing his inability to impact the lives of those in need. Michael Jackson reflects on how the world around him is suffering while he lives a life of comfort, and the guilt triggers his decision to change himself so that he can eventually help the world. . The song raises up questions such as,“What purpose does an individual serve in a community? How can we bring about positive changes to the world? How can one person make a major impact in the world? “Man in the Mirror” sends a very universal message, basically telling the world to improve themselves individually so that the whole improves as a result. The discussion will focus more on the symbolical lyrics because there is a lot of straightforward vocabulary in each verse.

Man in the Mirror: A Video Evaluation Essay Alyssa Hunt 10/03/14 Groneman Vincennes University Abstract This is an essay over an evaluation of the video of “Man in the Mirror” by the proclaimed King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

When people visit museums and examine the art of painters, they are able to understand that there is a story or theme behind the painting. Humans have the ability to know the symbolism behind the strokes of paint. They can comprehend the emotional turmoil of Van Gogh while he was painting, or see Salvador Dali’s imagination through his work. Music has the same ability to establish a story or theme. There are countless albums that achieve this. One of which is The Dark Side Of The Moon. Pink Floyds album criticizes the people who place values on worldly objects such as money, wars, and time, as well as trying to show listeners that mental illnesses should be taken seriously and not just cut out parts of their brain immediately.

From the beginning of civilization, scops told stories in song. The reason for this genre is that people were illiterate during this time, and in order for them to understand the meaning of the great deeds of heroes and heroines, the manifestations of the gods, and intricacies of everyday life, they sang with great passion. Another reason why stories are told in song is that songs are easier to remember than straight prose. Most songs have rhythm and many lyrics rhyme; therefore, the songs facilitate a deeper understanding. In addition, songs help create a sense of community. By syncing the lyrics, people in a community thrive from the energy, thus forming deep rooted bonds. Even now in the 21st Century, stories are still told in song. For

Music has undoubtedly changed over the years and most people have a persona definition of what music is to them. The simple definition of music according to author, David Ludden, (2015) “Music is a universal language.” (par. 1). People use music to tell stories and communicate. Much like Taylor Swift writes songs about her past relationships, I personally see music as a detour to get things out in the open without having a personal confrontation. I see music as stress reliever, especially when writing; it’s a way to say what needs said but with the soothing sounds of a guitar or piano in the background of your thoughts. Like the diary 2.0.

I grew up listening to music everyday not knowing it would save my life in the end... the words that I would listen to would somehow connect with how I was feeling or what I was going through. Music truly soothes the soul and just somehow gives you hope to continue on or to stop something. I think I related my problems to the songs, it would give me comfort knowing I wasn't the only one who was feeling the way I once was. It showed me life was worth living and fighting for. Take Demi Lovato for instant, she was going through major depression and found herself through the music she would produce. A lot of artist are actually like this and only some really come out and tell their true story on how music saved them. It's incredible to know that no matter what you're going through someone, somewhere has gone through it too.