A song is more than just words accompanied by a melody with a repeated refrain. Although the audience often views a song as just that, the artist takes various factors into consideration to make their piece stand out. John Legend’s song “All of Me”, that was released in October of 2013 and awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2015, includes elements of poetry and numerous literary devices to intensify the effects of the song and ultimately provoke the audience to feel the emotions he intended to elicit. The song’s raw tone and vulnerability continue to draw a diverse audience to the artist’s music even after 2013 when the song first hit the charts in the music industry and sparked yet another unsurpassed successful period for …show more content…
Legend creates imagery by the use of his informal diction which conveys a typical mood, tone, and atmosphere for the listener. Additionally, the artist repeatedly uses personification throughout the song to add detail that helps the audience envision the story themselves. He includes phrases such as “smart mouth” and “beautiful mind” to create a clearer image of his interpretation of the situation between him and the one he adores. Furthermore, Legend sings the line “[t]he world is beating you down” as he is assuring the person addressed in the song that even through the difficult times, he will not leave her side. Although the word itself may not literally beat her down, the use of this line dramatizes the effect of all the hardships that she faces and even when they worsen, the artist continues to support …show more content…
He repeats the line “[a]ll your perfect imperfections” to draw attention to the self contradictory statement that provides latent truth. Additionally, the artist sings that “even when I lose I’m winning” which is another paradox that shows his dedication and commitment to the woman addressed in the song. Despite going through losses in his own life, having her by his side creates a feeling of constant triumph for the artist. The use of this literary device often shows contradiction towards traditional ideas that again, arrest more attention towards the line and provoke imminent thought. In order to make the song catchier, more tuneful, and appealing, John Legend enforces the use of a quatrain rhyme scheme. The ABAB rhyme scheme gives the lines a more natural “sing-song” rhythm and makes the melody together with the flow of the words more appealing to the listener. Likewise, the writer implements various hyperboles to emphasize certain lines through the use of exaggeration. Legend repeats the lines “you got my head spinning” and “I’m out of my mind” not to overstate the words themselves, but to direct the listeners attention to the vast effects the woman must have on the
One of the most important lines from the song is, “I can’t change, even if I tired, even if I wanted to”. It is a meaningful
The style of the song is very crucial in how it comes across to the listener. It is a simple song with a mellow sound and a focus on the lyrics. The song consists of Everlast’s deep, dark voice and use of often graphic words. This song is consistent with the artist’s usual style and combines elements of hip-hop and blues. The sound of the acoustic guitar and the steady beat of the drum highlight the story being told instead of drowning it out, like many songs do. The edgy style of the song lends itself to the message being sent.
“Finding metaphors in hit songs and poems” by Melissa Kelly shows how singers use poetry in modern music. The article shows multiple songs and their use of metaphors. The text states, “There is more poetry in pop music than many people expect.” Artists like Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and Justin Timberlake use poetry in their songs.
The first song, Roar, relies heavily on figurative language to deliver its message. The three main types of figurative language the song uses includes Simile, Hyperbole, and Metaphor. The type of figurative language that makes up the largest part of the song is Metaphor. These lines really tell the overall story of this song, which is about someone overcoming the struggles and abuse they have faced in their situation and becoming their own champion and hero. To illustrate, each choir in the song includes the same words;
However, the listener is brought back to reality after understanding the portrayal of the character’s confusion, from the lyrics “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?”. Then, the character’s emotion changes to being nonchalant, with the lyrics “Because I’m easy come, easy go, Little high, little low, Any way the wind blows doesn’t really matter to me, to me”. The emotion next changes to realization, as the character registers what they have done (“Mama just killed a man, Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he’s dead”). After the character’s realization, the listener can perceive that the character is then washed over with regret and guilt for what they have committed. This is shown through the lyrics “Mama, life had just begun, But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away”. The incredible guitar solo that occurs afterward only further emphasizes the character’s remorse, for the sounds of the guitar resembles that of someone who is
In this generation, many popular musicians express the hardships brought forth by unrequited love in their songs. It is probably one of the most commonly conveyed subjects. Music artists such as Bruno Mars and his songs like “Grenade” is no exception to this popular trend. In the song “Grenade,” he reveals his persistent devotion for a girl. Lamentably, as a victim of unilateral love, he is inferior in the relationship. In the song, the girl seizes the dominant ability to manipulate Bruno Mars’ physical well-being and emotional negatively by being uninterested towards his love, and positively refusing to return his affection. From such a position of inferiority, Mars uses numerous rhetorical strategies such as literary devices, logical
In the song ‘u’, on the album called ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’, is one of my favorite representations as mentioned earlier. The song starts off by contradicting
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
Evanescence is an American rock band known for song, Bring Me to Life. Bring Me to Life is a song about being lost and in a state of depression until you find that one person to break you out of that sad state. This song was inspired by the lead singer’s, Amy Lee’s, husband. She says that when she first met her husband that he could somehow see inside of her and bring her to life when at the time she was going though a hard time (Edwards, Evanescence’s Amy Lee: how we made Bring Me to Life).
When she realizes her imperfections are valuable, she has a whole new outlook on her life, which fills her with hope and motivates her to become a better version of herself. The tone in this song reflects a feeling of being content with one's self-image because she finally wonders "why [should she] waste a second not loving who [she is] (Bedingfield 10)? This realization is what brings her out of her depression, concerning what she looks like, to the decision of embracing her appearance because she is beautiful no matter what society
In “Alright” Kendrick Lamar is speaking to the public about police brutality, or is he sending a deeper message to the people of minority. Kendrick Lamar released the song titled “Alright” in 2015. Upon release the song instantly blew up. It 's catchy and even though people got tongue tied trying to recite the song everyone knew the hook of the song which stated “We gon be alright do you hear me do you feel me we gon be alright.” I wonder did anyone catch the poetic verses Kendrick was saying before the hook. By simply watching the video you instantly think oh police brutality but I recieved a deeper message. I believe Kendrick wanted the song to inform the public about the brutality that seemed to be continuous at the time; and offer a bit of hope to those who didn’t feel there was any. That’s why the song was so famous, Kendrick performed this song on numerous award shows and talk shows because the people needed to hear it. Though some believe the song is in protest against cops or sending a bad message others believe it is an anthem for african americans.
The song of songs it is a well-known but not so well understood book of the Bible, it’s 8 chapters of love poetry and while there are an introduction and a conclusion, the book doesn’t have any kind of rigid literary design and that’s because it is a collection of poems. They are not meant to be dissected or taken apart. They are meant to be read as a flowing whole and simply enjoyed. The first line of the book tells us that it is “the song of songs” which is a Hebrew idiom like, “the holy of holies” or “the king of kings” it is a Hebrew way of saying, “the greatest thing,” this is the greatest song of all songs. We are told in the first line that this “song of songs” is of Solomon, which could mean that he is the author, his name does begin the book after all. But as I read the poems, I discover that the main voice of a woman, called “the beloved.” And while there is also a male voice, it does not seem to be Solomon. Solomon is mentioned a couple times in the poem, but he’s never a speaker, and you do have to admit Solomon is a very strange candidate as the author of this book, given the facts that he seven hundred wines. The “of Solomon” likely means “in the wisdom tradition of Solomon,” he was known for his wisdom, his poetry, his love of learning about every part of life. Also, Solomon became the father of wisdom literature in Israel, his legacy is here carried on, through a collection of love poems that explore the human experience of love and sexual desire. The opening
This is what they call imagery. The singer is saying be yourself do not follow others, be yourself and don’t let your perse stop you. Later on in the song it say,”The ice we skate is getting pretty thin/ The water’s getting warm so you might as well swim/ My worlds on fire. How about yours/ That’s the way I like it and i’ll never get bored.” (Smash Mouth) This entire line of the song describes stress and it will try to stop you from being you, but when he rose up and he made a difference and forgot all about the stress he once had. The first part of the lyric is a simile. The final lyric in the song that is important is,” Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas/ I need to get myself away from this place/ I said yep, what a concept/I could use a little fuel myself/ And we could all use a little change.”( Smash Mouth) What he means by this is people ask him what he did to become this famous and he said,”you have to follow your dreams.” This is an example of a
This leaves the song open ended, with no set boundaries and allowed oneself to express and reveal individuality through interpretation.
Analyzing the word, "beautiful" in this stanza, one should perceive that she is not actually singing about the outside of her, but what she consists of emotionally and mentally on the inside. She reveals that her thoughts and emotions are of worth and value and they are of her opinion. They are consumed through her, and no one else and if anyone disagrees, she does not take that into affect. Her diction is actually pretty precise. To quote a famous cliché, beauty is not skin deep. She explains that the beauty is the sentiment.