Song Analysis: Famous Blue Raincoat By Leonard Cohen

“Crazy Blues” by Noble Sissle is a cover of the song originally written by Perry Bradford. This timeless piece of history was first recorded on August 10th, 1920 by Mamie Smith and later released on as a vinyl record by Okeh Records.3 Smith’s version of the song was wildly successful, selling 75,000 copies in the first month following its release. Within a year, the record had sold over a million copies, and in all, two million copies were purchased.4 After its incredible success, recording companies rushed to record other African American singers. Noble Sissle’s version was recorded later that same year, and had similar success. Despite the large quantity of blues recordings during the 1920’s, “Crazy Blues” is considered the first successful blues song recorded by an African American artist.9 Ironically, “Crazy Blues” is considered more of a popular song than a blues song despite many references to “blues” throughout the track. Nevertheless, this song paved the way for black music makers into a then predominately-white recording industry, and quickly after its release, a market for black music emerged. Perry Bradford, who wrote “Crazy Blues”, also persuaded several record companies to invest in a music market specifically for blacks.9 After record companies realized the lucrativeness of selling “race

In my opinion, Kendrick Lamar, an award-winning rapper and songwriter, has one of the best abilities to describe his distressed and abused lifestyle in Compton, California. He is not your original cliché artist who does not speak about anything meaningful. Kendrick, also known as K. Dot, is one of the most well known and most respected rappers in this era. Not only does he speak about his gloomy past, but he also speaks about his fortunate future. His ability to give detailed representations of his struggles and his story telling allows me to, metaphorically, enter the mind of Kendrick Lamar.

Josh Ritter’s “Another New World” is a somber and haunting song, released in 2010 and under the genres of Alternative and Indie. Its purpose is to describe and entertain, much like a story. The audience stems from this purpose, and includes those who enjoy storytelling, or the alternative type of music. The interpretation of this song is influenced by the subject and voice, and the effect of this piece relies heavily on the use of sibilance and personification.

In 1971, Marvin Gaye, a renowned Motown artist, published a concept album that would become a huge hit for both critics and casual listeners throughout the US. Written towards the end of the Vietnam War, What’s Going On would touch on subjects including war protests, unification of the American people, and the poor treatment of veterans. Gaye’s brother served in Vietnam, and much of this album shows the brother’s thoughts and feelings when he returns. Throughout his album, Marvin Gaye uses his own experiences to give us a look at why he and many others had a dissatisfaction with society and the government during the Vietnam War era in the United States.

For centuries, rap has been used as a tool of expression of art. Capitalism and its oppressive qualities have forced the oppressed class to use it as a way to vent their anger and seek justice or liberation. Rap is a form of hip-hop and can be used to express real life experiences or issue like violence, poverty and the social and institutional discrimination experienced in America. When referring to “rap” in this study, its specifically, discussing “political rap or gangster rap lyrics”. Notably, rap has been used throughout history to present day; we’ve seen it during social movement like the Civil rights movement and now for the Black lives matter movements. Artist like, Tupac Shakur, N.W.A. and Kendrick Lamar are among those

Classic" Hey! Where's the drums? Oh whoa-oh-oh-oh Let's go! [Tony:] Ooh girl you're shining Like a 5th avenue diamond And they don't make you like they used to You're never going out of style Ooh pretty baby This world might've gone crazy The way you save me Who can blame me When

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.

I chose “Humble and Kind,” by Tim McGraw as my theme song. “Humble and Kind” is a very good song that has very unique lyrics. The song gives advice on how to live. There are many manners in this song that are very important. The song is a parent telling their child how they should live life. It seems that the artist wrote the song on how he wishes he would have acted when he was younger. One of the main messages of this song are that everyone has something in their lives, but you still need to be nice. Some of the lyrics on the song are about the 10 Commandments. Even though we grow up, we still need to remember our manners and how to live life. “Don’t hold a grudge or a chip and here’s why Bitterness keeps you from flying.” This is an example

Most audiences view music as a form of entertainment only, so society tends to overlook the messages behind the music. Some artists use music to promote their beliefs or inform their listeners about unnoticed issues. Music can spread awareness about misfortunes in the world, and Martina McBride uses her celebrity status to promote her own concerns about child abuse. In 2002, Martina McBride recorded a song titled “Concrete Angel” to spread awareness about child abuse. Her song addresses the general population, consisting of bystanders, because most people are aware of tragedies such as child abuse, but they ignore the problem. Through emotional appeals, characterization, imagery, and foreshadowing, “Concrete Angel” illustrates the story of a young girl’s abuse in order to call the bystanders to awareness of the societal problem.

The song I chose is a song sung by Martina McBride, a country singer, called Concrete Angel. The song was written by Rob Crosby and Stephanie Bentley, later released on November 18, 2002. The song is about a young girl, Angela Carter, who doesn’t have the most stable and safest home. At home she is domestically abused by her drugged mother, neglected and forced to take care of herself; she packs her own school lunch, walks to school by herself, and is wearing the same dress showing her mom does not care to give her new clothes. When watching the music video, in the beginning children are laughing at her, which shows she is bullied, another main theme tackled in the song. The bruises are seen by her teacher and the neighbors hear her

I think the author of the poem, "leaving the Motel," would approve of the song, "Me and Mrs. Jones," to express his poem in song form. It defines a furtive affair between a man and his lover. In the poem, "Leaving the Motel," the author describes two people are having an affair. The private couple do not want to get caught and ruin their lives outside of the relationship. The author writes, "Too. Keep things straight: don't take --The matches, the wrong keyrings--We've nowhere we could keep a keepsake" This line means the couple is double-check to make sure they have nothing of each others. Snodgrass was implying that there is no room for any mistakes in this relationship. If they had taken something of one another, they would be found out. Their secret would be relived. Now in the song, the composer Billy Paul writes, "We gotta be extra careful -- That do we don't build our

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.

In Natasha Trethewey’s poetry collection Native Guard, the reader is exposed to the story of Trethewey’s growing up in the southern United States and the tragedy which she encountered during her younger years, in addition to her experiences with prejudice and to issues surrounding prejudice within the society she is living in. Throughout this work, Trethewey often refers to graves and provides compelling imagery regarding the burial of the dead. Within Trethewey’s work, the recurring imagery surrounding graves evolves from the graves simply serving as a personal reminder of the past, to a statement on the collective memory of society and comments on how Trethewey is troubled with what society has forgotten as it signifies a willingness to overlook the dehumanization of a large group of people.

The Vietnam war was a major event to America because it had major conflicts with personal opinions of the people of 1960’s. In this era, plenty of people were rethinking on why they were fighting in a war that they did not need to be fighting. and joined the anti-war movement. This can explicitly be seen from the type of music that people were listening to at the time. The song that I am going to be analyzing is “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones. This song resonated with the persona of the people for multiple reasons because it was a song that was about losing a loved one and dealing with the sadness.

Floyd Dell’s “The Blanket” is a story about family and relationships; it is about Petey’s family. Petey is a grandson who loves his grandfather dearly. He tries to behave like an adult and saves his grandfather from a lonely life in an old folk’s home. The relationship between Petey and his dad got strained because his dad was sending his grandfather away in order to marry a women that Petey did not like.