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Song Analysis: Locked Away

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Interpretive Example Four
An artist’s craft allows them to express deeply held emotions. Symbolism and metaphors can hide these meanings, but with music the lyrics often express emotions clearly. These lyrics show not only what the artist feels, but also what they think society expects them to feel, and therefor will purchase. I was recently listening to music, and a song called “Locked Away”, by R. City featuring Adam Levine came on. All three performers publicly identify as men, yet this song expresses much more vulnerability and emotion than most popular music performed by male artists today. Throughout the song, the artists express their feelings of insecurity in their current relationship, shown in the chorus with the lines “If I showed you my flaws/If I couldn’t be strong/Tell me honestly/Would you still love me the same?” (Locked Away, 2015). From these lines, one can tell that the singer’s questioning of his strength and self worth cause his insecurity in his relationship. As Pollack discusses in his 1995 piece, society teaches men to hide their emotions and be a “sturdy oak”, and these lines show the artist sees weakness and vulnerability as flaws. Society gives men many unrealistic expectations in …show more content…

Pollack argues “men suffer a traumatic abrogation of their early holding environment” (Pollack, 1995, p. 35). He talks about how society expects boys to detach themselves from their mothers at an early age, and how this has a serious effect on their ability to form healthy attachments later in life, especially with women. This song displays the singer’s insecurities about his relationship, which Pollack’s “traumatic abrogation” perspective explains

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