The A Vessel Of Power

Shallow lyrics that fail to evoke much thought can be detrimental to a listener's intellectual health. Many developed countries have seen declines in reading proficiency and the superficial

Songs and song lyrics can take many different forms. Like poetry, they tend to use many different literary elements to convey a story. While most songs don't necessarily have a rhyme scheme like some poems, they do however use elements such as imagery, diction, and many more elements that can be found in poetry. The four songs “Rule Britannia”, “Land of Hope and Glory”, “Waltzing Matilda”, and “We are the Boys from old Florida” demonstrate the use of poetic elements to tell a story.

while everyone else has to continue to struggle. The metaphor, along with the most obvious, the tittle, enhance the effect of storytelling. Not only is the public able to connect their stories, they're essentially able to see what is being narrated through imagery, symbolism and metaphors. Along with these poetic devices, the rhythm enhances the beat in order for the song to get stuck in the minds of its audience and makes it easy for everyone to remember and sing along to cry of struggle.

Often times we use music to relate to ourselves; our lives, experiences, thoughts, and personalities. People use songs as an expression of themselves, their thoughts and past that they may not be able to express in any other

The ability to portray a narrative through a song helps visualize the meaning of a unique story. Depending on the message the song delineates, can either put a saccharine smile on one’s face or generate a cascade of tears. The impactfulness of a story, especially through a song, provides meaningful lyrics which may relate to a dramatic event in a person’s life. Since the days of Native Americans singing songs and telling oracles, the lyrics a song possesses forms special stories that helps a person with their individual struggles in life. Therefore, people often refer to songs to revitalize an unpleasant day. Notable artists usually achieve significant success when they produce impactful songs that many can relate to. Their awareness

     The power of song helped slaves through their dehumanized lives. They created unity in songs of religion and denounced the power their masters held over them. They were going to rebel in all facets of life. Slaves knew “that a happy slave is an extinct man” (p.33). The meanings of these songs can not be overstated. One who knew the importance of song was Frederick Douglass. “They told a tale of woe...they breathed the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the

Throughout the history of music, lyrics have been used to express different feelings, such as pain, heartache, joy, and love. Songwriters often use their lyrics to show a deeper meaning and message. Oftentimes, people just hear the music, and never actually listen to it. They hear the beat of it, and possibly get a catchy tune stuck in their heads, but never listen to the words, and the point that the songwriter is actually trying to get across. Most of the time, song lyrics are written to spill one’s heart and all of it’s emotions and/or feelings.

may not have carried with them a deep and intense message as songs with lyrics did, but

Most songs are trying to portray a message to other listeners through the use of lyrics and music put together, to me the song “Fast Car” written by Tracy Chapman was very successful at this. This song portrays a teenage girl whose mother ran away from her drunken father and that she left school to look after him as she felt it was her responsibility. She had a boyfriend with a fast car and saw him as an escape from her unhappy home life. Through the main character of the teenage girl, I was able to see her perspective through the lyrics and her feelings towards running away for a better life.

I worked with the metaphor of lyrics being people. They comfort and console. They pull on your heart and tug at your soul. They print an impression on your memory and treat you like an angel and an enemy. They give you a real purpose and let you drift away and get lost in the moment. I chose this as my metaphor because there are so many lyrics I can relate too from different times in my life. There are songs I listened to at a certain time that I can go back to and feel the same as I did before. Some songs I never go back to, and others I go back to constantly. Sometimes when I want to listen to a song I do not even want to have lyrics in it. All I want to be able to do is listen to the mood of the song and not have to connect with it. It gives

There is no doubt that song lyrics possess the potential to be powerful. The meaning of the lyrics can be used in any way the listener feels it applies. The underlying meaning to a song often determines if I will listen to it or not. Words such as “lonely” and “change” are repeatedly used in “Go Your Own Way”. Change and loneliness are arduous for many people, myself included, and listening to this song alleviates the pain of heartbreak. Many people experience this pain but cannot put it into words. Fleetwood Mac, however, successfully accomplished this. This song helped me to get through some tough times, and it

Music is hard to avoid; it’s on the radio, in stores, and can get stuck in our head. Living in a world filled with sound all the time, music has a tendency to go through one ear and out the other. We don’t tend to ever pay attention to the lyrics, as if they mean nothing, or as if we can’t relate. But that’s the only reason why the song was made in the first place. Music tells a story, whether it has lyrics or not, it’s intended to grip us as humans. Some songs may even share the values as us with their relatable lyrics and captivating tunes. The song ‘Helplessness Blues’ by Fleet Foxes supports my values of loyalty, variety, and wisdom, by telling a story of a man in search of hope for more than a ordinary life.

What makes music great? Is this not the question that everyone asks themselves? What makes that one song so special, what makes that band so amazing? It is questions like this that I ask myself every time I listen to music; which in my case, quite a bit. There is just something about the music that speaks to you. I believe that the lyrics are a main part of what makes music great. The lyrics are what draw people in, it is what connects the listener to the performer.

Prospective lyric writers are told to write what they know. This mantra is hammered into your head as a writer, but lyric writers fail to get much more direction beyond that. Writing lyrics requires you to express a thought, idea, or theme in a manner that makes them suitable for singing. It 's more than simply putting words on a page, since if the lyrics are awkward or stilted, the music is going to be difficult to sing. Since writing lyrics is such a personal thing, it 's not possible to write a single article that tells every songwriter in the world how to express their feelings. However, like music composition, there are certain basics that can be learned to make the process of writing lyrics go more smoothly.

Lyric writers do what they do because they believe that words accompanied by music have more of an effect on the reader/listener. That, and we all know that when you're in a band you get a lot chicks. Seriously though, lyric writers do not really mind the extra work that goes into writing their lyrics because they see it as part of their job. They also see it as a way of conveying what they feel. Most writers of any form will tell you that is a major reason for doing what they do. They seem to have this need to make others feel the way they do. A poet can argue the same thing and they will both be convinced that they are right.