Point of View

"We Didn't Start the Fire" ~ Billy Joel
This song is an example of both first person narrative and stream of consciousness. Each verse is basically a list of allusions. In the chorus, the narrator uses the pronoun "we" in the lines: "We didn't start the fire/ No we didn't light it/ But we tried to fight it."

"Get Back" ~ The Beatles
This song is an example of both third person omniscient and second person narrative. In each verse, the narrator tells stories about different characters and knows their thoughts, although the narrator is not part of the stories. "Get back to where you once belonged" shows how the audience becomes the characters that are sung of in the previous verses.

"What Else Can I Say?" ~ Chicago
This song is a combination of first person narrative and second person narrative. The narrator uses the pronoun "I" to express his thoughts. At the same time, the narrator uses the pronoun "you" to refer to the audience. In the lines, "I can't follow you there/ What do you have in mind?" the narrator is still referred to as "I," but he speaks directly to the audience in his expressions.

"Hey There Delilah" ~ Plain White T's
This song is an example of epistolary narrative. It is written as though it is a letter to "Delilah." The lyrics, "What's it like in New York City?/ I'm a thousand miles away" imply that Delilah is a great distance from the man who wrote the "letter."

Hyperbole

I chose the song "You Found Me" by The Fray because it has two good examples of hyperbole. One example is "The early morning, the city breaks." This is a hyperbole because it is not meant to be taken literally; the city does not literally break. In another example, which also includes alliteration, the narrator asks God, "Where were you when everything was falling apart?" Of course, he does not mean that everything physically collapsed. This hyperbole is used to express the helplessness that he felt when he was faced with challenges in life. He feels as though God was not there when he needed God's help the most.

Songs with Alliteration

"Good Times Bad Times" by Led Zeppelin
- "means...man"
- "those things the"
- "when...woman"
- "still...seem"
- "when...whispered"
- "wish...was"

"She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5
- "help her"
- "miles...miles"
- "can come"
- "things that"
- "back...begs"

"Gallows Pole" by Led Zeppelin
- "hangman, hangman, hold"
- "many mile"
- "some silver"
- "get...gold"
- "bring...brother"
- "brother...brought"
- "man, man"
- "yes, you"
- "blood...boiling"
- "sister...soul...so...see...swinging"

Songs with Imagery

I chose to analyze "Crippled Inside" by John Lennon. This song falls under the catergories of both my theme and genre, and it demonstrates many examples of imagery. At the beginning of the song, the lyrics are: "You can shine your shoes and wear a suit/ You can comb your hair and look quite cute...You can wear a collar and a tie." These phrases describe one's appearance when one makes the effort to look attractive, and the use of imagery allows the listener to create an image in his/her mind. "You can hide your face behind a smile" creates the image of a smile on one's face, while the word "hide" suggests that the smile does not truly represent his/her feelings. The same message is illustrated in the phrase, "You can wear a mask and paint your face," where the images of one covering his/her face with paint and a mask once again refer to "hiding." An example of imagery of both sight and sound is "You can go to church and sing a hymn." This line is included in the song to support the message that although one can try to have a good appearance on the outside, it is impossible to hide the fact that one is "crippled" on the inside.

I also decided to analyze "The Sun" by Maroon 5. This song also falls under the categories of my theme and genre, and it also demonstrates effective usage of imagery. In the first verse, the setting is established with: "Walking home/ Fresh dirt under my fingernails/ And I can smell hot asphalt/ Cars screech to a halt to let me pass." This first instance of imagery appeals to sight, smell, and sound. Visual imagery is created when the listener is able to imagine how we look "through photographs/ Trying to recreate images life gives us from our past." Another example of imagery is: "several miles from the sun," which could create an image of either being literally close to the sun, or being hopeful. The second verse includes the phrases: "Moving on down the street/ I see people I won’t ever meet/ Think of her, take a breath/ Feel the beat in the rhythm of my steps/...The rhythm of her conversation..." This example of imagery is employed to explain how much the writer has been positively impacted by his relationship with the girl he refers to.

Theme/Genre

Rock music is the genre that I have decided on. The songs that I enjoy are not limited to one genre, so I tried to choose the genre that includes as much of the music that I listen to as possible. I wanted to choose a type of music that is general to give me more options of songs to use for each assignment. The genre of rock is open to various categories with many possibilities when it comes to choosing songs. Helplessness is the theme that I have chosen. When I began the process of deciding my theme, I thought of many of the songs that I listen to. I found common themes between these songs, and I made my decision based on the themes that I recognized.