Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Tone in Song

The tone of Boston’s “Rock and Roll Band” greatly contrasts with the tone of Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar”. Both of these songs apply to the theme of fame and success. Although these songs relate to the same topic, they display very different views of the music industry and their success.

“Rock n’ Roll Band” by Boston has a strong tone of happiness and positivity. Within the first verse, the lyrics “We didn’t have much money/We barely made enough to survive/but when we got up on stage and got ready to play/People came alive” display how they weren’t rich, but they were successful and had a great time doing what they did. Through their optimism and positivity, Boston talks about “Dancin’ in the streets of Hyannis,” Dancing represents happiness, and they applied local color while adding to their tone. The lead’s voice even sounds overjoyed and satisfied with the life he lives as he sings “Rock n’ Roll Band”. In one verse towards the end of the song, Boston sings about getting signed to a record company contract by a man smoking a big cigar, and they remained positive throughout the entire song.

“Have a Cigar” by Pink Floyd has a tone which contrasts from Boston’s song. “Have a Cigar” contains a negative tone, criticizing the music industry. Floyd’s song shows their skepticism of a man who is trying to sign their band because he “heard about the sell-out” that the band encountered. The man knew that the band had been successful so far, but he didn’t know much about the band, which was obvious as he asked, “Oh by the way, which one’s Pink?” He offers the narrator of the song a cigar, which also related to the Boston song, where there’s a man smoking a cigar. In these songs, the cigar represents luxury and success. In “Have a Cigar” Floyd displays their cynicism towards being in the music business just for the money and not for the fun.

Within Boston’s “Rock and Roll Band” and Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar” the two bands display contrasting tones. “Rock and Roll Band” contains a tone of positivity and happiness, while “Have a Cigar” holds a tone of darkness and mocking. Both songs use cigars as a symbol of fame and luxury, while expressing different tones.

Plagiarism in Song

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' song, "Dani California", is rumored to plagiarize Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance". After listening to the two songs, I believe that there are a few similarities between the songs, but it wasn't meant to be intentional. In an interview, Tom Petty stated that he didn't care whether or not they plagiarized his song. He believed that RHCP had no negative intent in writing "Dani California", despite the similarities. A lot of rock and roll songs sound alike, and that's what Petty believes happened in this case.

I believe that Coldplay's song "Viva La Vida" plagiarized Joe Satriani's "If I Could Fly". The similarities between Satriani's guitar riffs and Coldplay's chorus are very obvious and easy to pick up on. In an interview, Satriani said that as soon as he heard "Viva La Vida" he recognized that they stole part of the song that he slaved over writing for ten years. He tried to avoid bringing the case to court, but Coldplay tried to ignore his call for attention. I believe that if Coldplay really didn't plagiarize Satriani's song, then they would have confronted him rather than ignoring him and hoping that the issue would disappear.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Cover Songs - Mad World

In the year 1982, Tears for Fears released their first single, “Mad World”. Tears for Fears is a British Synthpop band, and “Mad World” was their first song to make the top charts in the UK. This song made it to #3 on the UK Singles Chart, and it made several top 40s in other countries. Twenty years later, Gary Jules covered “Mad World” for the movie soundtrack for Donnie Darko. Gary Jules recorded a simple, stripped down, alternative rock version of the song. Jules’ version of the song became a success once the Donnie Darko soundtrack was released in 2002. Because of the song’s sudden success, it had to be released as a single. This cover of “Mad World” made it to #1 on the UK singles chart, and it has been featured in several television shows, commercials, etc.

There are several notable differences between the original song and the cover song. Jules’ version is very slowed down and the main instrument used in the song is a piano, compared to Tears for Fears’ upbeat version of the song with a full band playing. The tone is different in each such because of the style of music. Tears for Fears’ version of “Mad World” is more upbeat and without listening to the lyrics, it could possibly be mistaken as a happy song, because of its bouncy vibe. Gary Jules’ cover of “Mad World” has a more eerie tone, and it has a darker feel to it since it isn’t as fast paced as the original. Jules’ version puts an emphasis on the lyrics of the song by using less instruments and focusing more on the vocals. The song lyrics in the cover version are the same as the lyrics in the original.

Tears for Fears’ lyrics contain several poetic devices, such as imagery, situational irony, tone, mood, and paradox. The lines “I find it kind of funny/I find it kind of sad/the dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had” are an example of a paradox, because the first two lines are contradictory, which can both be true. The first verse of the song is an example of imagery, describing worn-out people being up bright and early for work, and yet they are “going nowhere”. Also, the idea of going to work and yet going nowhere is an example of situational irony. The tone of the song varies between the versions of the song, but they are both mainly negative tones. The mood of the song is negative and depressing due to the fact that the writer’s best dreams are the dreams in which they’re dead.

Twenty years after Tears for Fears released their first hit single; Gary Jules covered that same song and made it an even bigger hit than the original. Through their ways of performing the song, and their contrasting music genres, the tone of the song is different in each version. Although the lyrics remain the same in the cover song, the song gives off a different vibe due to its slow rhythm and simplicity. The song became more popular more recently when Adam Lambert of American Idol covered the Gary Jules version, although his cover of the song is not that different.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Song Analysis: Best Wishes by This Providence

This Providence is an alternative band from Seattle, Washington. Their music consists of mainly vocals, guitar, bass guitar, and the drums. The band was signed to Fueled By Ramen in 2006, and since then they have released three full-length albums and two EPs. This Providence’s use of personification, objectification, and other poetic attributes within their lyrics clearly capture the emotion that the song displays.
In the song “Best Wishes,” This Providence uses a number of poetic devices within the lyrics. Throughout the songs, the lyrics display the first person point of view, speaking to the focus of his heartache. Within the first line, the lyrics “your words hit harder than expected” is the first example of personification used in the song. Another line containing personification includes “the distance between you and I killed us gradually,” giving the “distance” human characteristics. In the first verse, the lyrics “my dreams were interrupted by the bittersweet fragrance of our childhood dreams” is another example of personification, giving the fragrance the ability to interrupt dreams. Another reoccurring poetic attribute in this song is objectification, such as in the line “a spoonful of your sarcasm.” Another example of objectification in the song is “a handful of memories” which is repeated in each chorus of the song.
In conclusion, Best Wishes is a song that contains multiple examples of poetic devices. This Providence uses personification and objectification throughout the entire song. Through these lines, the song displays the theme of heartache and separation, and a tone of negativity. In Best Wishes, This Providence portrays the emotion within the lyrics with the use of poetic devices such as point of view, tone, personification, and objectification.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy - Song Analysis


The singer-songwriter, Alison Sudol, is known professionally as A Fine Frenzy. A Fine Frenzy’s alternative music consists of mainly vocals and piano, along with some guitar and percussion. The Californian artist was discovered in 2006, and since then some of her music has been featured in television shows such as House and Defying Gravity, as well as in the soundtracks for the films Sleepwalking and Dan in Real Life. A Fine Frenzy’s strong use of imagery, mood, and other literary devices perfectly capture the emotion within her lyrics.

In the song “Almost Lover,” A Fine Frenzy uses numerous examples of poetic attributes within the lyrics. The point of view throughout the lyrics is in the first person perspective. Within the first verse of the song, Sudol uses imagery in the lyrics, “Your fingertips across my skin / the palm trees swaying in the wind / Images.” In a later verse, “We walked along a crowded street / you took my hand and danced with me / Images” is another example of her use of imagery. The repetition of the word “images” forces the image described in the previous statement into the listener’s mind. In another verse, Sudol uses imagery and slight local color while singing “I cannot go to the ocean / I cannot drive the streets at night / I cannot wake up in the morning / without you on my mind.” Within the song, Sudol also uses both alliteration and assonance to make the lyrics flow and sound pleasing; “You sang me Spanish lullabies / the sweetest sadness in your eyes” The S beginning sound is found in both lines as exemplary alliteration, and the similar sounding ending of lullabies and eyes is an example of assonance. Also, alliteration is found in the chorus with the words “long” and “luckless.” Towards the end of the song, the lyric “to walk right in and out of my life” is an example of objectification, making life seem as though it were concrete enough to actually physically walk in and out of although it really is not. The entire song has a strong mood of disappointment and being stuck after leaving some sort of relationship. With lyrics such as “Goodbye, my hopeless dream / I’m trying not to think about you / can’t you just let me be?” it displays her feelings of heartache. While listening to the song, it is easy for one to understand the mood of being stuck with memories and feelings through lines in the song such as “so you’re gone and I’m haunted.”

In conclusion, Almost Lover is a song that it filled with poetic devices. A Fine Frenzy uses alliteration and assonance to make the song flow and sound pleasing, along with her plentiful use of imagery. Through certain lines and phrases, she can clearly display the mood of the song. In Almost Lover, A Fine Frenzy is able to portray the emotion within the lyrics with the use of poetic devices such as mood, alliteration, assonance, imagery, point of view, and objectification.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Theme-Genre Declaration

My theme-genre for poetry of song is heartache in alternative music. I chose alternative as my genre because I wanted to be able to include most of the music that I'm interested in. I'm interested in all sorts of music genres that can all be classified as alternative, so I kept it broad. The alternative genre can include other genres such as indie, rock, punk, pop, metal, etc. I first started listening to alternative music when I was in the seventh grade, when I began listening to bands such as Fall Out Boy and The Academy Is. Since then, my taste in music has opened up beyond the top 40 on the radio, and I listen to more music that isn't considered mainstream. Heartache is a reoccurring them in alternative music, and a lot of lyrics based on heartache can be very deep, so I chose this as my theme.