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.