Select a popular
song and analyze its lyrics. Next answer the following questions: 1) Why did
you pick this particular song? What does it mean to your and how do the lyrics
resonate with you personally? 2) How does this song affect your mood or
behavior? Please give and explain specific examples. 3) Under what circumstance
might you purposively choose to listen to this song? Give an example of when
you have done this. What effect did it have on you? 4) Finally, describe how
this song might enable you to connect with or identify with others.
Due: Tuesday, May 15 at 3:00 pm
Brett Lee
ReplyDeleteAs well as being a big movie and TV person, I also love music, and listen to it all day. One of my very favorite bands that I’ve listened to since high school is Death Cab for Cutie. My favorite song by them is “Marching Bands of Manhattan”.
I picked this song for a few reasons. After reading the prompt, I realized that this is probably my favorite song of those that are commonly played on the radio. It’s also one that I know all of the words to easily.
The tempo of the song paired with how it is sung really depict me personally. The song is really thoughtful and mellow. You can tell that it was put together very methodically and was designed to impact the listener very powerfully. I am an extremely methodical person, and really appreciate music that is artfully done and representative of real life.
Whenever I listen to “Marching Bands”, I always calm down and really think about life. It’s one of those songs that really makes you think about things and check what you care most about in life. I realized while writing this blog that when I as single, I usually listened to it when I was depressed about girls. One of the messages in the song is that other people have the ability to really affect you, and it’s just a part of life. I listened to it a lot while I was really thinking about where I currently stood in relationships and where I needed to go. One line is particular reads that “I wish we could open our eyes to see in all directions at the same time. Oh what a beautiful view, if you were never aware of what was around you.” This song really allows me to think about my surroundings, and how it’s okay to be discontent with certain situations because nothing in life is perfect.
Since I’ve been married and as I listen to this song, I don’t really consider relationships anymore, but use it more for a reflection of where I stand right now in my life in general. When I meet other fans of the band Death Cab for Cutie, most of the fans admit that this is their favorite song of theirs as well. I’ve had a lot of conversations with people about why they like and what they think about this song in particular.
Andrea Wise
ReplyDeleteSo it took me a while to figure out which song I wanted to analyze because there are so many great songs out there. But the one I chose is What Goes Around Comes Around by Justin Timberlake. I picked this song because I am a huge fan of Justin Timberlake. I also think that this song has a lot of meaning, but it still has this upbeat tempo that makes it fun to listen too.
The song talks about how this girl cheated on him and how he thinks other guys will cheat on her because what goes around comes around. I have been in serious relationships before that ended up being total disasters in the end. So this song has a lot of meaning for me because I did not know in the beginning of those relationships that things were going to turn out badly just like in this song. This song does not make me feel sad or depressed. It actually makes me feel happy and confident. I'm not quite sure why, but I think it is because I am so happy that I am totally free from those dumb guys and that they can no longer affect me. This song makes me feel independent and like I can conquer any relationship. I feel like I will always come out on top because what goes around comes around. Sometimes I have listened to this song when I have been sad about my past relationships, but it always seems to put me in a better mood because it reminds that what goes around comes around. This song helps me to connect with others because I'm sure other people have gone through similar situations like in this song. So we would have this connection.
I picked 'We Are Young' by Fun. I chose this song because I heard back during the super bowl, and it's been stuck in my head ever since. I honestly never really paid attention to the lyrics, but now after I've read them this song definitely has a much much different feeling than before. Before I thought the song was about being young and going around lighting up the town. I thought it portrayed having a good time and enjoying life. It turns out that it's actually about a guy trying to get back with his girlfriend that I guess he domestically abused. Not at all what I originally thought.
ReplyDeleteThis song makes me happy. Even with just hearing a few of the lyrics it really improves my mood. My wife has gotten into the habit that if the Chevy commercial comes on the TV, she'll leave it on so I can listen to it. I also will sometimes sing it when I'm walking to work or school in the morning. It helps me feel better about facing the day.
I would want to listen to this song when I need a pick-me-up or to kick off my day. A lot of the times at work it will be the first song that I pull up on Grooveshark. It helps me focus on work and block out all the distractions around me. When I do the dishes or if I'm cleaning up around the house, it is usually one of the first songs I'll listen to.
I think this song would help me connect with others mostly because of the artist. The band who sings it is called FUN, but the lead singer for the group used to be with another group called The Format. The Format was extremely popular back in the day, so people are always surprised to hear that the singer is still around.
"Dear Friend" by Stacie Orrico
ReplyDeleteDear Friend, what's on your mind
You don’t laugh the way you used to
But I've noticed how you cry
Dear friend, I feel so helpless
I see you sit in silence
As you face new pain each day
I feel there’s nothing I can do
I know you don’t feel pretty
Even though you are
But it wasn’t your beauty
That found room in my heart
Dear friend, you are so precious Dear Friend
Dear friend, I'm here for you
I know that you don’t talk too much
But we can share this day anew
Dear Friend, please don’t feel like you're alone
There is someone who is praying
Praying for your peace of mind
Hoping joy is what you'll find
I know you don’t feel weak
Even though you are
But it wasn’t your strength
That found room in my heart
Dear friend, you are so precious, Dear Friend
1) Because my friend gave me or shared with me when I had a hard day, and this song made me feel better that I am worth something more.
2) I feel like I want to listen to this song when I am feeling down. My mood is not very good and I want to be happier. Whenever I listen to this song, I feel like my friend who shared this song is always there for me even though we don't live close anymore. I feel like someone is supporting me somewhere because it says that someone is praying for me in the lyrics.
3) I feel like I share this song to people who have been feeling the same way that I did at that time—sad and negative. Because this song affected my mood more positively and uplifted my spirit, I think my friends can benefit from this song as well. I think about this song when I feel like there is no support. This songs reminds me that I know there is always someone who cares about me when I don't have a good perspective.
4) I know that someone has a bad day like me. As I was writing this blog essay, I shared this song to one of my friends who had a bad day today. I hope that she feels that there is love and friendship between from this song. This song connects and strengthens a friendship.
Sara Anderson
ReplyDeleteSong: tik tok
Artist: Ke$ha
Select a popular song and analyze its lyrics. Next answer the following questions:
1) Why did you pick this particular song? What does it mean to your and how do the lyrics resonate with you personally?
I picked this song because I find Ke$ha’s music is very catchy and it’s very popular but I have never read the lyrics. The lyrics resonate with my personality because it’s about a confident girl who is very social and loves music. I really like how danceable the song is. I don’t actually agree with all of the lyrics. It references beer and getting drunk among other things.
2) How does this song affect your mood or behavior? Please give and explain specific examples.
This song gets me energized and ready to socialize with friends. I listen to this song usually on the radio with friends or at a dance and it gets me hyped up. This song makes me feel to some extent, like a celebrity, dancing it up like Ke$ha.
3) Under what circumstance might you purposively choose to listen to this song? Give an example of when you have done this. What effect did it have on you?
I would chose to listen to this song when I am driving around with friends and I want them to feel excitement and energy. I might listen to it as I get ready for a dance or fun night with my friends. I have listened to this driving around with friends and it got us dancing and singing along. It kept our spirits high and energetic.
4) Finally, describe how this song might enable you to connect with or identify with others.
I think this song would help me connect with other girls who want to feel confident, social and peppy. Sometimes I listen to music like this so that all my friends will feel the same excitement and energy.
lyrics: http://www.elyricsworld.com/tik_tok_lyrics_ke$ha.html
I just watched the music video for the first time and it shocked me how she seemed to make getting arrested attractive and acceptable. I do not endorse this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP6XpLQM2Cs
I decided to look at the lyrics of Starships by Nicki Minaj because it is currently one of my favorite songs to sing to when I am alone in my car. The song does not really mean much to me other than it is a fun party song that I love to dance to. The lyrics do not personally resonate with me because, like most Nicki Minaj songs, they do not have much meaning behind them that I can find. Her songs are definently nonsensical but so very catchy! Whenever I listen to this song it makes me happy and energized. I feel like I am ready go and do what I need to. If I listen to this song before I go hang out with friends I am full of smiles and bouncing around getting ready to party. I think because Starships is a dancing song my mind remembers dancing to it and all the joy I have when I dance for myself. I always try and listen to upbeat music when I am tired or going out because I feel more ready to deal with people and things I can't control. Dancing is something where I feel totally in control and the songs that remind me of that control and confidence lift my spirits so I feel I can conquer anything. I especially love dancing songs when I have to take a test or write a paper because I move faster and with more certainty! This song helps me connect with others because it gives me similar cultural ground when talking to people but it also makes me happier and more confident so I am friendly when I interact with people . The song is nonsense but the feeling it gives me is confidence. :)
ReplyDeleteChase Lucero
ReplyDeleteThe song I chose, although an interesting endeavor was Christinia Perri- A thousand years. Yeah, like I said I wasn’t expecting to do it. I heard it last night and commented on it and then today when Brock asked me what song I was going to write about that one popped into my head. So, it will be done!
Along with that I really like this song. It has a delightfully enjoyable tune and beat.
This song is actually very personalized at this point in my life. There is a girl I was dating last semester who left for home during this summer and then she graduated-therefore I am in a pickle. Not to get into a long sob story, we still talk a lot and things are interesting. So this song just talks about how love will always be there and how important that person is to Christina. I can agree with her completely and I understand what she was feeling.
This song can take two different directions, I think that if there is no personal attachment/connection to the “story” than it can just be a very happy and joyful jam out song. I have always loved when this came on because it’s a good reflection song. But, now that there is personal attachment to what is being said-if I weren’t as manly as I am- it would be a rather depressing or sad moment.
Well, this is a great song to just drive to and reflect on life and really anything else. But if you wanted to have a nice little pity party/sob fest, this song would be prime time.
Sometimes I get in that reflective mood where I just want to drive and think about things. I have a couple CDs of music that is really calm and chill. This song is on there and it really helps to open my mind to a lot of deep thinking, not even so much for the words but for the beat and flow of the music.
I think that if others are going through a similar situation as me or just if they are in that calm and relaxed mood then they would like to be there as well.
I have to say that my favorite song changes by the minute, but at this point of my life one of my favorite popular songs is Imagine by John Lennon, particularly the Jack Johnson cover version. I picked this song because it relaxes me and provides solitude in the busy chaos of my life. This song was written during the height of the war in Vietnam, the first Nixon administration and the Peace Movement. Much of the popular culture of the time was centered around these factors. While my life doesn’t have problems like this, the busy life of a college student sometimes feels like a riot itself. With that said, there should always be hope and optimism that things will get better. Sometimes we have to fight for the future and sometimes time is what heals the panic. The feelings that extrude in this song really associate and resonate with my feelings. This song is just one example of how music has always had a strong impact on the way I feel. Sometimes I use it to motivate or inspire me, pump me up for a big game, or even bring the Spirit into a time of learning. Music truly does have power. This song in particular would a calm aura and sense of peace to me. In terms of identifying with others, Imagine really has that hippie feel of loving everyone and rallying for positive change. Oftentimes I forget how much easier it is to get ahead when you do it as a team and not as an individual. Imagine helps me keep that focus.
ReplyDeleteSpencer Cornett
ReplyDeleteFor my blog I chose to analyse the lyrics from a country song by Rodney Atkins called “It’s America”. I chose this song because it is one of my favorite summer songs. Something about it gets me ready for summer and with the sunny days and hotter temperatures I felt like listening to a song that got me in a “summery” mood. The lyrics of this song describe what Rodney Atkins contends could go on a postcard for America. He talks about children selling lemonade, a high school prom, Bruce Springsteen songs and American cars. He also sings of putting a man on the moon, fireflies and kids selling lemonade by the road. The song goes on to talk of more patriotic themes like helping our neighbors, fighting for freedom, rock n’ roll and equality. All these lyrics make me feel proud to be an American. They make me want to go for a drive in my GMC truck with the windows down. They make me want to go enjoy the freedom that comes from being an American. It is funny, but it makes me want to go and experience all the things he sings about. I want to listen to Springsteen while I sit and watch fireflies and a full moon. As I said earlier I chose to listen to this song because it reminds me of summer and it gets me in a "summery” mood. I listen to it in order to get pumped for summer vacations and spending time at the beach etc. I used to listen to this song after dropping my wife off on our dates back when we were dating because it just made me feel like I was living the American Dream. This song makes me feel proud to be an American. Because of this feeling I believe that it helps me connect with my fellow Americans. Anyone who is proud of what our country stands for will connect with this song.
I chose to analyze the song ‘Part of Me’ by Katy Perry. I chose this song because it is fun and catchy with fun lyrics. This song is a good girl power song. For me personally, the lyrics empower me and give me the strength to deal with difficult people and situations. This song resonates with me because the lyrics tell us that it is good to be your own person and to not change who you are for anyone. Even though people may be rude or hurtful, you shouldn’t let if affect who you are. This song always get me in a good, happy, and strong mood ready to take on the world. Like I said before, this is a good girl power song –in the past it has helped me get in the right mindset about boys and dating. I sometimes listen to this song when I’m having a hard day and need a good ‘pick-me-up’. This song helps me connect and identify with others because everyone has had to deal with difficult people in the past. All girls have had to deal with stupid boys. At one point or another everyone has had to stand up for who they are. In the end, this song tells us that when we do stand up for whom we are and not change who we are, we end up happier in the end. There are some times when people don’t accept us for who we are, but in the end they are the ones not worth it.
ReplyDeleteSummertime is all about the indie sound for me. The raw sound of the band is what makes the music so great, especially with all the traveling that I get to do this summer. I have been stuck away on the CD “Sigh No More” by Mumford & Sons amongst some others that have the same feel and sound. This is why I have chosen to discuss the song “Roll Away Your Stone” because of the richness and depth behind the song. Taking the listener to a simpler time filled with folk and bluegrass music, Mumford & Son tells a story of beginning anew and repentance and forgiveness.
ReplyDeleteWith the lines:
Roll away your stone, I’ll roll away mine
Together we can see what we will find
Don’t leave me alone at this time,
For I'm afraid of what I will discover inside
There are religious underpinnings of the savior and his resurrection for me. The stone referring to the stone in front of the Savior’s grave and the stone that hides our I see a lot about trying to find hope during a time that you could be lost and without hope.
Lately I have been listening to this song while I am driving or running. Although there is strong religious undertones, the tempo and build throughout the song is still fast. This attribute of the song helps to inspire the sense of hope seen throughout the rest of the lyrics. The mandolin played throughout builds on the idea of grass roots and simple beginnings. A feeling of humility is felt throughout as the vocals and front man Marcus Mumford is singing about a struggle that all people have - a struggle to feel acceptance and move forward with weakness. We all struggle, and this song helps to highlight this. I believe that the song “Roll Away Your Stone” helps to see that through struggle we can become stronger and be able to carry on.
With the lines:
It seems that all my bridges have been burned,
But you say that’s exactly how this grace thing works
It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart,
But the welcome I receive with the restart
You feel the importance of starting over. Yeah it may suck and the journey will be rough but those that will stick by you are those who truly care. Constantly I am evaluating myself and what I am doing. I reassess where I am and what I am doing. I try to figure out who I am and what I want to be and when I am running or just cruising around in my car I am able to listen to this song and help myself think of what needs to be done in order to improve. Overall the song is a powerful representation of man’s journey through life and the important aspect of brushing yourself and moving forward having learned from your mistakes.
The song that I chose to write about is Hang On by Guster. It's perhaps not a mainstream popular song but the band is becoming more well known. This song has meant a lot to me because it is one I turn to in emotional situations. When I am frustrated, sad, impatient, struggling, I listen to this song because it is about the continuum of time and therefore the hope of better things ahead. It affects my mood by sympathizing with me and then uplifting me. The lyrics resonate with me because sometimes I lose perspective and I need to be reminded how good life is and how fleeting hard moments are. I listen to this song when I am overwhelmed and have either succumbed to emotion or am trying to avoid it. I can remember a specific time in high school when I was upset and I pulled my car over to listen to the lyrics and release some emotion. This song has a positive effect on me because it lifts my mood and helps me to calm down or get over what I'm feeling. Instead of dwelling in my mood by listening to melancholy music it helps me to overcome that mood and move on.
ReplyDeleteMichal Savage
ReplyDeleteI chose Michael Buble's song, "Just Haven't Met You Yet." I love this song because it is one of the only songs I know of that isn’t saying how much they love someone, or how much they hate someone. But rather that they love this future person they have never met. I think it is a really cool concept and I appreciate it because I am at that point in my life.
The song always makes me really happy, because it is upbeat and I love the lyrics so much. If there are lame songs on the radio, I have the CD with this song on it that I turn on. It just changes the atmosphere and how I feel. I really enjoy listening to it because it is my type of music with my type of lyrics. It is great!
I do listen to this song when I am frustrated with my dating situation. It helps me keep things in perspective. It always gives me better hope for the future and reminds me that I don’t have to give into those lame boys.
This song, I have noticed, helps me connect particularly to other females. It is a popular song among my single friends because it carries the same message that there is hope for the future while still being encouraging that we will make it through all those lame boys to someday make it to a boy that as of right now, we “Just haven’t met yet.” I know many girls feel the same way, they are holding out for a guy that would fit them best, so this song particularly reverberates with us—and then because we like it, we have a shared experience in the media. It brings us close together.
I picked the song “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People because we used it in a promotion for the BYU Bookstore during a football game because we thought of it as one of the most popular songs of last summer and would resonate with the college crowd. The chorus is very catchy : “All the other kids with their pumped up kicks better run” but I’ve never looked at the rest of lyrics until today doing this assignment. The rest of the chorus says “better run better run, outrun my bullet.” It’s actually a very violent song. Later they sing about smoking a cigarette. I’m generally not very violence nor do I use drugs so I don’t think it’s the words that make me like the song as much as the bass line and the melody of the chorus.
ReplyDeleteI have listened to this song when I’ve been sitting at home bored. It makes me feel more energized and lifts my spirits. I used to play guitar so I think the bass and the drums groove make me back to when I used to play guitar a lot more. I do know that Pumped Up Kicks is a popular song and I have one friend in particular who is a big fan of Foster the People. I have talked to him about this band and other groups and songs that sound similar. Music is a way we connect with those around us.
Song: Somebody that I used to know, by Gotye featuring Kimbra
ReplyDelete1) I chose this song because I first heard it 3 months ago when my roommate showed it to be, I fell in love with it, kinda forgot about it, and now it is played on the radio every ten minutes so I am constantly reminded that it exists. The reason I fell in love with it is because the melody is very catchy and it is a guy and girl duet, which gets me every time! The lyrics don't really relate to me but they do draw emotion out of me so I am hooked on the song. The emotion I feel while listening to this song almost makes me wish I have experienced the kind of relationship the lyrics talk about.
2 & 3) I don't think the song effects my behaviors... I would have to ask roommates about that... but it does effect my mood a little bit. As I said previously, the combination of the lyrics and melody and the male and female fighting in song makes me wish I could relate to the song. When my roommate first showed me the song 3 months ago, a long-term boyfriend and I had broken up. The breakup was needed but not dreadful, obviously I don't care to relive the experience but long-story short it was a breakup that went very well. The song, "Somebody that I used to know" is about a breakup that did not go over so well. After the breakup I listened to this song over and over and over again because I wanted to feel that way. Don't know why exactly. Probably because I felt like the situation should hurt, it should make me cry, it should make me develop negative feelings for the guy, it should do a lot of things, and it didn't. In a way I was living through the song. Or at least trying to. The song over all made me happy because of the catchy melody but sad because I forced myself to be sad while listening to it.
4) There are more songs about love in the world than anything else because it is the one topic that everyone can connect to on some level or another. This song is about breaking up which again, especially for those who have experienced dating and falling in love, which let's be honest is almost everyone, is very relatable. Even for those that have never been in a real relationship the line, "Now you're just somebody that I use to know" applies to old friends, relatives ,co-workers, or anyone that is purposely no longer in your life.