Music Poetry

Enjoy!

Kanye West - "Graduation"

Kanye West has had an extremely long career for a hip-hop artist, spanning over the course of 3 decades an producing over 109 singles. On of my personal favorites is Homecoming, which appears on his album Graduation. Homecoming draws from stories of Kanye's childhood to illustrate his connection with his home town of Chicago. While Kanye is no longer living in Chicago, Homecoming is meant as an homage to the city and describes the aspects that Kanye misses from his old home.

The most prominent poetic language used throughout the song is an extended metaphor. Kanye opens his first verse with the lines:

I met this girl when I was 3 years old
And what I loved most she had so much soul
She said "Excuse me lil homey, I know you don't know me
But, my name is Windy and I like to blow trees"

On the surface, Kanye is writing a love ballad to a girl he met when he was young, but this really isnt the case. Windy is a play of off Chicago's nick name "The Windy City" and Kanye moved to Chicago when he was 3. This metaphor continues throughout the song and adds depth to the relationship between Kanye and Chicago. By describing his love as the love between two people, Kanye lets the audience feel the great amount of intimacy that join him with Chicago.

In almost every single line, Kanye continues to develop the seperate stories of his romance with a girl and his romance with Chicago. In one of the most vivid lines, Kanye says:

In the nighttime her face lit up, so astounding  

On one level, this is just talking about a girls face brightened by all the city lights. However, it gets much more interesting when you view it as a personification and inspect it next to the underlying theme of Chicago. While Chicago doesn't have an actual face, its lights do turn on at night and the whole city shines. Though this line is simple in sentence and word choice, it does a good job of representing the goal of the song, which is the development of two stories. What I think is remarkable about this is how naturally Kanye is able to use this personification to weave the two stories together.

In one of the last lines of the second verse, Kanye says:

Reach for the stars so if you fall, you land on a cloud

This is a perfect example of an idiom that feels completly at home in the song. Kanye developed the plot of the song from his childhood to his rap career and uses this figurative language to explain that he is trying to make it to the top of the rap industry. The use of the words stars and clouds helps build on the previous language used to describe Chicago as a big, bright city.

Over the span of 3 minutes and 24 seconds, Kanye is able to build a love story in a cityscape, a love story to that cityscape, and connect them both back to his rap career through the use of his poetic language.

Kendrick Lamar - "Money Trees"

Kendrick Lamar is a rapper that grew up in Compton, California who began to gain major recognition in 2010. In October 2012 he released an album called good kid m.A.A.d city. In this album, the fifth song is called "Money Trees." Kendrick expresses this song as a way of talking about how money changes people and he assesses his situation in his home town of Compton, where he reflects on the immortalization of his uncle after he was shot. There are many ways in which this song could be considered poetry. There are many striking and clever lines that Kendrick uses to make his point.


         Money trees is the perfect place for shade and that's just how I feel
         A silver spoon I know you come from, ya bish
         And that's a lifestyle that we never knew
         Go at a reverend for the revenue


By saying this I believe that he is trying to express the fact that a person in his old situation is never really safe unless he has money to protect himself. In Compton there is a lot of poverty and it is a place known for its violence. A person living in that kind of environment seems to be in danger a lot of the time and Kendrick knows that first hand. He says this because the only way to get out of that dangerous situation is to make a lot of money so you can move away from that terrible place. The silver spoon is a lifestyle that many people in Compton do not have the luxury of receiving in their lives. These lines reflect how Kendrick felt as he was growing up.


         Dreams of living life like rappers do
         Back to reality we poor, ya bish
         Another casualty at war, ya bish
         Two bullets in my uncle tony head


In these lines we see that even though he dreamt of "living life like rappers do," he still had to realize that was an unlikely wish. He references to when his uncle was shot. Just "Another casualty at war" because that was such a normal thing around there. I feel like he is speaking to the general public about his experiences. He wants people to see that someone being shot is not really a huge deal around there. Life is a war in that situation and he accepts the fact that lives will be lost in the fight.


I believe that this song is a true representation of what poetry can be. This song has many lines in it that make you think about where he came from and the situation of these people living in that place. Kendrick Lamar uses many clever words and phrases to speak to the audience in a way that they can tell what he is feeling while he is speaking those lines. I think that is what poetry is all about, is being able to read something or listen to something and experience a feeling of what the author was trying to convey. 

Music Is Poetry: Passenger's "The One You Love"

I consider music to be poetry because my definition of poetry is quite broad and loose. I define poetry as a release of emotions or ideas through words. “The One You Love,” a really beautiful song by Passenger from their album Flight of the Crow, is a great piece of poetry. While I don’t agree that poetry has to include specific “poetic devices” to be poetry, this song does include poetic devices. The song is, quite simply, about finding The One and figuring out how to tell when you've found The One. At the heart of the song is the idea that The One is the person you are the most comfortable with and the safest with.

In the first verse the use of repetition in the lines, "we’re all looking/ that’s what she said/ for someone to share our thoughts/ for someone to share our beds" helps with the idea of knowing when you've found The One. When you've found someone you can connect with mentally and emotionally- "our thoughts"- and connect with physically- "our beds"- then you know you've found your person. The chorus uses repetition to show signs of The One saying that "if you find someone that doesn’t try to change you/ if you find someone that doesn’t have to blame you/ if you find someone you don’t need to explain to" then you've found The One. Repeating the line "if you find someone" makes it clear that there are many signs for telling whether someone is your person to spend the rest of your life with. I love the imagery they use when they say that we're searching "for someone to keep us warm/ when the rain soaks through our clothes." I always imagine two people running through a thunderstorm holding hands and laughing and then huddling together and dancing close to each other. It paints a picture of how things are when you find The One.

And now since I've proved that this song fits the standard description of poetry and includes poetic devices I can say that I don't think these things are what makes this song poetry. It's poetry purely because someone had a strong emotion of love, or loss of love, or hope for love and needed music to pour out that emotion. Writing music is an emotional outlet and to me that's the only requirement for poetry.

Drake - "Company"

Company (listen) by Drake was featured on his latest mixtape release, If you're reading this it's too late. The central focus of this song is a struggle of being who Drake is, and relationship issues, primarily trouble with finding a woman who is right for him. It states what he wants from a woman he would have a relationship. He forgets his ego when he says "I don't deserve her at all", but the things he expects from a woman are very sexist, confining his women to traditional sex roles. "I need a girl who gon' love me, I need a girl who gon' trust me, someone to fuck me, Someone to make me feel lucky..." This is one of the main focuses of the song, and Drake really confines women to specific sex roles in his expectations. He implies that what all men need is a woman he will love him, trust him, and please him sexually, objectifying women as is typical of rap artists. "She on some 9AM already cookin' in the kitchen shit". Another highly stereotypical expectation of women, which further adds to Drake's apparent purpose of describing the sex roles of women and actually believing them. "I need you to take my mind off being in my prime". And finally Drake finishes his portion of the song by expressing his desire for a woman who will relax him because of all the stress that he has from work.

The Poetry of Life's "Almanac"

“Almanac” by The Acorn is a soulful song that carries the listener along the rhythm of the drums and holds them in the warm voice of Rolf Klausener. He sings about someone who wants to explore the world and have a life worth living, but something is holding them back.

There's a season in your eyes
and a fever on your breath
you're anchored to the tide
and the rhythm in your chest

He can see that the person yearns to go out into the world, but they are stuck. His words show that this person is living their life with every day as consistent as the one before. Tides change, and they pull us in new directions, but this person is anchored and cannot be taken with the flow of life. Our heart beats change speed according to how we feel. When it races, it has the power to move us. But this person is held back by the rhythm of their chest, rather than sent forward.

Whatever it is that’s preventing them from really living, we will all at sometime in our lives wish for something more. Something will try to keep us from grasping what we want, whether it be self-doubt, fear, love, hate, or some other emotion that has too much power over us. I know this feeling. The feeling of seeing the world at my fingertips but not being able to just go out there and take it.

I read the rings and count the city lights
you sing a static sonnet on the dial
you could talk a walk, through the mines
or you could spend all your days
just waiting for the night

When the singer’s voice drifts through my speakers, he’s talking to me. He’s asking me why I’m not out there already, why I’m letting my life plateau until something great comes along and just happens. He’s questioning me. I’m questioning myself. The song is poetry in the way that it makes me feel and think about how I live.

the stones that skip, the dust that turns to fire
I see it all reflected in your eyes

In these lines, he sees in all wishful adventurers what they themselves sometimes miss. An almanac is a book published every year about the movements of the tides, the sun, and the moon. This “Almanac” is a record of life, and a reflection on its movements.

Regina Spektor - "The Calculation"

Regina Spektor is one of the best lyricists of our generation. All of her songs are incredibly complex and poetic, but my favorite of her songs (lyrically) is The Calculation. (Lyrics here)

The song is about people forcing love, and forcing relationships, just because it seems like they should be there, for whatever reason - because they seem like they should be perfect for each other, or because everyone thinks they should be together.

So we made our own computer
Out of macaroni pieces
And it did our thinking
While we lived our lives
It counted up our feelings
And divided them up even
And it called our calculation
Perfect love

This part of the song is about them going through life mindlessly, letting factors determine things that emotions should be deciding. The "computer" in the song is talking about these formulas that we've created in our society. X plus Y equals perfect relationship.

So we made the hard decision
And we each made an incision
Past our muscles and our bones
Saw our hearts were little stones
Pulled 'em out they weren't beating
And we weren't even bleeding
As we lay them on our granite counter top

Their hearts have been so hardened by the pressure of the calculations that they hardly feel human anymore. By portraying this usually gory imagery of cutting and taking hearts out and baring them as being sterile and dry emphasizes how sterile and dry these people have become. They're baring their hearts to each other and it seems almost sterile.

We beat 'em up against each other
We beat 'em up against each other
We struck 'em hard against each other
We struck 'em so hard, so hard 'til they sparked

By banging their rock hearts against each other to make a spark, they are forcing themselves to love one another by just shoving themselves together again and again.

Blue Lips by Regina Spektor

In 2009, Regina Spektor released "Far" which contains the song Blue Lips. This song is about coming of age and how the world around us seems to change as we grow up. She uses imagery, personification, and understatement to develop her poetic idea.
Blue lips, blue veins

She repeatedly uses this imagery throughout the song which creates a feeling of being cold. When we were younger, most people had no care in the world. We often reflect back on the times of ignorant bliss and protection from the outside world. As we become adults, we lose the warm comfort of our parents and hometown to face our cold lives of responsibility and loneliness. This kinesthetic feeling of being cold and blue reflects how life seems to treat us harshly when we grow up.

The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe

She personifies the "pictures in his mind. The pictures, or memories, were dormant and have now been remembered for what they truly are. When we are younger, we see things but they don't really register as anything and they get filed away in the backs of our minds. When we are older we look back on those memories and realize the harsh reality of what we thought was a harmless moment in our childhood. The use of personification gives a more personal reaction toward how we feel when we realize our childhood was not as happy as we remember.

He stumbled into faith and thought,
"God, this is all there is."

Typically, when introduced formally to faith, one would expect to have this incredible, emotional reaction and connection to it. However, the speaker is saying that the faith humans have created for themselves long ago is no longer enough for the those "enslaved in the assembly lines". They need more to get them through their cold, blue routine. She uses an understatement to actually amplify how we feel toward faith. Instead of just casually stating that "this is all there is", humans are desperately hungry for a new religion that can help them survive in this new age.

This song puts into words the emotions we have in our day to day lives. We often feel that since we've grown up, life has beat us down and threw us into a cold, blue world. We are just going through the motions rather than living the happy lives we did when we were young and innocent.

Music Poetry: Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran is a popular young vocalist, well known for his unique R & B folk blend. He writes many of his own songs, including “Thinking out Loud”, in the album “X”. This was Sheeran’s second single to reach number one on the UK singles chart. Sheeran is singing the song to his love, and describing to her how he feels about her. I believe that this song, while not only genius in a musical sense, could also be viewed as poetry, with it’s excellent use of personification, imagery and repetition. 

The best use of personification in the song is when Sheeran writes, “Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?” Furthermore, Sheeran uses various examples of imagery in the song, such as when he writes, “Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars.” Finally, because he uses a refrain in the song, the song uses repetition to further develop it, the best example of this is when, in the last stanza he writes, “That maybe we found love right where we are. Oh, baby, we found love right where we are. And we found love right where we are.”

Untitled: What Did Kendrick Say?

Lyrics

A few months ago, Kendrick Lamar performed on the penultimate episode of The Colbert Report. As Colbert's final musical guest ever, he performed a new, untitled song he had written. Perhaps as a tribute to the show itself, which is a satire of the white, conservative media, Lamar's song focused mainly on race, which is a prevalent theme in his work, as well as in most hip-hop music. The untitled work is a perfect example of a poem that raises issues of race and the significance of what different races generally have respect for. 

The introduction frames Kendrick going back to his old neighborhood and flirting with a girl, who is asking him for advice at the beginning of each verse in the repeated line, "What did the [insert racial group] man say?" This makes him think about what generally considered in four cultures, represented by four different men. The "Asian," the "Indian," and the "black man" represent the point of views of three different groups, and they all give Kendrick advice in the form of a "piece" of themselves. This parallelism gives the poem structure, and provides a unity to the whole song. It also makes the men similar in that they all want something. The last man, the "white man" instead takes a piece of Kendrick. This is followed by a response from Kendrick, who represents the first three men. 

"(What did the Asian say?)
A peace of mind
That's what the Asian said, I need a divine
Intervention was his religion and now it's a prize"

The first man, the Asian, tells Kendrick he needs a "peace of mind." This is a pun, because whereas all of the other men are giving Kendrick a "piece" of advice, the Asian's advice is a "peace of mind," or calmness. This pun simply emphasizes Lamar's creativity as a lyricist. Eastern culture often focuses on mental and spiritual well-being. This is heavily shown in Buddhism, which encourages meditation and inner peace. By focusing on mental and spiritual health through calmness and perspective rather than indulging the stresses of careers and money a person can achieve this peace.

"(What did the Indian say?)
A piece of land
That's what the Indian said, I needed demand
Telling me longevity is in the dirt, buy some property first
Profit a better dollar with generational perks"

The second man, the Indian, tells Kendrick he needs "a piece of land." This first applies to Native Americans, who historically have a special connection with their land and regard it as sacred. On another level, however, it speaks to how the Native American people have submitted to Western culture by switching their focus towards not only land, but material possessions. Ultimately, the focus of his advice is security, through land, and economic independence, which is not to be confused with greed.

"(Now what the black man say?)
A piece of nookie
That's what the black man said, I needed to push me
To the limit, satisfy my hunger"

The third man, the black man, tells Kendrick he needs "a piece of nookie." This is slang for sex. The point being made is that there is a certain power in the sexual desire that permeates mankind. It is not unhealthy, but rather works as a motivation for success. The lesson here is that attraction and feeling and even hunger are the key to social and physical success in society.

"(What the white man say?)
A piece of mines
That's what the white man wanted when I rhyme
Telling me that he selling me just for $10.99
I go platinum from rapping, I do the company fine
What if I compromise? He said it don't even matter"

 The final man, the white man, instead of giving Kendrick advice takes a piece of Kendrick. This represents the majority of America that is white and the focus in the majority on greed, money, power, and domination. This leads to the commercialization of life and art that robs people of their culture. However, Kendrick does not stand for this robbery of his identity, and speaking for all minorities, he responds. He won't sell out his art or culture for money, and he will use his culture and the advice he learned from the first men to succeed and "shoot for the stars."

"I holler, 'What you do? What you say?'
I shall enjoy the fruits of my labor if I get freed today"

"What the black man say?
Tell 'em we don't die, tell 'em we don't die, we multiply"

The song ends with a repeating hook and repeating outro. The hook is a reference to the enslavement of blacks in America, but also, perhaps more importantly, it is an extended metaphor for the enslavement of all cultures and races by commercialism. The white man is set to exploit other cultures purely for their profit, which means that those who have control of culture are betraying art by commercializing it and the culture of its creators.The outro is spoken directly from Kendrick, in which he says he and the people of all minorities and oppressed cultures will never die or give up but will continue to grow stronger.
Throughout the song, numerous stereotypes are made about the people talking to Kendrick. These stereotypes are not meant to harm people, but rather to signify the uniqueness each culture brings to the table in America. The evil and greed is not a condemnation of white people, but a condemnation of  the white-dominated culture of oppression that exists in America. The advice that Kendrick receives does not automatically mean that all black people love sex or all Asians are peaceful. Each piece of advice represents a different culture. If Kendrick can learn to appreciate and follow (or not follow) each peace of advice, he can be healthy and successful. Likewise, if America can learn to appreciate each race and culture equally, it can be a healthy and successful society.
P.S. If this song can't be obtained for the class playlist on Spotify, I suggest "Hood Politics" by Kendrick Lamar from his new album, To Pimp a Butterfly.

Ballroom Of Mars-A Poetic Analysis

Marc Bolan was a poetic genius, as well as the lead singer of the 70s English glam-rock band T. Rex. The band was formed by the genius himself in 1967. Bolan wrote most of the band’s material as well as provided most of the sweet guitar riffs and rhythms. The band is popularly known for the birth of hits such as: Get It On (Bang a Gong), Children of the Revolution, Metal Guru, and Telegram Sam.  Often “music snobs” claim that Marc Bolan’s lyrics were nonsensical gibberish fueled by fame and drugs, however they are dumb and that’s just not the case.

Bolan is widely known for his poetic and neo-romantic lyrics seen frequently on the first few albums of T. Rex.

 “Ballrooms Of Mars” appeared on T.Rex’s 3rd studio album, The Slider.

In this sweet sweet jam, I believe that Bolan is speaking to one he deeply loved that he is loosing or perhaps has already lost, reassuring him/her that when he/she is gone, all will be fine and they will stay together although they could never be farther apart. They will stay together, dancing in the ballrooms of mars. Certain lyrics obviously apply more literal to this idea than others.

You gonna look fine


Be primed for dancing

-You would have to know a little more of Marc Bolan’s work to point this out, however, “be primed for dancing” is an example of a motif shown through out Bolan’s pieces. He uses dance to symbolize the ability of freedom and carelessness. To be primed for dancing, is in other words to be stripped of judgement and be in a world of carefree expectance. (Marc Bolan has clearly always been “primed for dancing” and that’s clear in T.Rex’s first album Electric Warrior in the song “Cosmic Warrior”-  ”..I danced my self out of the womb”


You're gonna trip and glide


All on the trembling plane


Your diamond hands


Will be stacked with roses



Roses-being a metaphor for all things sweet.

 And wind and cars


And people of the past

Obviously referring to the people that he/she has lost that he/she will soon be reunited with.
I'll call you thing
Just when the moon sings

-moon sings-personification


And place your face in stone


Upon the hill of stars

-I like to believe that this is one of the slightly more obvious parts of his lyrics. Placing his/her face in stone would be referring to a gravestone, placed on the hill of stars, desolate, romantic, peaceful, poetic.

And gripped in the arms


Of the changeless madman

-This “changeless madman” that Bolan now refers to, is himself. He will be gripping his lost friend in his arms, as they “dance” their lives away.
We'll dance our lives away
-again with the dance metaphor. This is how Marc would like things to have been, the freedom between the two, however this type of carefree love might not have been attainable with out this person leaving..to the Ballrooms of Mars.
In the Ballrooms of Mars
-Although “Ballrooms of Mars” are only referenced once specifically in this poem, It plays a constant role throughout the entirety of this piece. I think best understand it as a metaphor for this “place” that is equidistant between life here on earth and the heaven/hell from above/below. “Ballrooms of Mars” is a metaphor for the places that one on earth visits to connect with one they have lost. The Ballrooms of Mars are a common ground that both can go to and share lost time together.

 You talk about day


 I'm talking 'bout night time

-day and night are in place to draw attention to opposites.

                Black:White::Day:Night::Earth:The Afterlife


When the monsters call out


The names of men


Bob Dylan knows


And I bet Alan Freed did

-Dylan and Freed are given a cameo in this song, being two incredibly influential men in Bolan’s career, more Dylan than Freed-(but you can’t deny the importance of Alan Freed to any Rock&Roll musician). Dylan was referenced, I believe, in just pure admiration, Bob Dylan influenced Marc Bolan immensely, Bolan being a huge fan of his work. Bob Dylan understands the complexity of the certain things that Bolan speaks of, we can infer this through Dylan’s own lyrics. And being so heavily inspired and infatuated with one artist you hope/assume they understand your writing as well. “And I bet Alan Freed did” can be interpreted as sort of a “dig”. Towards the end of the American Disk Jockey’s life, he fell heavily into financial and publicity scandal as well as slipping down the road being an alcoholic.
        -I bet Alan Freed found out that “there are things in night that are better not to behold”


There are things in night

That are better not to behold

-Night meaning life on earth. There are things that, now that he/she is gone, it is better that he/she doesn’t have to deal with some of the negative things we have to deal with on earth. You will be better off, happier, in the afterlife-again Bolan is reassuring his lost love 

You dance
With your lizard leather boots on

    -alliteration:lizard leather boots on


And pull the strings

That change the faces of men
You diamond browed hag
You're a gutter-gaunt gangster

    -alliteration:glitter-gaunt gangster

John Lennon knows your name

And I've seen his

Then you get to the end of the song, and you’re like, woah wait, what happened to everything I just said this song was, this last part makes no sense.

Well, this last part the narrative shifts to third person. Bolan is now reflecting upon himself. Through this song Bolan has uncovered things about himself that he points out and discovers towards this last stanza. He was apart of the glam rock movement in England during the 70s. Bolan’s feminine fashion choices definitely turned heads. He was an influence and style icon to boys following the glam trend, “changing the faces of” stereotypical ordinary “men” of that time.
As far as the reference to John Lennon goes, this album came out in 1972, if I am correct this was around the same time Ringo and Bolan were hanging out working on a film I believe, and maybe some side music projects, however it was around this time that John Lennon and Bolan got to know each other better.

Lennon was later quoted saying, “"In today's pop music, there are only two things that interest me: rock 'n' roll and avant-garde poetry. Only one group today is of interest to me, Marc Bolan and T.Rex. He is the only one who has excited me and I look forward to meet him again. His music is good rock 'n' roll; it has good beat and it really swings. But it is mainly his lyrics that amaze me....Marc Bolan is the only one who can succeed to The Beatles."

Obviously as an artist that is a huge accomplishment. At the end of this song, Bolan reflects on his life so far. Is he content? Could he enter “Ballrooms of Mars” from the other side?”



.. he would probably laugh at all of this.

Being Alive

If anyone's music is comparative to poetry, it would be the music of Stephen Sondheim. He is, in my opinion, the greatest composer and lyricist of our generation (I know, big intro). I cannot put into words how meaningful his music is. The song I will be arguing for is called "Being Alive", and it is from the show Company (lyrics here). It was hard for me to pick just one song out of the huge number of amazingly beautiful songs Sondheim has written, but this is one I definitely feel has a poetic sense about it, more so even than some of his others. This song is not from an album, it's from a musical about a man named Bobby (or Robert) and his views and encounters with his relationships as well as the relationships of his friends. This is the last song in the show (save the finale number).

The theme of this song, to put it simply, is that relationships between people are the reason we stay alive. We need someone outside of our own loneliness, to give us a sense of purpose, and to love us. I think one of the most important points in this song, is the shift between Bobby being cynical about marriage, into his longing for it, revealing his need for companionship outside himself. The song begins with his chorus of friends, singing this:

Bobby...Bobby...Bobby baby.../
Bobby bubbi...Robby...Robert darling.../
Bobby, we've been trying to call you./
Bobby...Bobby...Bobby baby...Bobby bubbi.../
Angel, I've got something to tell you./

Etc. Etc. They do this at the very beginning of the show as well, and it essentially is a mob of people all singing to Bobby about their lack of communication with him, because he's isolated himself while they've all gone to settle down. They are all close, you can tell by the use of all the different nicknames like darling, angel, Bobby baby, and so on. But what's interesting is the way they are all talking at him rather than to him. It's less about them having a conversation, and at this point it's as if they're in his head. He hears this chorus of his friends yelling at him until he says:

Stop!...What do you get?/

This is his break. The moment when he stops the chorus of voices in his head and actually begins to think through. When he says "what do you get?" he is both asking and saying. He is telling them that marriage is not what he wants, while also asking what the good of it is. He goes on to sing about finding someone, but in a sarcastic, cynical kind of way. This is when the song really starts getting a poetic feel about it.

Someone to hold you too close/
Someone to hurt you too deep/
Someone to sit in your chair/
To ruin your sleep./

The placement of the word "too" is very interesting here. If you were to take it out, you would have "Someone to hold you close" and "Someone to hurt you deep" both of which are very different things, almost opposites, but both are seen as equally bad in Bobby's eyes. He is still afraid to commit at this point, and the song continues with interjections from his friends telling him there's more to it than that. All of the characters are speaking as themselves through the mind of Bobby, showing his inner thoughts as well as theirs.

Hey, buddy, don't be afraid it won't be perfect./
The only thing to be afraid of really is that it won't be./

Slowly, Bobby begins to realize just how much he does want this companionship, because having someone is what makes living worthwhile. We see this when the song shifts to him asking someone to need him, and hold him, and hurt him.

Somebody, hold me too close/
Somebody, hurt me too deep/
Somebody, sit in my chair/
And ruin my sleep/
And make me aware/
Of being alive/
Being alive./

What's interesting here is the repeating of the phrase "Being alive" almost as if he's convincing himself even further of what he wants and needs. This continues for a little while, until my favorite line:

But alone is alone, not alive./

Alone is alone is so poignant. It's showing that no matter what, if you don't have anyone, you don't have anyone. And that will never change. On the other hand, being alone is not being alive. Until this point he hasn't said that. He's gone through saying the things that do make us alive, but now he's not only saying that, but he's saying that being alone will never let you be alive.

"Changes" Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur is widely considered to be one of the greatest rappers of all time, often using deep lyrics to reveal what life is like for many African Americans living in the inner city. The song "Changes" by 2Pac is one of the most meaningful rap songs of all time, released 1998. The songs reveals problems in African American communities including racial-profiling, poverty and racism The first few lines give just a few problems facing African American in inner cities

I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black

My stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch

Cops give a damn about a negro

Pull the trigger kill a n**** he's a hero

Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares

One less hungry mouth on the welfare

In the first few lines of the son 2Pac articulates great examples of how black people as a whole have been dehumanized and are stereotyped as thieves, thugs, and useful members of society. The line Pull the trigger kill a n**** he's a hero, is so strong because it relates so well to present day problems and just shows much of a forward thinker 2Pac was. Cops are always seen as heroes because they put their lives in danger to protect the public, but when a cop kills a black man, it is automatically assumed that the black man is the aggressor and is violent when in reality, this is not always the case. When 2Pac talks about black kids on welfare, the is clearly aware of the stereotype that black people don't work hard and coats off government welfare. 2Pac is so aware of what life is actually like for many black people living in the inner cities, as well as public perceptions of black people which make his music so special.

After the chorus, 2Pac brings up race relations in a way that is very true in society.

I see no changes all I see is racist faces

Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races

We under I wonder what it takes to make this

One better place, let's erase the wasted

Take the evil out the people they'll be acting right

'Cause both black and white is smokin' crack tonight

“Both black and white is smokin' crack tonight” is a line that stands out to me above all other lines in this song because the imagery is so real. You can see a black man struggling with the same problems as a white man and it re enforces the lines above about hate being a disgrace to all races. People of all races discriminate against other races simply because of stereotypes that society promotes and by placing hate on somebody that you don’t even know or understand, you disgrace all humans.

Lastly, 2Pac talks about the harsh realities and truths about what many black people have to face in inner cities.

And as long as I stay black I gotta stay strapped

And I never get to lay back

'Cause I always gotta worry 'bout the pay backs

Some buck that I roughed up way back

Comin' back after all these years

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat that's the way it is.

Now 2Pac moves from talking about changes in society to speaking about what is happening in tough neighborhoods and that change is not happening as quick as he wants. He talks about how in the hood, you always have to watch your back and that if you are black you have to carry some type of weapon simply because it is not safe and you cannot trust everybody. These lines are especially sad because of the way 2Pac died, as he foreshadowing about future struggles that he may have, when in reality, these are problems that eventually led to his death.

Patient, Fine, Balanced, Kind

For this assignment, I've chosen to write about the song "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver, from the album For Emma, Forever Ago. It's been a favorite of mine for a few years now, due to it's simplicity while still having tons of emotion and thoughtfulness in it. Besides the delightful mandolin/guitar/drums in the background, the lyrics alone stand their ground in their wonderfulness, and now I'll argue why they're also poetic. The song resonates in you after listing to it, since it's so filled with regret and honesty. Therefore, the theme of this song, to me, seems to be regret and sorrow (all crammed into a still somewhat upbeat song/album). Poetry is supposed to invoke strong feelings and ideas, and if you listen to this song in the right mood, it does just that. Even if you're not in any sort of mood before listening to the song, let alone the whole album, it will put you in a sort of trance and strange mood. Accordingly, poetry is defined as a standard of beauty and intense potency. 

Justin Vernon, the founder of Bon Iver, described skinny love as when “You're in a relationship because you need help, but that's not necessarily why you should be in a relationship." His explanation is a really nice preface for analyzing the lyrics. The first line that stuck out to me was:

Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer/
I tell my love to wreck it all/
Cut out all the ropes and let me fall/

As Vernon said before, the song describes two people in a relationship that isn't necessarily a good or healthy one. The sink full of blood as well as the crushed veneer could point to domestic abuse. The lines also make me think of sacrificing part of yourself for the other person, which while I believe in mutual respect and love in relationships, your own self should still always come first. 

These next lines are my favorite:

And I told you to be patient/

And I told you to be find/ 

And I told you to be balanced/

And I told you to be kind/

Those lyrics make me picture Vernon sitting somewhere with his head in his hands, going over everything that went wrong [that was his fault] in his past relationship. Maybe he was controlling and is just realizing it now, or he was asking all of this from his partner and is still hung up on it. 

The last few lines make me think of regret and awful over thinking:

Who will love you?/ 
Who will fight?/
Who will fall far behind?/

The poetry techniques "Skinny Love" uses includes imagery, as described in the above paragraph, lots of symbolism, and specific spacing and lines breaks which create nice and resonating pauses. 

Below is the performance that got me to pick Skinny Love. It's a really fantastic video and opens with anther great Bon Iver song...

For Poets Nothing Stays the Same

Poetry evokes feeling and meaning in the listener or reader. The song "Nothing Stays the Same" from the album Tornados-EP by Luke Sital-Singh is very poetic. This song's central meaning is that no matter what you do, life is not uniform and will always change, you might as well live the way you want to and follow your passions.

Through the quality of the music, Luke Sital-Singh emphasizes the point and draws the listeners attention. It begins with soft strokes of a lone guitar which grows to a louder sound with added instruments once the chorus comes in. This emphasizes the chorus which states the theme in the most obvious way.

A love, a life, it's dark and bright 

It's beautiful and it's alright

The artist seems to be appealing to someone they love to stay with them because letting go is worth it and you have nothing to lose. He captures the contrast between the highs and lows of life through equating it to levels of "dark" versus "bright" light. Then he reassures the listener that it will be "alright" and looking back they will see how "beautiful" life has been. This relates back to the theme that life is in a constant state of fluctuation.

We all believe in something that'll rip us into shreds

We all know why it stings to open wide your chest

We all show signs of greatness that we hope that someone sees

Our broken teeth are scattered but we're smiling underneath

Words like "rip", "shreds", "stings", and "broken" imply violence, pain, and recklessness. These words are meant to describe the way that you should live your life, without restricting it. The first line of this section truly defines passion, quite often the things we are passionate about can end up hurting us or causing stress but we stick with it despite the risk. The second line emphasizes that letting go and dropping your guard will be difficult and scary but it is important. The third line explains that everyone has a purpose in life and is valuable but we need a connection with someone else to draw it out. The final line of the section proves that life will beat you up but you will look back on it and all the pain will be worth it for all the happiness life brought. 

We all hurt 

We all lie

And nothing stays the same

These three short lines are a part of the chorus. The message of the song is summarized in these eleven words. We will have pain, deception, and change in life but that is inevitable and it should not hold you back.

"You think you're SO F***ing COOL" - Kamikaze by Plastic Visions

The song I picked to defend as poetry is "Kamikaze" by Plastic Visions (song and lyrics at the link.) Kamikaze is, according to the band, a song that "...depicts the femme fatale character. Showing the ups and downs of battling with substance abuse and a fascination with the manipulation of seduction."

But, of course, the lyrics don't just say that-- there's plenty of symbolism. Kamikaze is a metaphor for doing something that you know is bad for you-- you know it will self-deprecate you but you do it anyways.
"Kamikaze // my Kamikaze Baby // she's coming // coming straight after me // my Kamikaze crazy"
The Kamikaze, itself, is the "femme fatale." (I won't get into feminist or anti-feminist here.) By the use of the Kamikaze symbol, Plastic Visions articulates two parts of the story-- the Kamikaze that the girl is for them/him, and the kamikaze lifestyle that she takes-- along with the substance abuse.

In the music video, this is further articulated when the video ends with her killing every single one of them, awaking abruptly in a pool of blood and lifeless bodies. Though this is not part of the song, the music video of any piece is an integral part of the art of the work. It helps further the "what" of the song.

One poetic aspect of the song is the amount of repetition of phrases. "Blacked out" is used over and over again, and it means several different things.
"Blacked out//you're out of control," "blacked out//you won't remember this night," "blacked out//why do you do this//why do you do this to me," "blacked out//you think you're so fucking cool"
Blacked out literally, as in drank too much and blacked out, blacked out as in forgot everything and is now being self-deprecating, and hurting others around you.

Finally, the structure of the song and how it interacts with the language-- there's a chorus, but the verses follow a similar template of language, as shown with the last paragraph, almost repition. Words are changed that further the meaning of the song itself. "blacked out // why do you do this" and "blacked out // what are you doing with your life." 

And, as the song says, you think that you are so. fucking. cool. By repetition, rich symbolism, and a running metaphor, "Kamikaze," without a doubt, is poetry.

P.S. cut me some slack, you gotta admit that this is a challenging song to go with. I tried!

A Poem Entitled: Everybody's Something

To those living in Chicago who frequent music festivals in their summers and are avid fans of tie-dye and good music, Chance the Rapper needs absolutely no introduction. Yet for those of you who aren’t acquainted, Chance the Rapper is a Chicago based Rapper who gained local recognition and fame in 2012 from the popularity of his mixtape, 10 Day, a project based on a ten day suspension he received in his senior year of high school. Chance then skyrocketed to national and international fame only a year later on the release of his second official mixtape, Acid Rap. Acid Rap was highly renowned as one of the best projects of the year ranking at number 2 on Spin Magazine’s best of 2013 list, and 26 on Rolling Stone’s best albums of 2013 list, and it isn’t even an actual album. Acid Rap has received such acclaim and it is not for no reason, this mixtape is chocked full of fantastic instrumentals and incredibly thought-provoking lyrics, specifically track 6, “Everybody’s something”

The entire theme of this song is that everyone matters and everyone is “somebody’s everything”.  Without even venturing into the contributions of artists Saba and BJ The Chicago Kid, who both feature on the song, the piece is choked full of wordplay and lines that invoke thought. The first of which is a reference to the Rolling Stones found in the first verse.

I got the Chicago blues

We invented rock before the stones got through(threw)

This line is both a reference to Muddy Waters, father of the Chicago blues            subgenre, and the Rolling Stones, who take their name from one of his songs. Chance also calls attention to the common misconception that rock and roll was invented by white people, which purely isn’t true. As well as this hidden meaning, an interesting homophone can be found in this line. The words “threw” and “through” are homophones, so this line could be both a reference to the fact that rock and roll was invented before the Rolling Stones ever broke “through”, or like literal stones, “got threw”.

Shooting death with weighted dice

and hitting stains on birthday candles

To “hit a stain” means to steal something, and in another use of fantastic language, Chance has created another poetic line. Without saying it explicitly, Chance The Rapper finds two ways to explain that he is cheating death. Weighted dice are loaded so that they will always land on a specific number, and therefore Chance will never lose the wager of his life to a personified death. To extend the figurative language, Chance uses local vernacular to say that he is stealing years, years that he may not have gotten had he not cheated death on so many occasions.

My hard head stayed in the clouds like a lost kite

But gravity had me up in a submission hold

Like I’m dancing with the devil with two left feet and I’m pigeon-toed

In two small point ballet shoes with a missing sole

And two missing toes

But it’s love like Cupid kissing a mistletoe.

This is an incredible example of a stretched-bridge simile, and in all the time I have spent reading and writing poetry I can’t think of any others that surprise me every single time that I hear them, as this one does. There are three similes, two homophones, and a double-entendre all in the span of six lines of this song. Starting with the first two lines, Chance has big dreams but his reality, represented by gravity, is holding him back from achieving them. Then Chance goes on to say that he is “dancing with the devil with two left feet” and that he is “pigeon-toed”. This is a reference to the common phrase of dancing with the devil, which is similar to the phrase of playing with fire, and having two left feet. The first of which both involve tempting something dangerous, and to extend the theme of dancing, Chance goes on to say that he is dancing with two left feet, a phrase commonly used by those who aren’t good dancers. Both having two left feet and dancing shoes that are too small would make his dancing incredibly awkward and painful. This is where the first homophone appears. “Two small point ballet shoes” can also be heard as “Too small point ballet shoes” and both of these instances work in the theme of the lines. The second homophone and the only double entendre come at the end of this line, where Chance cites the missing sole on his ballet shoe. Yet “missing sole” can also be heard as “missing soul”, which would imply that although Chance is dancing with the Devil, he really has nothing to lose, and therefore all the impediments he is facing don’t matter, or he has already lost his sole to the Devil and he is now doomed to participate in this dance forever. Chance raps it all up by assuaging the listener and assuring that everything is ok by saying that “it’s love like Cupid kissing a mistletoe.” Both Cupid and mistletoe are symbols of love and affection, and the common practice is that when two people meet under mistletoe, they must kiss. Cupid kissing the mistletoe only makes for the entire image to be that much more loving. If this song is not poetry then no song is.

Feeling

The song "Disorder" by the post-punk band Joy Division is one of utter truth and beauty. Off of the album Unknown Pleasures, this song delivers shocks of truth through a rumbling baseline that crashes through the surface directly to your core. I adore it. The passion and genius charged throughout the song is astounding.  Now I'm here to defend it as poetry.

What is poetry? It's feeling. Poetry comes from the Greek word "Poiesis" meaning "to make", which is fitting, because poetry is creation. The creation of feeling, telling a story, drawing a metaphor. Poetry is the soul's language and it is not held to the constraints of logic or time. Poetry is art, and no dictionary can confine it. As John Cage said, "There is poetry as soon as we realize we possess nothing".

This fascinating song embodies the principles of art, beauty, truth and poetry in an inspired way that you don't hear often. You can feel it from the first deep words uttered by Ian Curtis. He brings us on his poetic journey. A short, insightful ride through his cluttered and frustrated mind.

These sensations barely interest me for another day,
I've got the spirit, lose the feeling, take the shock away.

A couplet of a poem; A confession of truth and humanity. Words express the undertone of his meaning. Slowly, Ian reveals his thoughts and we are able to see the layers of expression that he  scribbles into the song.

 It's getting faster, moving faster now, it's getting out of hand,
On the tenth floor, down the back stairs, it's a no man's land,
Lights are flashing, cars are crashing, getting frequent now,
I've got the spirit, lose the feeling, let it out somehow.

Ian uses rhythm and rhyme to illuminate his energy. We are able to climb into his chair, and feel the rush of creativity that he so badly needs to express. He is drawing his metaphor with a confused brush and we can feel his frantic race of thoughts; Cars crashing around him, running back down the stairs.

I've got the spirit, but lose the feeling.
Feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling. 

 He once again tells us he has the spirit and Ian has come full circle with his metaphor. His feeling lost, his poem complete.

Pusha Man

Pusha Man/ Paranoia is a song that was released in 2012 in Chance the Rappers Acid Rap album. In his songs he sings about many different topics, in Paranoia, the second half of Pusha Man, Chance talks about people ignoring crime in chicago. I believe that this is poetry because he isn’t just singing mindlessly to a beat trying to make a catchy song, he is spreading awareness in a problem that he really believes needs a solution. One line from the song is:

They murking kids; they murder kids here

Why you think they don't talk about it? They deserted us here

Where the f**k is Matt Lauer at? Somebody get Katie Couric in here

Probably scared of all the refugees, look like we had a f**kin' hurricane here


He begins by identifying one of the problems that Chicago has. Gang violence has gotten so bad in Chicago that people have gone as far to murder kids who are forced to walk through some of the bad neighborhoods on a daily basis. He also mentions that the media has done nothing to try and help them, “why do you think they don’t talk about it?” In this line “they” refers to the media who has chosen to ignore the cries for help of the people living in violent Chicago neighborhoods. This idea is expanded on later in the song when Chance says that the place where children are growing up is so violent that the news is scared to even go there. “Probably scared of all the refugees, look like we had a f**kin’ hurricane here” Nobody besides local Chicago news focuses on the murder rate in Chicago, and everyone even kids just get left as another statistic for death. Chance is fighting hard to get more people to be aware of the danger of Chicago and has even gone as far to start a movement called Save Chicago.

Defense of the Undeniably Political, but Certainly Poetic

I have a rather... odd taste in music, so this song is actually my favorite song in the world. Published in 1843 as a statement against the hanging of three men during the Somers Affair of 1842, The Somers Curse is beautifully written and utterly haunting. It could have been worse. I seriously debated defending Drunken Sailor, and no one's exactly sure when that song was written.

Just to give the brief history, on December 1^st, 1842, 18 year old Midshipman Phillip Spencer along with the older ABS Elisha Small, and Boatswain's mate Samuel Cromwell were hanged for attempted mutiny. The only attempted mutiny to ever occur in the history of the United States Navy, it was the catalyst that inspired the foundation of our Naval School. Let's brainwash the boys before we put them on a ship they could steal!

The mutineers died without a full trial, or due process, a mere thirteen days away from harbor, where a proper court martial could have awaited them. Spencer died insisting that while he was guilty and deserved to die for his crimes, the older men had no part in his machinations. Small and Cromwell also died protesting their innocence.

Keep in mind, however, that the USS Somers was a small ship, with no real brig. Supplies were running low, and the crew was getting antsy. Commander McKenzie saw that keeping the three alive could have inspired the rest of a the crew to mutiny – a fight he could not have won.

That was my attempt at brief. I could rant for days on this, sorry.

The song Curse of the Somers was published by The New York Times early in 1843, and it was beautiful.

Strange sounds will float upon the air
and in the blast will speak.
and round the main yardarm three ghosts
will play and dance and shriek.

Likely my favorite stanza of the song, the rhythm and the language clearly label this as poetry. The entire song is truly beautiful, though. It lacks metaphor, simile, and other devices, but the words are beautiful nonetheless, and with their beauty starkly portray horrors.

On starboard young foolish Spencer stands,

the tears are in his eye.

What feelings of deep agony,

must through his bosom fly.

Look, look your last, for hark a gun,

sends forth it's smoky breath.

Whip instantly upon the word,

their eyes are sealed in death.

Always paired together, the two stanzas depict the moments before the three men are hoisted into the air by their necks. The emotion of the youngest, the smoke of the signal gun, the sudden blankness of their eyes.

That particular stanza does contain a metaphor, though I fear an incorrect one. “Whip instantly upon the word/their eyes are sealed in death,” compares the time between the firing of the gun and their death with the time it takes a whip to come down upon a sailor's back. I fear that is not true. Most likely they were hoisted into the air and allowed to kick for a few minuets. Without a drop, the neck would not break, at least not right away. It would be accurate if they were forced to stand on the main yardarm itself and then shoved off after tightening the noose. In that case, the neck would break, and they would die quickly. But given that part of the reason they were killed was as a warning to the rest of the crew, Commander McKenzie likely capitalized on the spectacle aspect of a hanging. Either way, the imagery is beautifully done, and horrifying in it's meaning. The sort of marriage betwixt beauty and horror in language is most prominent in poetry, and that is certainly present in Curse of the Somers.

So, with those points, it is clear that the Curse of the Somers is poetry. I first discovered it, I'll admit, when looking for pirate related anime, and found instead a fan-illustrated depiction of the events of December 1^st, 1842 set to this song. It's beautifully done, so if you'd like to listen to it, here is the link.