Reflections of Popular Culture in Music

The top three songs in America right now are We Are Young by Fun., Boyfriend by Justin Beiber, and Somebody That I Used To Know by GOTYE. Each of these songs(if you can give them the honor of being called songs) have to do with boyfriends and girlfriends and loving one another. These songs show that American culture, as a whole, is focused on love. It also shows that young girls have a great influence on how popular a single person can be, seeing as Justin Beiber is number two in the whole country. With pathetic excuses for lyrics that carry no poetic merit other than repetition, it is a wonder that Beiber was in school at one point.

Aside from the rant, there isn’t much of a deep meaning in any of these songs. Each song is focused on the feelings of single people, which lets the current generation feel as though their feelings matter, which makes them happy. The music reflects the current generation quite well. In We Are Young, there are drug and alcohol references, which tells the American culture that it is okay to party even though it harms your body. The intended audience must be considered as well. These lyrics are geared to the current generation, full of underage kids. Now, the message of We Are Young must be pondered again. Fun. is sending the message that partying is good and fun to young kids, which is illegal (unless you’re 21, which most of the targeted audience is not) and it is also quite possibly deadly.

These songs also send the message that having a boyfriend/girlfriend is all that matters, and if there is a breakup there is no hope that you and your previous lover can be just friends. Gender roles are also present in these songs. We Are Young depicts girls as “waiting” to have sex with men from across the bar, while Boyfriend conveys the message that there is one perfect guy who can be whatever you want him to be, which depicts females as controlling who the man is.

Success, according to these songs, is partying and having a girlfriend that will be open to having sex with their boyfriends. In the music industry, success is measured by how many records of your music are sold. To do that, songs have to be relatable as well as catchy. So, singing about heartache and partying, musicians can connect with their audience. Considering the top three songs on America’s charts, America’s youth is going to be in trouble.

"Rock n' Roll Band" VS. "Have a Cigar"



Pink Floyd

 
 




Boston

 

            Though both “Rock n’ Roll Band” by Boston and “Have a Cigar” by Pink Floyd deal with the topic of rising to fame, “Rock n’ Roll Band” incorporates an enthusiastic tone as well as reminiscent imagery in order to anticipate “love and music,” while “Have a Cigar” integrates a cynical tone as well as the symbol of a cigar with the aim of exposing the corruption of recording managers who claim that they know “the name of the game.”

            The differing tones of both “Rock n’ Roll Band” and “Have a Cigar” depict both ways one could feel while rising to the top of “the chart.” In “Rock n’ Roll Band,” Boston repeats the words “play” and “yeah” four times in the chorus, and every time the lines are repeated, they become more and more passionate; however, in “Have a Cigar” when the chorus is repeated, and Pink Floyd’s line “Riding the Gravy Train” recurs, it becomes more pessimistic with each repetition. Therefore, it can be determined that Boston’s rise to fame was an enjoyable one, whereas Pink Floyd’s was filled with more bad times than good.

"I Just Want You" Ozzy Osbourne Analysis

Utilizing his literary dexterity in “I Just Want You,” Ozzy Osbourne uses odd oxymoron, deep irony, and apparent paradox, in order to enhance the phrase “I just want you.”

Songs are sung poetry, so when Ozzy says “unsingable songs” in his song, he is contradicting himself, as well as being oxymoronic. He is saying that songs are unsingable when he is himself singing a song. Also, when Ozzy talks about “plastic water,” he isn’t even making much sense. Water is a liquid, composed of hydrogen and oxygen; that is not plastic.

In this song, Ozzy articulates his thought that “there are…no legitimate kings or queens.” There are, however kings and queens in existence; they are born into their role. Possibly, Ozzy means that kings and queens are barbaric because princes and princesses sometimes fight for their future role as possible king or queen, making them instead dictators.

 “I’m sick and tired of bein’ sick and tired;” the phrase is like a continuous, paradoxical loop. If someone is sick and tired, they no longer want to be exposed to the thing that is annoying them. But, if the thing making one “sick and tired” is the feeling of being “sick and tired,” there isn’t much someone could do to stop feeling “sick and tired.” Ozzy also states that “there are identical twins.” Identical twins do exist; however, the term describes the features of the two individuals, not their personalities.

Wake Me Up When September Ends Song Analysis

Losing a loved one is a hard thing to deal with. Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day lost his father, Andrew Armstrong, to esophageal cancer when Billie Joe was ten years old. To depict Billie Joe Armstrong’s pain of losing his father in “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” Green Day employs repetitive allusion, dreary imagery, and simple symbolism in order to show Armstrong “never forgets what [he] lost.”

            According to Green Day, “the innocent can never last.” This is alluding to Andrew Armstrong; Billie Joe believes his father died too soon, so therefore every innocent person will die before their time. Green Day repeats this line three times in “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” The song title also alludes to Billie Joe’s father. Andrew Armstrong died on September 10, 1982. So he doesn’t have to deal with the painful memories of his father during the month he died, Billie Joe wants someone to “wake [him] up when September ends.”

            Images of “rain…falling from the stars” are paired with Billie Joe feeling as though he is “drenched in [his] pain.” Pictures of a funeral are also present; “ring out the bells again/like we did when spring began.” In the live version of “Wake Me Up When September Ends” from the album Bullet in a Bible, Billie Joe chokes over many lines; he begins crying the first time he says the song title. Billie Joe crying enforces the illustration of his grief in the lyric where he states that he feels as though he is “drenched in [his] pain again.”

            Rain does not literally fall “from the stars.” However, this abstract thought simply means that Billie Joe is crying when he thinks of his loss; the rain represents his tears and the stars are symbolic of his eyes. When Billie Joe says: “as my memory rests/but never forgets what I lost,” he is saying that he has learned how to live with the loss of his father; however, he will never forget the father he once had.

            “Summer has come and past,” and Green Day has utilized recurring allusion, bleak imagery, and uncomplicated symbolism to illustrate Billie Joe Armstrong’s ache of losing his father. Andrew Armstrong will never be forgotten by his youngest son; he will always live in loving memory.

Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends Lyrics

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

Like my father's come to pass
Seven years has gone so fast
Wake me up when September ends

Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are

As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when September ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

Ring out the bells again
Like we did when spring began
Wake me up when September ends

Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are

As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when September ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

Like my father's come to pass
Twenty years has gone so fast
Wake me up when September ends
Wake me up when September ends
Wake me up when September ends

"Little Green" Joni Mitchell song analysis

            Mothers have always had their children’s best interests at heart. Some mothers feel capable of giving their children the lives they deserve; however, other mothers believe that another family would be better suited to raise their child. Joni Mitchell was faced with this decision after the birth of her daughter. Mitchell believed that giving her baby girl up for adoption would give the child the best life possible. Living with the bittersweet decision to give her baby up for adoption in “Little Green,” Joni Mitchell uses chromatic imagery, multidimensional characterization, and seasonal personification in order to show that “sometimes there’ll be sorrow” for a young mother.

            Mitchell’s imagery focuses on nature. The colors found in nature depict hope, like “when the spring is born.”  Spring is a hopeful season, and “there’ll be crocuses” within the first few weeks of the season. Crocuses are one of the first flowers to bloom during spring, and “just a little green” sprouting from beneath the soil is a sign that beautiful things are to come. Beauty is what Mitchell hopes will be the life of her daughter, even though there is no denying the fact that “sometimes there’ll be sorrow.” Mitchell wants her daughter to be happy, and do whatever she wants, like being “a gypsy dancer.”

In “Little Green,” there are three characters that Mitchell focuses on: the father, the mother (herself), and the daughter (Mitchell’s baby). The father and Mitchell’s daughter could be considered “flat” characters. The father is characterized as uninterested, selfish, and a “non-conformer,” while Mitchell’s daughter is portrayed as innocent, pure, and a fledgling. Mitchell, the mother, is characterized more than her daughter and the father. She is sad and confused, while at the same time being hopeful and "unashamed.” Mitchell is conflicted with the decision to put her little green up for adoption because she loves her daughter and doesn’t want to lose her; however, she wants her daughter to have a happy life, so, in Mitchell’s mind, she had to let her go. Mitchell was quoted in 1998 saying that she “was dirt poor and that “an unhappy mother does not raise a happy child.” Mitchell said “it was difficult” to give her child up for adoption, but she “had to let her go.”

Mitchell’s seasonal impact also has an immense effect in the telling of the song. “When the Northern lights perform,” there is beauty within the sky; this is what Mitchell wants for her little green. Mitchell hopes that her daughter’s life will be wonderful, like “the color when spring is born.”  Mitchell hopes that her daughter will be strong, so “the winters cannot fade her.” Overall, Mitchell is wishing her daughter the best by utilizing personification.

Mitchell’s use of literary devices such as vibrant imagery, multidimensional characterization, and cyclical personification is used to send a message out to her daughter. Joni Mitchell made a sacrifice so that her baby could grow up happy. Deciding to give up a child to adoption or not is a hard decision, and Mitchell used these feelings in her song “Little Green” so that she could depict how hard this situation was on her, and to show that there is hope no matter what the outcome may be.

Why I chose my theme-genre...

I chose my theme-genre, sadness in modern music, because my taste in music is quite diverse. Also, I find there is quite a bit of sadness in the music I listen to. Another reason I chose this theme-genre is because my favorite band is Green Day, which falls under the genre of punk. I don't know of any other artists I listen to that could fall under the punk genre of music, so I chose modern music because Green Day's music, old and new, falls under the genre of modern music, as does the rest of the music I enjoy.


Viva la Gloria.