Tagged: Analysis

“Rolling in The Deep” by Adele – Analysis

I’ve been listening to Adele since I was very little and she has always been a favourite artist of mine. While listening to her, I’m given the feeling of nostalgia. While I love many of Adele’s songs, this one is one that reminds me of singing my heart out to at six years old. After all this time, it remains one of my favourite songs – I could be upset or stressed and this song would be able to cheer me up.

The tone of “Rolling in the Deep” is wrath, displeasure and heartbreak. Adele is describing her state of mind in result of this heartbreak and betrayal she has endured. She does so in forms of hyperboles, metaphors and symbols. Using the lyric “reaching a fever pitch and it’s bringing me out the dark”(0:10), is a symbol for her anger and rage bringing her out of the dark. In this case, “out of the dark” is referring to her happy, past self, becoming angry and now seeing him “crystal clear” – no longer seeing him as she did before. She then stresses the emotions she’s feeling in the metaphor “there’s a fire starting in my heart”(0:33), because fire resembles anger and pain. And finally, as an example of hyperbole, she uses the line “the scars of your love leave me breathless”(0:52). This explains that this betrayal left her shocked and astonished, but she is obviously not shocked enough to go physically breathless. 

In this song, Adele paints a very clear picture of her feelings with her words, giving the listeners an impression of a broken woman as she feels deep heart-felt emotions caused by someone who used to be very close to her. This betrayal not only led to her heart breaking but experiencing dark thoughts, desiring to get revenge and make the person feel more hurt than she did. When I listened to this song at a younger age, I felt a sense of confidence in her voice’s tone. Yes, she was feeling anger, but after experiencing this, she became stronger, more sure of herself and confident that she wouldn’t let someone walk all over her like that anymore. 

The combination of her powerful voice and engaging lyrics permits the listeners to get a front row seat of the exact emotions she’s feeling. The personification of “love” in “the scars of your love”(0:52) highlights how much she has been hurt. In real life, scars don’t typically come from a minor bruise or scrape – they come from much deeper wounds. So, let alone the deep cut, she was able to pick up the pieces and partially heal, showing the strength that was required to do so. 

“Rocket Man” by Elton John – Analysis

“Rocket Man” has always been a family type of song for me – one that my parents listened to in their youth and passed down to my brother and I. One that we all know by heart and would sing along to anytime it played. It reminds me of a number of times we would sing to it in the car – on our way back from soccer/hockey games, nights out or while on vacation. Or, even just playing it at home where we all sang at the top of our lungs and most likely disturbed our neighbours.   

While the song is referring to astronauts and space, it’s a metaphor to the feeling of loneliness – feeling separated from one’s home and loved ones. In reality, the song is comparing the life of an astronaut to that of a regular working person – it could even be referring to fame and how lonely it can be. Looking at “Rocket Man” in a certain way can actually make it sound quite depressing. The smilie “high as a kite”(0:15) could be quite literally referring to drug abuse in response to the depression caused by this separation. “I miss the earth so much, I miss my wife”(0:29) is an allusion that could be referring “earth” to “home”. To go deeper into the word’s meaning, loneliness is the realization that an individual is separated  from the entire world, that nobody properly understands them. This description reminds me much of what a large majority of teenagers tend to feel and go through. 

While “Rocket Man” is a song referring to the feeling of loneliness, it is also about others having a different view or opinion of yourself than who you think you are. When Elton sings “I’m not the man they think I am at home”(1:04), it leads me to believe that he is seen as a sort of “Rocket Man” to others but in reality, to his wife and kids and himself, he is just a man, dad and husband. As I previously said, if this is referring to fame, it also fits perfectly – he misses his family as he is separated from them for some reason, possibly being on tour and it’s going to be a “long long time”(0:56) until he sees them again. This could even be looked at in the opposite way, where he sees himself as a “Rocket Man” but his wife and kids have a contrary view of him. 

In summary, these two meanings from “Rocket Man” can make the song much easier for listeners to connect and relate to. Not everyone is an astronaut, believe it or not – but everyone has felt lonely in some point of their lives, and it is quite common for others to think of you differently than you view yourself, or the other way around. 

“Vogue” by Madonna – Analysis

One of my most fond childhood memories was going to Sun Peaks with my family and our close family-friends. It was tradition to fluctuate from having dinner at each other’s place after a long day of skiing. During the night, we would play board games, dance and play old music videos. Inevitably, it seems one of the videos we would watch was the iconic “Vogue” by Madonna.  There was just something special about the power of the video and what Madonna represented – a spirited, independent, successful woman despite all the hardships she endured in her early years.

The Vogue song itself, is a powerful piece of modern dance and pop music. Madonna’s song is also all-encompassing – using the cliche “it makes no difference if you’re black or white, if you’re a boy or a girl”(2:30). Equality is a big part of Madonna’s morals, as well as one that I undoubtedly agree with. In fact, before she popularized “Vogueing”, it was a common dance move done in New York clubs by people of colour and the LGBTQ community. It was “vogue”, pardon the pun, at the time to reference it doesn’t matter your ethnicity (e.g. Michael Jackson had a similar verse in his song “Black or White”).  However, cliche or not, her message was on point none the less – back then and now.  Madonna reached a level of success “Queen of Pop” in which she was influential – and she was going to use this to do what she could to change the inequalities in life existent in society. 

This song is one with a quite upbeat and optimistic tone, where Madonna presents the “dance floor” as a place where people can escape all of their worries or troubles – especially in the first stanza. She gets a bit philosophical and acknowledges that at times people have to deal with both internal and external issues. She then suggests that there’s a place where “you can get away” (1:49), called the dance floor. This also reminds me of times my mom has told me about dancing to this song at clubs in Montreal at 20 years old. 

The fourth stanza is arguably the most-unique part of “Vogue”. Here, Madonna makes allusions to pop-culture icons from the 40s and 50s ; “Greta Garbo and Monroe, Dietrich and DiMaggio, Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean, on the cover of a magazine…”(3:58). They are put forth as examples of people who had “grace”, ie. who would be effective on the dance floor. By using such allusions, it gives the song a sense of classiness or celebrity relation, so the listener may be more willing to participate. I also believe that the rhyme scheme AABB in these three stanzas adds to the “grace” given from this part of the song. This is done against the background of the singer telling people to “move to the music”(2:01) and “go with the flow”(2:09). So more than anything, this song is suggesting dancing as a big form of stress relief and personal edification. 

In summary, the song Vogue by Madonna became widely popular, I believe, for a number reasons beyond the upbeat “danceable” melody. More importantly, as you listened to the lyrics, you felt an overall sense of self expression, equality of individuals and being true to oneself – ideals that I always have believed in. 

“Thriller” by Michael Jackson – Analysis

Grade six was an important year for me as it marks a pretty big turning point in my life. It was my first year ever trying out for my elementary school’s track team. Beating the most athletic people in my grade, to making the podium at Swangard Stadium for all three events I tried out for helped me gain confidence. It wasn’t track itself that holds a special place in my heart, but the fact that I was able to discover something I knew I was really good at. To this day, these moments stay very important and influential to my life. At this point in my life, I was going through a huge phase, where much of the music I listened to consisted of Michael Jackson. Listening to his music reminds me of times I was dancing and singing to him with my best friend from elementary school, as well as this core event from my life. This was the song that started it all. 

In one of MJ’s first hits “Thriller”, it’s obvious that his intention was set out to capture the feel of a scary movie, though in a song. His story telling ability helps allow the listeners to feel the thrilling and creepy tone. Yet, MJ also manages to make the song exciting and enjoyable to listen to. In the song, he serenades his audience about how there is always something lurking in the gloomy shadows, even if you don’t always notice. This song is fundamentally based on the same tropes films belonging to the horror genre tend to use  – an evil or monstrous enemy stalking a defenceless woman, who can only be saved by her romantic interest. In fact, if you listen closely, there can be a romantic undertone to “Thriller”. More specifically, MJ’s character is hoping that the woman will be so terrified by the “terror on the screen” that she’ll have no choice but to seek safety in his arms.  

While this song may seem simple, it is actually much more complex than you might think. Michael includes a number of literary devices in his song, and while he represents the “evil lurking” as zombies in his music video, this could even be considered as a metaphor to an aspect of society or one’s life. To name one, “Horror” is personified quite often; “as horror looks you right in between your eyes”(1:25) and “you try to scream, but terror takes the sound before you make it”(1:21). Horror/terror is not a living thing, therefore cannot “look you in the eye” or “take the sound”. However, using personification in this sense, adds to the dramatic tone that is brought through the song. The hyperbole in this song also adds to this effect while exaggerating the smell of the dead as they rise from their graves in the line said by Vince Price, the best-known American horror actor at this time – “the foulest stench is in the air, the funk of forty thousand years”(5:14). Furthermore, imagery also played an important role in “Thriller”. The lines “something evil’s lurkin’ in the dark”(1:02) and “you see a sight that almost stops your heart”(1:09) could provide the listener with a mental image of an evil sight and add to the story telling sense of the song.

“I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz – Analysis

It was a warm sunny day in late July 2020, and I was laying down in the grass with my best furry friend knowing that this might be one of the last precious moments I might have with him – listening to one of my favourite songs at the time – I’m Yours (Jason Mraz). Pender, who was born a year before me, was a constant companion throughout my life – however at this moment almost 16 years old, was having serious health problems. It’s funny how a song can bring back a special moment. 

This song’s cheerful melody makes one feel content, and it’s lyrics are filled with positive messages which add further to that feeling. However, I believe this song can also make one feel a sense of “grief” for the joyful moments that they would attach to this song. Even without the memory that connects me to this song, it reminds one of a typical warm summers day – feeling the sea breeze, the birds chirping, the waves of the ocean, waterfalls and nature itself. One thing Mraz used often in his song was repetition. He would repeat single words such as “love, love, love, love”(1:10) and “loved, loved, loved, loved, loved”(1:24). In the last line from his song, he used repetition to prove a point – “do you believe, you best believe, I’m yours”(3:54). And finally, the song’s chorus of course, which is inevitable. Repetition in music is correlated with popularity, which is one of the many reasons why this song became popular. Additionally, this term makes the song easier to grasp, to understand and to remember – and as this artist wants the listeners to change their point of views to more positive ones, this song helps with his exact intention. 

When I originally listened to this song, I thought that the artist was singing to a particular person or romantic interest. However, after putting more thought into the meaning of this song, I believe that the “person” the song is addressed to is actually “life” itself. In the first stanza, he describes how life has thrown him a few curve balls, and he’s surely taken notice – “well you done, done me and you bet I felt it”(0:13). On the other hand, towards the end of the stanza he describes that he’s got a new attitude. In the chorus, he states throughout the song that he is giving himself to life – that there’s no time like the present to change your point of view. In the third stanza, he is advising the listeners to do the same as him – to open up our minds and see like him. In the second to last stanza before the song comes to an end, he restates – as he does throughout the song but in various ways – that life is too short not to live in the moment. He tells the listeners that “there’s no need to complicate things”(3:18) – that this isn’t something which requires significant mental energy, it is purely based on coming to this realization. 

The cliché “our time is short”(3:20) that the artist includes in “I’m Yours” was one that spoke to me. After my dog passed away, I learned a valuable lesson – to not take anything for granted. Because often, I did take him for granted. And realistically speaking, life really is short, especially for a family pet. Live in the moment, in the present – to avoid subjecting yourself too much to worries and stress. Otherwise, you may take the things that matter most for granted.