𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙱𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌

 

Hey everyone and welcome to my blog! This new year, my class has been working on a very musical project called… Sounds of Poetry.

Our driving question in this project was “How might we use music to represent ourselves and text?”
Music is an extremely important part of everyone’s life. We all have favourite songs, that invoke different emotions and memories.

Through this project we worked towards analyzing and understanding some of those favourite songs, to comprehend the lyrics and possibly discover new meanings.

In order to achieve our end goal, we had to know how to properly analyze and interpret songs. We began to build knowledge by learning about literary devices.

Literary devices are the techniques and patterns present in poetry or general literature. Some popular devices are, smilies, metaphors and rhyme. 

 

Learning about more literary devices was extremely helpful for me! I had not learned about these devices in a while, and it was good reminder of the many writing techniques that I should look for while trying to interpret songs or poetry.

Not long after revisiting and discovering new literary devices, we practiced identifying them in poetry and songs…

 

 

Looking at these texts was a great way to practice analyzing prior to completing our own projects. We additionally got to focus on specific devices, such as rhyme scheme or tone.

These activities provided tools to help me comprehend my own songs…

After a lot of indecision, I decided on the five songs I wanted to analyze.

I picked, Both Sides Now- Joni Mitchell.

Carefree Highway- Gordon Lightfoot.

You Can Call me Al- Paul Simon.

Dear Prudence- The Beatles

Bittersweet Symphony- The Verve.

Each of  these songs are really important to me. Many symbolize an important time in my life or my favourite memories. I also chose these songs because I found their meanings or lyrics confusing. Each of these songs I didn’t entirely understand before this project.

For each of my song analyses I began by annotating the lyrics and identifying some of the literary devices we had learned about.


From there I was able to determine which literary devices were important elements of the song.  Then I began to write my song analyses.

 

I think all of my song analyses turned out well, but there were a few that definitely represented me and the song’s meanings best.

 

“You Can Call Me Al” is a fun and narrative song. It’s random and abstract, but most importantly it was my grandpa’s favourite song. My grandpa, best known as “Brian Stone” worked in radio for 43 years. Out of the many songs he listened throughout his career, “You Can Call Me Al” was special . My grandpa passed away before I could ask him why he loved this song, before I could understand what made it significant to him. To me there are many interesting things about “You Can Call Me Al.” The words are confusing and the story is unconventional. While it’s difficult to grasp what the topic of the story is, it’s clear that the writer is telling us a tale. There is a lot of colloquial speech, answers and responses, between the character and their self. Like in this lyric, “A man walks down the street, He says why am I soft in the middle now, Why am I soft in the middle, The rest of my life is so hard.” The words are funny and simple, the verse contains common words and anecdotes. Then later in the song we see the simple lyrics change. They become less comical and more visual. The lyrics begin to paint a much bigger picture. “Cattle in the market place, Scatterings and orphanages.” The words used in this lyric, are much more descriptive. There is much more imagery and constraints in this verse. While the lyrics earlier in the song were abstract and open for interpretation, this verse specifically tells us what is happening. “He see’s angels in the architecture, Spinning in affinity” We immediately can grasp at images that we associate with those words, we have a new understanding of where the story is going. I definitely consider “You Can Call Me Al” a mystery. It has many different possible meanings and randomized lyrics. For some reason I think my grandpa appreciated this song because of it’s perplexing story. Overall no matter why my grandpa loved “You Call Me Al” I’m glad that it serves as a reminder of him.


I really love how my analysis of “You Can Call Me Al” turned out. Prior to writing, I was really worried. The meaning my family has for this song is personal and pretty contrasted from the lyrics, I was concerned that my analysis would either be too personal or too technical.

I’m really proud of the balance I was able to maintain, I think I provided enough info about the meaning represented in the lyrics and my own connection to “You Can Call Me Al”.

 

 

“Both Sides Now” Ultimately highlights life, and it’s one true constant – change. When you’re small you believe your world will always remain the same. You assume you’ll never grow old, that your values and opinions will never change. I was ten years old when I heard “Both Sides Now” for the very first time. It was a song I immediately loved, I found the words wise and whenever I listened, or sang along I felt reassured. “They shake their heads they say I’ve changed, Well somethings lost and somethings gained, In living ev’ry day” (2:57). This lyric specifically spoke to me. At the time many things in my life were changing. I had moved to a new home and had began to make new friends. Elements of my old life were becoming less significant, I was becoming a different person. The rhymes and beautiful words used in this song made it unforgettable. “Rows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air. And feather canyons ev’rywhere” (00:11). These euphonic lyrics make this heavy song easier to listen to. The author’s tone additionally keeps the song light. She repeats words like, “Dreams” “Clouds” “Love” all of which invoke a positive and beautiful image. Overall “Both Sides Now” has always been a comforting song for me. A reminder that no matter what happens, there are new people, places and ideals in the future. “Both Sides Now” is a reminder that no matter what happens, you shouldn’t give up on the many beautiful things life has to offer, despite now viewing and experiencing them differently.

“Both Sides Now” is a song that I’ve loved for a really long time. I’ve had an idea of what the meaning was in mind since I was really young. I think because I had already come to conclusions about the meaning, I was being much less analytical. I think I definitely should’ve focused on comprehending the lyrics rather than describing my own belief.

I am happy with this analysis, but I do think I could’ve done a better job of explaining the meaning within the lyrics.

 

“Carefree Highway” is a metaphor for escape, meant to symbolize the road someone takes to avoid their reality or past. For the Author this song recounts a girlfriend and the heartbreak that came from her leaving, this is pointed out through this lyric. “Her name was Ann and I’ll be damned if I recall her face, she left me not knowing what to do.” (00:20) The need to escape reminders of “Ann” is also highlighted by the sentence “Let me slip away on you..” (00:30) which is repeated multiple times. Creating repetition and flow between verses. This lyric symbolizes the author’s intent to leave behind all the sad memories, to keep the person he loved in the past. My family’s meaning for this song is similar yet different to the writer’s. For us “Carefree Highway” is a reminder of our Opa. This was one of the songs we constantly listened to while we visited him at his cabin. After he passed away, we related to the lyrics even more. Lyrics we never cared about, became associated with us and our experience. “Picking up the pieces to my sweet shattered dreams.”(00:07) Alludes to trying to connect fragments of a memory, trying to “pick up the pieces” of something or someone you once knew. This lyric captures the reason why we still visit my Opa’s cabin. We go to remember him and the memories we’ve made. “Carefree Highway” is a song that is specific to the writer, but can be interpreted universally. The lyrics reference specific people and places, but the themes within in the song are general and relatable. Everyone has tried to find an escape, a “Carefree Highway”.

“Carefree Highway” much like “You Can Call Me Al” is a family song. Writing about “Carefree Highway” was challenging in the same ways that “You Can Call Me Al” was. I was having trouble making my writing personal while focusing on the literary devices and lyrics. I think I was less successful while writing this song analysis. I definitely could’ve included more evidence from the song, to help support the points I was making about the theme/meaning.

 

After analyzing our favourite songs, it was time for the final portion of our project, the presentations! In these small presentations with a few classmates, I was able to share some of my song analyses.

To prepare for my presentation I created some collages in keynote, these visuals would symbolize how these songs were important to me.

These are the collages and overall presentation I created…

 

To accompany my slideshow I brought one physical item for each song. Each of these items reminded me of these songs. I brought a wooden sculpture for “Carefree Highway”. This sculpture originally belonged to my Opa, and was kept at his cabin. For “Both Sides Now” I brought my first music festival certificate, “Both Sides Now” was one of the first songs I ever sang competitively.  For “You Can Call Me Al” I brought a sweater that belonged to my Grandpa.

I really loved presenting my songs and sharing the memories and meanings I associated with them. I think I shared a lot of information with my audience, and created an interesting presentation.


I had a lot of fun working on this project. This was a really great way to learn more about literacy and literary devices. English, specifically poetry hasn’t always been my strong suit. This project has been a really engaging way to learn about a topic I’m not very skilled in. Overall I think I’ve become much better at reading complex texts and understanding the meaning behind poetic words.

See you soon,

Kaia!

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