Again, he uses dialect that his fans can relate to instead of being concerned about 'proper English'. This is very effective at making the words identifiable to his audience. The more people can relate to what you are saying, the more likely they are to take it to heart and actually do what you are asking them to do: "It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes." The most ironic thing about this song is the last few lines. I cannot help but wonder if 2 pac was having some kind of premonition when he wrote: "Cause I always got to worry 'bout the pay backs/some punk that I roughed up way back/comin' back after all these years/rat-tat-tat-tat-tat that's the way it is."
That may be the way it is, but to 2 pac, that did not mean things had to stay that way. "Keep Ya Head Up" is a song about staying true to yourself and staying proud no matter what kinds of awful things life throws at you. There is a very inspirational tone about this song, and the artist's choice of words is very encouraging. 2 pac uses a lot of hopeful words and phrases such as "don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up" and "girl keep your head up." This song is basically geared toward women who are treated poorly by the men in their lives, including their boyfriends, husbands, fathers and sons. 2 pac's choices of words are meant to be inspirational and to encourage women not to put up with the way they are being treated because they deserve so much better. It is also a...
His words are very moving when he says "Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman/I wonder why we take from our women/Why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it's time to kill for our women/Time to heal our women, be real to our women." Like in his other poems, 2 pac is always extremely straightforward and says exactly what he means.
Some poets, however prefer a different tactic. Some poets like to make analogies and use metaphors and abstract speech to convey their point. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There is always more than one way to do everything and no one way is necessarily right. However, I believe that 2 pac's directness and heartfelt choice of words are a more moving and powerful type of poetry. For example, Linda Pastan's poem "Marks" is basically an analogy of how she feels like her life is being 'graded' by her family as if she were a student in school trying to prove herself worthy. When she says "Wait til they learn I'm dropping out" this is a metaphor for either running away from the family to start a new life, or possibly suicide.
Pastan has a very creative and interesting way of expressing her pain. However, in my opinion, the way 2 pac expresses his pain is more poetic because poetry is about touching other people's hearts. Speaking openly and honestly while using real language and relatable thoughts is more likely to move…
