Popular Song Lyrics
Poetry has its origin in performed song, but there is a profound difference between a poem written to be read and lyrics written to be sung. This is due to the power of music: it acts upon the feelings without articulating anything, and harnessed to lyrics music may seem to lend emotive force to whatever (if anything) is endorsed in the text. As a result, writing lyrics to a contemporary pop song entails a fairly simple formula: all that is required are lyrics obey a law of vagueness, such that anyone can identify with it. The listener can imagine almost anything that matches his or her sense of what the tune "means." As far as the major record labels are concerned, a song only needs to be a sufficient advertisement for itself -- a "radio-friendly unit-shifter," to borrow a phrase from Kurt Cobain, where "radio-friendly" indicates a song's capacity for being repeated nonstop on the airwaves, and "unit-shifter" indicates its capacity for being sold in bulk to the masses, at Walmart or on iTunes. But it is worth noting that some songwriters still yearn to attain the poetic element in their craft: the song is intended by its writer to mean something. I want to examine two songs closely -- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana (lyrics by the late Kurt Cobain) and "Whatever" by Hot Chelle Rae (lyrics by Ryan Follese and Nash Overstreet) -- to see the way in which the lyricist's meaning is still constructed poetically in the lyrics, with an awareness of what I have defined as the law of vagueness as being the operant factor in allowing the song to "mean" something to the listener. In conclusion, I hope to show that Cobain wrote something closer to poetry.
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(Marino) Related to the above is the view that the origins and history of the development of Rap music are strongly related to the resistance to various forms of colonialism and oppression that Black people have experienced and which has shaped the style and form of Rap music. This also refers to ideological and colonial hegemonies and perceived racial and cultural prejudice that has been a major motivating force in
expressions of protest have come from a variety of sources and through a vast plethora of mediums. From paintings to poetry, protest works have helped to shape many causes, and have in many cases even influenced the outcome of the cause for the protest. This type of influence and the ability to affect masses of people simultaneously is perhaps best shown in the world of music. For centuries, musicians have
Saudi Arabia is known as the home to the hip hop group, Dark2Men, who competed in MTV Arabia's Hip Hop Na reality show. Break dancing has also become popular as a pastime in the region. Though the exact music distribution and sales numbers are difficult to establish, there is huge listenership especially in satellite TV and radio Gana 45() Hip hop culture in the U.S. Hip hop has been a part
Ethiopian Music 4 Ethiopia actually contains many distinct cultures. The most populous is that of the Christian Amhara around the capital plateau, but there are other Christian, Jewish, and Muslim peoples, some remote and virtually unknown. The following remarks apply to Amhara lyric poetry. Sung verse poetry is here the major musical artform, given a very plastic melodic conception based in artistic standards which revel in double meanings. The basic formats together
These findings suggest that rap may affect society in several ways. For example, how adolescent whites perceive rap may impact their support for race-based policies such as Affirmative Action as they grow older and become more politically involved. Further, to the extent that rap helps to promote interracial relationships, cross-racial social networks resulting from rap may increase employment opportunities for blacks and other non-whites (97). However, state Thompson and Brown,
As hip hop developed in urban environments, it has historically concerned itself with themes addressing the minorities dwelling in these communities. This is a tradition that has continued up to the present day. The main concern in hip hop lyrics is with the "struggle." This struggle can be personal or political in nature. In addition, there is also one strain of hip hop rapping known as "party rhymes" that are
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