Personification

Bleeding Love ~ Leona Lewis

The main example of personification in this song is "bleeding love." Humans bleed, but love doesn't, so love is being personified here.

Lyrics

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Listen To Your Heart ~ D.H.T.
(Originally by Roxette)

This song has two main examples of personification:

• The first is "listen to your heart." While it is possible to listen to your heart beating, your heart cannot tell you what to do, as this song is saying. People can tell you what to do, so this is personifying your heart.
• The second is "And there are voices that want to be heard." Wanting something is a human characteristic, and voices are not humans.

Lyrics

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stop and Stare ~ One Republic

This song also uses personification in two places:

• "This town is colder now, I think it's sick of us." This is personification because a town cannot get sick of something; that is an emotion, and towns do not have emotions.
• "And every glance is killing me." Glances cannot literally kill people, so they are being personified here.

Lyrics

Point of View

Fairytale ~ Sara Bareilles
This song uses both 3rd person omniscient and 1st person narrative points of view. Because it uses both of these, that also makes it a multiple person narrative.

• 3rd person omniscient is used in the verses, where the narrator is describing different fairytale characters' (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rapunzel) "untold stories," that is, the stories that don't end happily ever after. This is 3rd person because it is not "I" or "you" it is other people. More specifically, it is 3rd person omniscient because the narrator knows everything: such things like Cinderella having "a crush on the guy at the liquor store" and Sleeping Beauty being in a "foul mood."


• During the chorus, bridge, and end, the narrator puts herself into the song, so the lyrics are now in 1st person point of view. The narrator uses "I" to describe her own thoughts, such as "I don't care for your fairytales."
  

Lyrics

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Russian Roulette ~ Rihanna

• This song is written in 1st person narrative point of view. The song uses "I" (such as "I'm terrified but I'm not leaving"), and the narrator is talking about herself.
• This song also uses stream of consciousness point of view. The narrator is playing Russian roulette, which means she could die as soon as she pulls the trigger. The lyrics to the song are the thoughts running through her mind in what could be the last few seconds of her life. This fits my theme because I believe the game of Russian roulette to be an extended metaphor for a relationship - it could be bad, or it could be good, but you won't know unless you just jump into it.

Lyrics

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Never Say Never ~ The Fray

This song is also partly in 1st person narrative , but it is also in 2nd person narrative. It does use "I" and "we," but the 2nd person comes in when the narrator is talking to someone else, such as in "You can never say never," "Don't let me go," and "Picture you're the queen of everything."

Lyrics

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't Stop Believing ~ Journey
This song is written in 3rd person subjective point of view. It is in 3rd person because the main characters are "he"s and "she"s and "they"s, such as the "small town girl" and the "city boy." It is subjective because the narrator knows somewhat what the characters' feelings are, such as that they are "living just to find emotion."

Lyrics

Hyperbole

The following song shows a good example of hyperbole:

A Thousand Miles ~ Vanessa Carlton
While this song does not have a lot of examples of hyperbole, the main idea of the song is one. Throughout the song, Vanessa repeats that she would "walk a thousand miles." This is an exaggeration, because it is not possible to walk a thousand miles, especially in one night ("tonight"). Another hyperbole that is used "fall into the sky." It is also not possible to fall into the sky.

Lyrics

Alliteration

The following 3 songs all fit into my genre of pop music and my theme of the good and/or bad parts of love/relationships. All 3 of these songs use alliteration.

Key:
Consonance/Assonance

*** Repeat examples are only highlighted the first time they appear.***

D is For Dangerous ~ Allison Iraheta

A is for all I want
B is for badly
C is for can't you stay long
'Cuz I want you so madly
E is for no escape
'Cuz I don't wanna leave you
F is for fallin' too
Fast with no parachute, oh

And who's gonna save me now
Oh

You're taking me under
Stolen my thunder
And I think I'm all out of fight
I want you to win
All that I ever was
Is burning in this lust
Your love is a weapon
And it's turning me to dust
D is for dangerous
D is for dangerous

G for get outta here
It's really too much
H is for how do I leave
When I'm addicted, to your love
I is for insane
It smells like danger
J is for jump off the ship
Or the storm will take you

And who's gonna save me now
Oh

You're taking me under
Stolen my thunder
And I think I'm all out of fight
I want you to win
All that I ever was
Is burning in this lust
Your love is a weapon
And it's turning me to dust
D is for dangerous
D is for dangerous
D is for dangerous
D is for dangerous

K is for killing me
L is for I can't leave
Oh, 'cuz I'll never make it
If I'm not living on the edge
As for the rest
Let's just forget
'Cuz I'll never want out of this

You're taking me under
Stolen my thunder
And I think I'm all out of fight
I want you to win
All that I ever was
Is burning in this lust
Your love is a weapon
And it's turning me to dust
D is for dangerous
D is for dangerous
D is for dangerous
D is for dangerous

Iraheta, Allison. "D is For Dangerous." Just Like You. CD. Jive Records. 2009. http://www.elyrics.net/read/a/allison-iraheta-lyrics/d-is-for-dangerous-lyrics.html. Web. 10 February 2010.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucky ~ Jason Mraz feat. Colbie Caillat

Do you hear me,
I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky oh my, baby I'm trying
Boy I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Oooohhhhoohhhhohhooohhooohhooohoooh

They don't know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I'll wait for you I promise you, I will

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
I'm lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

And so I'm sailing through the sea
To an island where we'll meet
You'll hear the music, feel the air
I'll put a flower in your hair
Though the breezes through the trees
Move so pretty you're all I see
As the world keeps spinning round
You hold me right here right now

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
I'm lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooooh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

Mraz, Jason. "Lucky (feat. Colbie Caillat)." We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. CD. Atlantic. 2008. http://www.lyricsty.com/lyrics/j/jason_mraz/lucky.html. Web. 10 February 2010.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright With Me ~ Kris Allen

I'm a little pawn still in your game
And you ignore my advances
I turn my head and I look away
But I can't control my eyes are on you

Oh, you're on the run and I'm chasing you
Feels like war with all your glances
I'm just a boy without a clue
And I can't control following you

But it's alright, alright with me
It's alright, alright with me
It's alright, alright with me
It's alright, alright with me

I know you better than you know
You can fight but it's not over
I say to stop but you start to go
I guess that means it's L-O-V-E

I say to look but you turn away
I say we put our best foot forward
Will you believe, come next to me
Oh, why can't you see, I'm begging you, please

But it's alright, alright with me
It's alright, alright with me
It's alright, alright with me
It's alright, alright with me
It's alright, alright with me

(Yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah, yeah)

And I'm knocking on your door
Baby baby, please now
Falling on your floor
Baby baby, please
I keep knocking on your door
Baby, baby, please now
Falling on your floor
Baby baby, please

But it's alright, alright with me
It's alright, alright with me
It's alright, alright with me
It's alright, alright with me

Allen, Kris. "Alright With Me." Kris Allen. CD. Jive Records. 2009. http://www.lyricstime.com/kris-allen-alright-with-me-lyrics.html. Web. 10 February 2010.

Imagery

Glitter in the Air ~ Pink
"Glitter in the Air," by Pink, is a song that uses a lot of imagery. The song is about being in love. It does not seem to be a sad song with just the lyrics, but with the music and everything, it is a bit melancholy. To me, it seems to indicate that that "perfect" love cannot last forever. I also think it is about that moment in life when you are about to go forward, and not sure if you should--and in this song, this seems moment seems to be love. Anyway, the song uses a lot of imagery. Even the title, "glitter in the air" is imagery because it immediately makes you think of glitter in the air, as does the line "Have you ever thrown a fistful of glitter in the air?" Another part of the song that uses imagery is the bridge: "There you are, sitting in the garden/Clutching my coffee/Calling me sugar." You can both see the man sitting in the garden with the coffee and hear him calling her "sugar." The second verse, about waiting for the phone to ring, also is very easy to picture in your mind. The chorus (if you can call it that, since the lyrics change) also uses a lot of imagery with phrases such as "the tip of the iceburg" and "the hourglass on the table." These phrases, and the images they cause to appear in your mind, add to the whole effect of being on the edge of something that could change your life, such as diving into a relationship with someone.
Lyrics

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Between the Lines ~ Sara Bareilles
"Between the Lines," by Sara Bareilles, does not use quite as much visual imagery, but it does still use a lot of imagery. I think the song is about being in a really complicated relationship with someone - you love them, but it's complicated: you're "between the lines." "Between the lines" is imagery in itself, because even though it is a common expression, it makes you think of 2 lines (or maybe 2 lines of text, like in "reading between the lines"), which you are between. I also think "eyes wide shut unopened" is great imagery, albeit confusing. It's sort of a paradox; I'm not sure if it is possible to have eyes that are both wide and shut at the same time, but you can still imagine it, and it is a good description. This song also uses imagery of what you can hear, such as in the 2nd stanza when it talks about how the name sounded familiar and she "could've sworn [she'd] heard him say it ten thousand times." This description you can hear in your head, even though you don't know the actual name. There is more audio imagery in the bridge when she says, "I'll talk until the conversation doesn't stay on/Wait for me, I'm almost ready/When he meant let go." You can hear all of this conversation-type thing in your head. The imagery in "Between the Lines" may not jump out really quickly, but it is definitely there!

Lyrics

Theme & Genre

I think for my genre I am going to do pop music. My theme is going to be love, though I will probably concentrate more on the harder parts of love than the easier ones. I chose pop music as a genre, because I listen to it a lot and I like (most of) it. I chose love as my theme because it is very prevalent in pop music and can show many different sides. I do not really have a specific song that inspired this choice, but some of my favorite songs do fall into the pop category, which I find to be a pretty broad category.

*Edit: I think maybe a better way to describe my theme would be relationships.