Changes Tupac Analysis

Tupac "Changes"
Lyrics combined with beat and tempo has the ability to change one's whole outlook upon a certain subject. In Copland's theory he states that music should be listened to only the beat. He thinks that music is supposed to be heard on only three planes; expressive, sensuous, and the musical plane. Yet Copland doesn't talk about what lyrics add to these planes. In a song called "Changes" by Tupac Shakur , lyrics to this song made it a brilliant example of Copland's theory on all three planes. Tupac was a brilliantt rap artist that used the times around him and his child hood as vehicles in his songs. Therefore it is necessary for him to use his lyrics in order to convey the true message of his songs. The sensuous plane according
Tupac Shakur wanted you to see what his life and many of his friends lives were, that's what made him so successful. Copland only studied classical music which was free for interpretation. But adding lyrics to music restricts interpretation for that piece.
In Copland's theory the expressive plane is said to be, My own......an expressive power, some more and some less, but that all music has a certain meaning behind the notes and that the meaning behind the notes constitutes, after all, what the piece is saying, what the piece is about. (149)
Yet how can one interpret a musical piece with lyrics solely on its beat and tempo. To the untrained mind, this would be a rather difficult task to do. But with lyrics added the listener can comprehend what the artist is trying to say. In "Changes" the whole piece is about how the world needs to change because it is not working the way it is now;
We gotta make a change...
It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes.
Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live and let's change the way we treat each other. (Shakur)
You see the old way wasn't working so it's on us to
In his theory he stats that, "He must gear the melodies, the rhythms, the harmonies, the tone colors, in a more conscious fashion" (Copland 151). It is said that, that person is listening on the sheerly musical plane. Yet in many of songs if a person take away the lyrics and just listen to the rhythm, they would be left with one continuous rhythm for the whole song. Unlike classical music, which Copland equated his theory with, rap music only uses one repetitive rhythm or beat. It wouldn't be very enjoyable for the listener to just listen to one rhythm for the whole song. The artist actually wants the listener to really hear what he is saying. Tupac wanted his listener to actually do something about the crime and poverty that corrupted the neighborhoods back then. He clearly states in his song, "And still I see no changes. Can't a brother get a little peace? There's war on the streets & the war in the Middle East. Instead of war on poverty, they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me" (Shakur). He wanted people to hear his message not for it just to get played on the radio, or be listened to its beats only. When lyrics are added to a song, the song deviates from the sheerly musical plane to the more sensual and expressive