Our next song, Don’t Stop Believin’ is based on the original Glee Arrangement by Adam Anders and Tim Davis. It was written by the composers Steve Perry, Neal Schon, and Jonathan Cain. Don’t Stop Believin’ was originally released by Journey, an American rock band in their album Escape, which came out in 1981. Don’t Stop Believin’ is featured in the final performance of the first part of the series finale in Glee. It is sung by the New Directions with solos by Finn and…
When a song is as heavily covered as Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That A Shame” from his album Rock and Rollin with Fats Domino you know that there is something special about it. With recording artists such as Pat Boone, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and even the 1970s rock group, Cheap Trick recording the song many people know at least one version. However the original version has a special something about it that helps it stand out from the many covers. The song has an enticing hook, interesting historical context, and is an earworm that was with me for several days after I first heard the song.…
Twenty One Pilots is an alternative/indie band made up of two members, Joseph and Josh Dunn. They are known to occasionally rap and include specific tempos and beats that correspond with each song’s thought provoking lyrics. In the song “Oh. Ms. Believer” by Twenty One Pilots they use the analogy of snow to describe a young girl going through depression. The band accurately describes the feeling of being trapped inside one's mind as they go through the hardships of this mental illness. Although at first this song may be interpreted as another cliché alternative hit, the meanings hidden beneath the lyrics are sure to tug at the listener's heart strings as he/she looks through the eyes of someone who struggles with a loved one who is depressed.…
In her essay “Hip-Hop’s Betrayal of Black Women” Jennifer McLunes states that “Hip-hop owes its success to the ideology of woman-hating”(222). She states that hip-hop condones an attitude of objectification, sexism, and homophobia. That rarely does an artist break the mold of rampant sexism. While she is right that some lyrics may be interpreted as chauvinistic and perhaps even sexist, this is not majority of the music. McLunes argument is not valid because hip-hop’s artists, the environment it is born from, and its culture is a celebration of materialism not misogyny.…
Esperanza starts the vignette with saying how she will most likely go to hell. Her mother puts her down as well as herself. She has told her that she was born on an evil day and that her, Lucy, and Rachel all pray for her as she says, “Most likely I will go to hell and most likely I deserve to be their. My mother says I was born on an evil day and prays for me. Lucy and Rachel pray too”(58). Esperanza relates herself to her aunt that was a fantastic swimmer one day and very sick the next. The song, Don’t Let Me Get Me, relates to the vignette Born Bad because both the song and the vignette are about self hatred and wishing to be something you can’t be.…
“Ya Strugglin”, by Boogie Downs, is another example of a hip hop song that contains extreme homophobia. This artist uses stereotypical attributes of homosexuals to ridicule and mock individuals in the hip hop industry. Down states, “Where oh where, are all the real men/ The feminine look seems to be the trend/ You got eyeliner on, chillin' and maxin’/ See you're a man with a spine extraction/ So what I'm askin' is plain to see/ Are there any straight singers in R&B?” Although this verse contains some amazing rhymes, it is very offensive and discriminating. The rapper is essentially proclaiming that men with feminine attributes are disgraceful and not considered real men. The last line is asking if there are any heterosexual rappers out there,…
The breakfast club has one of the most unique and memorable soundtracks of all time. Something that made the movie gave it such a memorable track and the movies “theme song”, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by the band Simple minds. Something that the movie did that not none to many movies had done at that point. They used this song twice, once at the beginning at once at the end. The two times this song is played in this movie, each function is shown. It shows genre because the movie was release in 1985 and this is around the time new wave music (the song’s genre) became popular. It sets the mood both at the beginning and at the end of the movie. It sets mood at the beginning because of the tempo and rhythm makes…
Throughout the memoir Jay Z almost translates his lyrics to some of his songs for the audience. He includes the popular song 99 problems. “If you're having girl problems I feel bad for you son / I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one” is the line and Jay Z explains it as “In this verse, the bitch is a female dog, the K-9 cop coming to sniff the ride. When I was living my version of this story, we got away – the K-9 unit was late, and the cop let me go. We were back on the road again, hearts pounding, crack still tucked untouched in the stash, when I saw the k-9 unite screaming up the high way going in the opposite direction” (61). He ties this into his past as a dealer which started when he was very young and how he knew that since most people had not gone through what he had, audiences would not understand what he meant by using the word “bitch.” Jay Z says that it is what seems to be the punch line, making it seem like the last word someone gets. He says that most rappers include this infamous line in their songs, “Their voices were big, like their beats, but naturally slick, like hustlers’. The rhymes were crisp and aggressive” (9). This hints to the notion of masculinity needing to be emphasized. He also mentions that he…
Miguel Primentel, a R&B and soul artist, was a breath of fresh air to the R&B game in the 2010-2013 time frame. The Ballad “Candles in the Sun” was a simple, yet powerful song with a very nice message. This song was released on his second studio album Kaleidoscope Dream on September 25, 2012. Candles in the sun didn’t chart because wasn’t a single, but the album was number three on the Billboard 200 (Wikipedia 2016). “I wanted to create a song and visual that addressed my everyday concerns of life” (Miguel 2013) The song was very repetitive but had an amazing message. The song was to make you think and call to attention to the problems of the world. During 2011 and 2012 there were conflicts in the middle east, many countries had political…
The Sugar Hill Gang, an American hip hop group. in the late 70's reached the charts by giving America a glimpse at urban street life through the incorporation of somewhat obscene lyrics. The 14min 37s song includes the phrase, "he cant satisfy you with his little worm but I can bust you out with my super sperm," These were extremely indescent lyrics for the time that were not acceptable to American moralities. Today more modern hip hop artists express more intellectual issues. A popular underground artists known, as Saigon is an example of one artist who uses music as a platform to express emotions he encounters in everyday life living in America. In the song "Kiss the Babies," he raps, "why am I wrong if I kill a nigga that punch me, but it's right for you to blow up a whole country." These lyrics express anger he has towards the American establishment, but specifically towards President George Bush. Feelings expressed through rappers are thoughts that counter mainstream American moralities. While many stay patriotic at times of war Saigon rebels with obscene vernacular towards the American establishment. Hip-hop is a rebellious art form. Saigon is one example of the countless rappers who speak what is on their mind. Similar to hip hop jazz has shown countless moments of…
“Talking shit about a pretty sunset,” is a song that portrays an overall apathetic outlook on life. The listener can clearly hear the discontent expressed in the words sung and the execution in the music. Thoughts of suicide, phobia of commitment, lack and gain of motivation, fixation and illusions of a better life are all present. Through the complex breaks and climax of the song, tells an emotional story of revelation, realization and self-actualization.…
There are wires growing out of everyone’s ears. That is, to listen to music. Music is an infinite source, whether that source is for lifting up spirits, expressing underlying pain and anger, or just merely a distraction. Music from well-developed Broadway musicals to a series of beats at a party, it is something we all have done: listen to music. Some even say that music defines us but it that really true? Is our music the soundtrack of who we each are? Do what we listen to support our core values in life? To answer this I sought out the one song I listened to most, “This Kiss” by Alex Days and Carrie Hope Fletcher, and interpreted its lyrics to see if it matched with my core values of commitment, happiness, and love.…
““I said ‘Bitch, why you such a stupid hoe?’ You lil’ bitch, you never could fuck with this. And every bitch that don’t like it, she can suck my dick.” These lyrics were taken from the song “Call her a bitch” by the rapper Too Short. With song lyrics like this one, it is very difficult for people both biased and unbiased to hip hop to even try to defend it. Although it is not the only music genre to have lines objectifying women, it is once again, as with other less than glorious topics, associated with the hip hop/rap genre the most. Throughout this chapter Rose makes very valid points with supported reasoning. As long as the public continues to support the objectivity of women, why would hip hop artists making good money stop?…
There are many topics out there that seem to appeal to the ears of the music industry. A popular approach is to objectify women by comparing them to animals or anything that is worth less of them. This approach is extremely popular, since it is adding to the long, long list of ways society is still oppressing women in the 21st century. While you are at it, you can focus on singing about either a woman’s chest or butt or maybe including both will land you a higher spot in the music charts. As your song becomes a top hit, sooner or later, you’ll hear a 14 year old boy singing about women’s body parts, and parents will praise the music industry for exposing young children to content that sexualizes the female body.…
Lieder ohne Worte (Song without Words) is written by the Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. It is a collection of forty-eight short lyrical piano pieces of markedly song-like character that he wrote at various periods of his life between 1809 and 1847. They are well suited to the study of musical form because of their artistic value. Op. 19b, No. 1 Andante con moto in E major was written in 1830 and is the first in the collection. The piece is in the key of E major and modulates from E to B to G major.…