Analyzing Mitski's Fireworks

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Without a doubt, poetry and jazz remain beautiful ways to express one’s emotions. Whether through the meticulously hand-picked words to create rhythm, meter, and rhyme, or the composition of different instruments to create harmony in chaos, both are undeniably valid, pure forms of that person’s emotions. However, the union of these two becomes obsolete as current music digresses into mumble rap or meaningless lyrics. Unlike most modern-day songs, “Fireworks” by Mitski doesn’t solely rely on the instrumentals; instead, she incorporates apathetic descriptions, recurring opposition, and the personification of sadness to convey the deafening isolation people with depression face daily. Regardless of the passionate instrumentals that captivate the …show more content…

Even as these complications inflict great misery upon her, like a knife on her side, she chooses to suppress these pains to continue her detached life. Unlike the rest of the song, she utilizes the instruments for the chorus to create strong juxtaposition through lyrics and sound. In this section, Mitski refers to the fireworks being symbolic through oppositional language when she states, “And then one warm summer night / I'll hear fireworks outside / And I'll listen to the memories as they cry, cry, cry.” Luckily for the listener, the fireworks’ representation is directly communicated, signifying the suffering and pain Mitski endured. Through the use of a conventional celebratory item, most often reserved for the Fourth of July, she juxtaposes it through the repetition of crying. As Mitski conveys this lament, the listener picks up on the implied message of the inescapability of her sorrow, shown through the recurring idea of weeping. Even during a patriotic time, which we can infer due to the summer setting and fireworks, her depression overtakes her ability to enjoy …show more content…

Furthering the oppositional nature of the song, the true intent of the lyrics and the composition of the piece actively combat each other, showing the fluctuating emotions someone with depression can feel when they become aware of their sorrow. While personification is a common literary element engraved into our minds since elementary school, the use of it in songs can be scarce, which Mitski takes advantage of. When conveying the extremity of her emotions, the concrete idea of silence is emphasized by its quiet, gloomy stature, as she writes, “I will be married to silence / The gentleman won't say a word.” However, she transforms this sentiment of silence into an unbreakable bond through marriage. The powerful emotional state of her sorrow is forever tied to her through the personification of silence, thus revealing how she views her depression as inescapable and, unfortunately, unified with her. The following lines accentuate this as she sings, “But you know, oh you know in the quiet he holds / Runs a river that never finds home.” This quiet, depressive state is what she’s implying silence to

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