Music is created to make listeners think and feel. The song Battle Scars by Lupe Fiasco brings out many emotions in me when I listen to it. The song is full of poetic devices throughout its lyrics. Battle Scars contains personification, metaphor, allusion, repetition, alliteration, and oxymoron.
Battle Scars is a hip hop song performed by American rapper Lupe Fiasco. It was released in 2012 and was written by Australian songwriters Guy Sebastian and David Ryan Harris. I love this song because it is not a rap with no meaning. Like all of Lupe’s songs, Battle Scars has a message. I admire Lupe for his ability to convey his themes so poetically in his lyrics.
The listener cannot take Battle Scars at face-value to obtain the true message. The deeper meaning of the song is events that took place in a relationships affect those in the relationship forever. There is a clear tone of regret and remorse used throughout the song. The listener can infer that Lupe has underwent these effects and is speaking from past experience. A black-and-white minded listener would interpret this song as something to do with war and military. However, Lupe just uses war and military references to symbolize the relationship struggles.
The music in Battle Scars also aids in setting the tone. The music creates a feeling of sadness in the listener. Throughout the song, a piano is slowly played in a mournful way in the background. This is a common method of generating a sad mood in the audience. In the famous composition by Beethoven
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“Moonlight Sonata,” this method is used. So, “Moonlight Sonata” is used on many humane society and charity commercials to create a sense of pity and remorse. Also, many poetic devices are evident in the lyrics of Battle Scars. First off, Lupe uses personification in Line 3 when he says, “You’re at war with love.” Lupe “gives” love the power to fight wars in order to explain to the listener what his relationship problems feel like. Also, in Line 4, Lupe uses a metaphor when he says, “These battle scars...” Lupe is using the term “battle scars” to describe the pain he feels. Another metaphor is used in Line 59 when Lupe says, “‘Cause you’ve set me on fire.” Lupe obviously was not actually set on fire. However, he uses this phase to convey his harsh feelings. The next literary device Lupe uses is allusion. An allusion occurs in Line 16 when Lupe says, “With no Tom Hanks to bring you home.” This is an allusion to the famous World War II movie Saving Private Ryan, in which Tom Hanks plays the role of a soldier trying to bring home the last remaining brother of two soldiers who were killed. The fourth literary device in Battle Scars is repetition. Repetition occurs throughout the song in the chorus with the first refrain occurring in Lines 28-30. These lines are repeated because they are the theme of the song. Another literary device Lupe uses is alliteration. Alliteration is present in Line 43 when Lupe says, “...fires from your friends.” The final literary device in Battle Scars is oxymoron. An oxymoron occurs in Lines 59 and 60 when Lupe says, “‘Cause you’ve set me on fire. I’ve never felt so alive.” The reader does not expect Lupe to feel alive since he is “set on fire.” In fact, the opposite is assumed in that the reader would believe Lupe would feel like he is dying. In conclusion, Battle Scars by Lupe Fiasco is about the relationship struggles Lupe is facing.
This message is conveyed in the song through poetic devices in the lyrics such as personification, metaphor, allusion, repetition, alliteration, and oxymoron. Also, the music in the song helps to convey the message and mood of the song. I cannot wait until Lupe drops another song so I can listen to it and learn more life lessons all while being entertained by his
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It’s hard for civilians to see what veterans had to face and still do even after all is said and done. The rhetorical strategies that contribute to Grady’s success in this article is appealing to the reader’s emotions through the story of Jason Poole. Denise Grady’s “Struggling Back From War’s Once Deadly Wounds” acts as an admonition for the American public and government to find a better way to assist troops to land on their feet post-war. Grady informs the reader on the recent problems risen through advancements in medical technology and how it affected the futures of all the troops sent into the Iraq war.
The three narratives “Home Soil” by Irene Zabytko, “Song of Napalm” by Bruce Weigl, and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen all have the same feelings of war and memory, although not everyone experiences the same war. Zabytko, Weigl, and Owen used shifting beats, dramatic descriptions, and intense, painful images, to convince us that the horror of war far outweighs the devoted awareness of those who fantasize war and the memories that support it.
...t of people around you. The images are really helped clarify what the singer really wants to talk about. Without the images in the video some many things could have been interpreted from the song itself. Before I watched the video I just thought the author was talking about war, and specially the wars America was fighting at the time of the song’s release. The music in combination with the instrumentals and video create a piece of art that enlightens the soul.
As audiences watch “Fire Away,” even for just a moment, those words become an issue, those words are going through their mind and make them aware of what they can cause. The kairos of this video is very important to Stapleton, not only was this video a huge success in the music industry, but it was Stapleton’s very first music video ever released. Having such a hard pressed subject as his first video, brings kairos into a new light, as the video had great success. Kairos, meaning timing, could not be more appropriate for this song, as the timing of the song and video was able to blast Stapleton into the country music history books, as being not only an amazing singer, but being someone who is unafraid to take risks and bring country music back to its roots. Many things in this video make an audience feel cheerful, the happiness of the couple in the beginning and seeing their life begin to unfold. Many things in the video make the audience sorrowful, the many attempts of suicide and the heartbreak when the battle is lost. Many scenes in the video can make the audience feel a sense of fight, the light at the end of every bad scene and the unwavering faith of the man, through every situation that was thrown his way. Through the use of pathos, this video was able to make its audience of all different people, relate and connect with the
Greene, Jayson. "Lupe Fiasco: Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1."
The music of today has many songs in which there is a hidden meaning or stories behind the song. The song " Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and Pharrell is a song with a hidden meaning given much to talk about , another song which has a similar meaning with previous song is "You Do Not Even Know It " by Rick Ross. The intent of this paper is to compare song to song through its similar meaning. Both of these songs have a very rough meaning. These songs are inspired in hidden personalities , lies , appearances, violation , drugs , sex, etc. In " Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and Pharrell it talks about rape and sexual assault and all of these because of the use of alcohol and drugs. In "You Do Not Even Know It " by Rick Ross it also talks about how some people appearencess are not what they really are in
Springsteen wrote “Devils & Dust” during the Iraq War. He has been openly against the war and has been quoted saying to Rolling Stone, “As the saying goes, "The first casualty of war is truth." I felt that the Bush doctrine of pre-emption was dangerous foreign policy. I don't think it has made America safer.” The song itself could be interpreted as a soldier’s point of view about the war but overall it stands as a critique on our society betraying its own principles. The first couple of verses in the song already evoke the image of a soldier stuck in a war. “I got my finger on the trigger / But I don’t know who to trust” could be understood as a soldier’s experience in war but it could also have a deeper meaning. It could also signify that our society has to make these important choices that will end up affecting people’s lives but it is all too ambiguous, there just isn’t any certainty. We are left with the desperate feeling of not knowing what to do, not knowing wh...
“A Person cannot be diagnosed with PTSD without having experienced a traumatic event.” (Hunt and McHale, 2010, p.13). The purpose of this essay is to discuss how Music Therapy can be used to help veterans suffering from PTSD to cope with their traumatic experiences and manage their symptoms.
The first song I am going to start with and explain is his song soundtrack 2 my life, he discusses how he has a very hard time in his young life. He discusses how his mom got him christmas presents and how he was shocked due to being from a very poor family due to not having the advantage of being white. He continues to say how his emotions are pouring out of him as in he is letting all of the stuff that he has gone through that was hard out and he is ready to let it all out for the best of his health. He mainly discusses the pain he has gone through and how it is hard growing up as a young black male. After this main song, he continues to open up on how he coped with this heartache that he has gone through. In song marijuana he talks about how he used to smoke marijuana to help him cope with life. He at one part says how he needs it because it's the only thing to keep him level up in his head, A.K.A only thing that gets him through this everyday struggle of being the minority. Clearly this was cudi's way of living in the reality of a world that blacks are being oppressed every day. In his song the sky might fall which is already a cry for help. He opens up saying what a world that i'm living in will the rainstorms ever end, he is trying to say will all this pain and
While the songs written for the American Revolutionary war were somewhat speculative, and depending on the song, poked fun at their enemies. The songs written and sung about the war in Iraq were anything but. They outlined the issues and say everything that they feel is true regarding the situation the United States is in. For example in the song written by Neil Young "Lets Impeach the President." The lyrics in this song are deep and correlate directly with the feelings of many American citizens. For example “Let 's impeach the President for lying and misleading our country into war” (YouTube) these lyrics as well as the video depict a propaganda style. Following life changing events, such as a new life experience or a national crisis, songs are written to show and demonstrate its impact. Whether it is in the 18th century or the 21st century the premise is still the same and can be seen throughout the
It is difficult to show the effects of music on the individual, but it is easy to see how the individual chooses genres of music based on mood. The soldiers in Iraq, for instance, listened to a song by the band Drowning Pool titled, “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor,” over the speakers in their tanks. After listening to the song it would be easy to see that they didn’t just choose the song because they thought it pertained to their current situation. The song is loud, fast, and hard. The song fueled the soldiers. I don’t think that it made them into bloodthirsty savages, but I do think that it pumped them up with adrenaline. Walk into any random Gold’s Gym and I’m sure you will not hear classical or new age music, but instead some sort of rock. David in the Bible played music to soothe Saul. Due to David’s harp and voice Saul calmed down and fell asleep. This is present even in today’s society. After work, school, or any other long, exhausting event, it isn’t uncommon for people to go home and put on some soothing music in order to cure them of their horrible day.
Mathew Wilder is a singer, record producer, and songwriter born in NY in 1953. His most notable work with disney is on the original Score for Mulan. Mesides working on the score for Mulan he also voiced the singing voice for Ling. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for the original score of Mulan alongside David Zippel and Jerry Goldsmith. David Zippel was born in 1954 in pennsylvannia. HIs work is mainly in theatre as a producer, lyricist and Director. His work with disney includes the movie Hercules and Mulan. He has also worked with the movie Captain America: The First
Music can decipher a narrative event by indicating a perspective. To unify a set of diverse images and provide rhythmic and formal continuity and momentum, a film’s structure is more often than not, directly articulated by a musical structure. Music can assist the dialogue and visuals of film and often is inaudible (e.g. music is meant to be heard unconsciously, not consciously). Music has been used by directors to reinforce or strengthen certain weak scenes in film and then on the other hand when music is not needed to reinforce a scene
This song doesn’t only deal with sensory description; it also deals with figurative language. One example of figurative language is used by Ludacris when he says "I don't know, but you gotta stop trippin." The word trippin doesn’t actually mean tripping and falling, it means you have to stop worrying. He uses this word to relate to the different kind of people who listen to this song. Ludacris also uses figurative language when he says "Used to play back then, now you all grown-up like Rudy Huxtable." This figurative language is a simile, because he is comparing growing up to Rudy Huxtable, using the word like. Finally the last piece of figurative language is used by Usher when he says "Got me fiendin' like Jodeci." This also is a form of a simile, because he is stating that he has and urge like Jodeci by using the word like. That is part of the definition of a simile. Songs do not only deal with sensory description, but also figurative language.
Different from other types of films, the music in Phantom of the Opera was used by all the characters, as a way to tell their part of the story. The music created a convincing surrounding for the film, guided the audiences. The music was constantly a signifier of emotion, as the characters expressed their feelings through the songs. The music score was an emotional and scary score that tied into their diegetic/non-diegetic singing, giving the main characters an identity, specifying situations and places to help connect certain points. When we hear the dark music play throughout the movie, it plays a certain theme, that theme gives the viewers a clear hint of who or what the music is talking about. Another example of signifier of emotion was in The Devil Wears Prada, where the film used either fast upbeat songs for when Andy walks all around the city, running errands for Miranda, or romantic alternative music when Andy is with her boyfriend and true friends (The Phantom of the Opera/The Devil Wears