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The 1960s pop
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In the White album, formally known as The Beatles album, Blackbird is deemed as an underrated song. Why do I say this? YouTube’s commentators told me, repeatedly. I personally discovered the song after reading the book The Perks of being a Wall flower during middle school.It was one of the songs that Charlie , the protagonist , had on his mix tape, and I, being the curious soul that I am, looked the songs up. Blackbird completely outshone all of the other songs. Back then, I felt like it was written for me. Thus, when I picking the songs, Blackbird was naturally one of my top 5 songs. Although, I have to admit that I did not realize that it was so popular, until I noticed that a lot of my peers are going to be writing about it as well. Back on track, Blackbird is two minutes and eighteen seconds long. It is listed as number three on the second side of the White album, and it is beautiful. In context of The White Album, the song Blackbird creates an uplifting and hopeful experience through the use of raw instrumentation and vocalized repetitive lyrics that ultimately enchant the listener.
The White album was released in 1968.It’s blank cover frames the endless possibilities that imagination brings while listening to the songs, giving the audience a more personal and limitless perspective of the songs they listen to. The album has a total of 30 songs, and they all tell a story and are very clear, in comparison to past songs like Johns “I am the Walrus”. The album kicks off with “ Back in the U.S.S.R” a response to the many patriotic songs established in the era. It is a very upbeat and specific a narrative like song written by Paul. The same goes for the following songs on the first side of the White album. How...
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...ut.The song does sound more like it is based on a social commentary, like “ Back in the U.S.S.R “ and “Piggies”. Moreover, because the track is right after “I am so tired”, the song seems more sluggish. Could the White Album go on without ”Blackbird”? I do not think so. This album consists of a lot of bluesy and folky style songs like “ Back in the U.S.S.R” , “ Rocky Raccoon “, and “ Let’s do it in the Road” , and for the album to flow , there needs to be transition between the extremities of the album. “Blackbird” is that transition. Its slow tempo creates an atmosphere of peace and Pauls’ sole voice evokes raw emotion from the audience. Thus, “Blackbirds”, simple construction captivates the audience with its honest sounding nature.
Works Cited
"Blackbird." By The Beatles Songfacts. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=157
Young states “white songs on the radio stolen by black bands” (l.9-10) however; in reality it’s the opposite of his claim. From the early to mid-1900’s famous songs were stolen from local black musicians. These songs were promoted and performed by global sensation artists such as Elvis Presley, Beach Boys, and many other white dominate bands. Outside sources provides evidence for this assertion “Some of the most successful songs performed by white singers are songs written and/ or performed by Black singers”
Although the era during which Blackbird came out most likely suggests it was written for the African American race to associate with, it very much correlates to Shelley’s being in Frankenstein. Symbolically speaking, the blackbird in the song represents the creation and his life, as he knows it. Victor simply created this being, but never took his responsibility beyond that point in regards to guiding this new life form toward happiness. Thus, the creature’s wings, that took him on his flight of life, were futile until he decided to learn and experience existence by himself. His sunken eyes, from the beginning of time, were empty forever longing for that guidance that he never received from Victor. The creature came into the world basically a newborn, pertaining to his lack of knowledge or any unfeigned emotion. And, it was the obligation of Victor to instill upon him normal morals and knowledge about the world to provide a structural and principled foundation. Needless to say, Victor failed to do so and the so the creature inevitably became the blackbird.
The name “black bird” is not a random happening, but carries its own meaning within the novel. The narrator calls the rare Maltese Falcon the Black Bird because it symbolizes Brigid’s façade built on lies and deception. Similar to the Maltese Falcon, which has a black coat covering the diamonds, Brigid selfish personality is hidden through her lies: Brigid “lied to [Spade] about [her] sister and all” in order to hide her true intentions of stealing the Black Bird. She utilizes her cunning mouth to hide everything true about herself: “You don’t think I had ...
Many times when reading a novel, the reader connects with one of the characters and begins to sympathize with them. This could be because the reader understands what the character is going through or because we get to see things from the character’s perspective and their emotions and that in return allows a bond to form for the reader. The character that is the most intriguing for me and the one I found comparing to every book that I read during school was Stacey from the book “Ravensong” Lee Maracle. The character Stacey goes through a lot of internal battle with herself and it’s on her path to discovery that she begins to understand herself and what she’s capable of. Throughout the novel, Stacey has a few issues she tries to work through. This is emphasized through her village and in her school that is located across the bridge in white town. Stacey begins dealing with the loss of Nora, and elder in her town. And this in return begins the chain of events that Stacey begins on the path of self-discovery not only on herself but everyone around her. She begins to see things differently and clearly. Stacey is a very complex and confused character, and she begins to work through these complexities through her thoughts, statements and actions.
In Black and Blue, Fran Benedetto tells a spellbinding story: how at nineteen she fell in love with Bobby Benedetto, how their passionate marriage became a nightmare, why she stayed, and what happened on the night she finally decided to run away with her ten-year-old son and start a new life under a new name. Living in fear in Florida--yet with increasing confidence, freedom, and hope--Fran unravels the complex threads of family, identity, and desire that shape a woman's life, even as she begins to create a new one. As Fran starts to heal from the pain of the past, she almost believes she has escaped it--that Bobby Benedetto will not find her and again provoke the complex combustion between them of attraction and destruction, lust and love. Black and Blue is a beautifully written, heart-stopping story in which Anna Quindlen writes with power, wisdom, and humor about the real lives of men and women, the varieties of people and love, the bonds between mother and child, the solace of family and friendship, the inexplicable feelings between people who are passionately connected in ways they don't understand. It is a remarkable work of fiction by the writer whom Alice Hoffman has called "a national treasure." With this stunning novel about a woman and a marriage that begins in passion and becomes violent, Anna Quindlen moves to a new dimension as a writer of superb fiction. Black and Blue is a beautifully written, heart-stopping story in which Anna Quindlen writes with power, wisdom, and humor about the real lives of men and women, the varieties of people and love, the bonds between mother and child, the solace of family and friendship, the inexplicable feelings between people who are passionately connected in ways they don't understa...
In Nevil Shute’s On the Beach, the story of the last days of the lives of the last humans on Earth is told. Victims of Global-Thermonuclear war, which they took no part in, they are aware of the massive radiation cloud drifting south towards Australia. The main focus of the novel is not the plot, but the characters, who they become and what they do in their last days. Two such characters are John Osborne, a scientist studying the effects of the radiation, and Mary Holmes, a Navy-wife and recent mother. Through the course of the novel, though there is little interaction between the two, it becomes apparent that they are foils for each other, portraying near opposite reactions to the impending end.
Joe Cocker’s cover of a not as well known song by a mega popular band (popularity and well known status of the Beatles), combined with the timing of the world (counterculture, experimentation, not so rigid roles) and his own talent and personal twist on “With a Little Help from My Friends” (everything he changed about the song), helped Joe Cocker rise to success that he might otherwise not have found without the indirect help from the Beatles.
The song "War Pigs," by Black Sabbath, argues the fact that, during the Vietnam War, politicians were willing to start wars and cause destruction because they were not the ones in danger of losing their lives or being injured. The song suggests that the politicians of the 1960's and 1970's started a war for fun, treating soldiers in America's army as "pawns in chess." By the end of the song, the lyrics say that those men and women will get what they deserve when their day of judgment comes.
“Who am I?” (Thomas 415). Many ask themselves this relevant question in times of self-doubt or ambivalence. Leona Thomas asks this question in her essay entitled, “Black and White.” As the child of a black father and a white mother, Thomas finds herself in a racial dilemma. Society punishes Thomas for being “mixed.” Through the use of the literary techniques of pathos, logos, and inductive reasoning, Thomas effectively persuades the reader that society should look beyond one’s mixture. She shows that racial orientation should not determine how a person is perceived by society, and that the people in society should stop being racist to one another.
Stevie Wonder’s musical exploration in his albums Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness’ First Finale, and Songs in the Key of Life from the span of 1972-1976 cover a multitude of issues revolving around black empowerment and civil justice that encapsulated the social issues surrounding that time period. In a time where the Black Power movement was mainly associated with violence and black militancy, Stevie Wonder was able to capture a
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Strange fruit is and amazing dark poem told by Billie Holiday as very powerful song. Strange Fruit is a terrifying protest against the inhumane acts of racism. Strange Fruit was about the murders and lynching going on in the south at the time from public hangings to burnings. The south has a cruel and terrifying past that haunts the very people who still live down there and remind them that only a short time ago was no one prosecuted for killing someone of dark skin since whole towns were involved in it.
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The novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings goes through the childhood of Maya Angelou as she faces the difficult realities of the early South. This novel does not do a very good job at portraying the hardships of the blacks because she
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