Compare And Contrast Papa's Bridge And Just The Two Of Us

The love between father and son can be one of the most beautiful things in the world. Richard Blanco’s poem, “Papa’s Bridge”, and Will Smith’s song, “Just the Two of Us”,
both talk about the relationship between father and son. Blanco’s poem comes from mostly the son’s point of view, while Smith’s comes from the father’s point of view. Although the poem and song both have different tones, both are similar in projecting the love between a father and son.
The poem and song rely heavily on reminiscing and talking about memories of the past. When sending their message, both speakers look back at their earlier lives. The song, “Just The Two of Us”, starts off right from the get go, “From the first time the doctor placed you in my arms I knew I’d meet death before I’d let you meet harm” (Lines 2-3). In a similar way, Blanco talks about the father from the son’s point of view, “And for a few inclined seconds every morning / I am twelve years old with my father standing / at the tenth floor

window of his hospital room” (Lines 9-11). Both lines call back to times in their life when they are younger and sharing a loving memory with each other.
The relationship between the father and son in both the poem and the song seem to have shared a deep love amongst each other.

Papa’s Bridge speaks about a son taking care of his father who is recovering from being ill. His son is there for him in the hospital, watching over him feeding, and attending to anything he needed. Blanco goes on to say in the poem, “I cross this city, this bridge, still spanning / the silent distance between us with the memory / of a father and son holding hands, secretly in love” (Lines 36-39). While Will Smith’s “Just The Two of Us” shows love as well, talking about his unconditional love for his child, and being there for him throughout his son’s birth to adolescence. Smith sings, “Always, tell the truth, say your prayers hold doors, pull out chairs, easy on the swears, you’re living proof that dreams do come true, I love you and I’m here for you” (Lines 64-77). The father is telling his story in the song, while in the poem the son his telling his

story.
As mentioned, although both the poem and song share the same dynamic, the point of view is different. The speaker in “Papa’s Bridge” is the son, while the speaker in the song “Just The Two Of Us” is the dad. Throughout the poem the song goes on about the memories he has shared with his father while driving along the west and the time he spent in the hospital with him. The speaker states, “Morning, driving west again, away from the sun / rising in the slit of the rearview mirror” (Lines 1-2). In the song, the father is the one singing about the first moments his child was born and even though he is fearful, he is excited to take on the challenge of becoming a father. “Then to my knees, and I begged the lord please, let me be a good daddy, all he needs, love knowledge, discipline too, I pledge my life to you” (Lines 14-17). They are both similar with the tone of love but the major difference between the two is that they come from different perspectives.
In spite of these differences, you can’t ignore the fact that these two pieces share a similar meaning in which the father and son share and experience that helped them grow. Smith learned from his experience of how to become a father and raised his son with love and compassion. He learns from the experiences he has with his son from being a baby in the hospital to becoming a young boy and showing him the right way on how to live his life. “Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad, let God deal with the things they do cause hate in your heart will consume you too” (Lines 60-63). Blanco’s piece involves the son learning from his time with his father. The time he spent with his father and at the end of the poem his father tells him, “You’ll know how to build bridges like that someday” (Line 35). The father is giving his son the vote of confidence and basically telling him that he can accomplish whatever he wants in life through learning and experiences with life.
In closing, “Papa’s Bridge” and “Just The Two of Us” are written to show the love between father and son. One shows the love they have for each other through the son’s eyes and one from the father’s eyes. Each piece gives you words to visualize the times throughout their lives when they formed a deep bond and love for each other. Whether it has been spoken through by the son or the father the fact remains that unconditional love is felt throughout each speaker's words.