The song I decided to do was Mockingbird by Marshall Mathers, more commonly known as Eminem. Eminem grew up in the ghettos of East Detroit. His father left him when he was as young as 18 months. His mother had to raise two children, him and his half brother, all by her self. Marshall had a tough life growing up. On average, he would switch schools every 2-3 months. This made it difficult to make many friends, and do well in school. He repeated the 9th grade three times, before he decided to drop out of high school. Many of Marshal’s lyrics are driven by passion, and are about his life. He has stated countless times that his success is a consequence of his abnormal and cruel childhood. His uncle introduced Marshall to rap at the age of ten. …show more content…
Shortly after he realized his talent for rap, he began to compete in rap battles at the Hip Hop shop. His first album under his first label Interscope Records, debuted in 1998. Eminem has won a total of 13 Grammys during his rap career. Mockingbird is a hip-hop/ rap song. Generally, rap music tends to have a lot of rhymes and a lot of lyrical meaning. There is always a steady beat, and flow in rap songs. This song still has all of those aspects. Eminem wrote this song for his daughters. It is a tribute for them. He is trying to say sorry for the fact that he made their lives very difficult and complicated because of his past, and his career. He is also telling them that even though he is not physically there, with them, he is there in their minds, and their hearts, and he will do whatever he can for them, to make the happy. The songs chorus has a striking resemblance to the classic nursery rhyme with the same name “Hush Little Baby”. He got a lot of his inspiration for “Mockingbird” from that nursery rhyme. My favorite verse of this song is the second verse. (2:00 – 2:45) In this verse, Eminem gives us a sample of one of his worst memories. He shows us a time where didn’t feel too well about him self, he wasn’t able to buy Christmas gifts for his daughters, much less, provide for them. I admire this part of the song, because I feel like I can really connect to Marshall. It gives us an insight into who Marshall Mathers really is, and not just Eminem. He takes off his hard exterior shell, and lets us take a dive into his personal life. This verse makes me feel closer to Mathers as a person and not a celebrity. 35 The theme of the song is Parental Love. Eminem is basically trying to say that he loves his daughter and would do anything for her. He is saying that he will always be there for her when she really needs him and even though he is not there physically, he is there mentally. “Cause you're scared, I ain't there? Daddy's with you in your prayers” In this verse, he is clearly stating that he is will always be there for her, even if she isn’t there with her. “Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird I'mma give you the world” In this line, he is implying that he will do anything for her, and try do to what ever he can to keep her content.
Ultimately, this shows the strong love a father has for his children.
“Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird
I'mma give you the world
I'mma buy a diamond ring for you”
This is an example of an allusion. This is a reference towards the classic lullaby “Mockingbird” which was the inspiration, and foundation for this song. This gives the listener a connection with his childhood. Also, the nursery rhyme has the meaning as the song its self. Both songs are trying to say that both parents would do anything for their daughters to make them happy.
“I remember back one year when daddy had no money
Mommy wrapped the Christmas presents up
And stuck 'em under the tree and said some of 'em were from me
'Cause daddy couldn't buy 'em
I'll never forget that Christmas I sat up the whole night crying
'Cause daddy felt like a bum, see daddy had a job
But his job was to keep the food on the table for you and mom
And at the time every house that we lived in
Either kept getting broken into and
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robbed Or shot up on the block and your mom was saving money for you in a jar Tryna start a piggy bank for you so you could go to college Almost had a thousand dollars 'til someone broke in and stole it And I know it hurt so bad it broke your mamma's heart And it seemed like everything was just startin' to fall apart Mom and dad was arguin' a lot so momma moved back On the Chalmers in the flat one bedroom apartment And dad moved back to the other side of 8 Mile on Novara And that's when daddy went to California with his CD and met Dr. Dre And flew you and momma out to see me But daddy had to work, you and momma had to leave me Then you started seeing daddy on the T.V. and momma didn't like it And you and Lainnie were too young to understand it Papa was a rollin' stone, momma developed a habit And it all happened too fast for either one of us to grab it” This is an example of a flashback. This is one of the most important literary devices in this song. It shows real life examples of his problems, and builds a stronger connection between the listener and the artist. It also shows why the artist is writing the song, and gives the song a deeper meaning. “When it swirls When it whirls, when it twirls Two little beautiful girls” This is an example on Rhyme. This is a literary device that is generally in many rap songs. This adds a certain flow and rhythm to the song, and also makes it catchy. This, in turn, makes the song more accessible to the public. This also brings the song to life, and helps the listener feel connected to the song. The music video for Mockingbird is a mix between a montage and a narrative.
It is not your traditional montage, because it takes place during a longer period of time, but it still shows, little clips from different time periods, and still gives us a lot of information about his family, in a short amount of time. He shows over a dozen home videos of his daughters, Haily, Lainey, and even his ex-wife, Kim. In my opinion, I also believe this is a narrative, because his home videos correspond with his lyrics very well. For example, during the lyric “We did not plan it to be this way, your mother and me But things have got so bad between us I don't see us ever being together ever again Like we used to be when we was teenagers”, he shows us a video of him, Kim, Haily’s mother, and Haily together as a family. This adds more of an emotional and memory-like tone to the
video. The message Eminem is trying to pass through is song is fairly clear. He wants to apologize to his daughters for having them grow up in rough times and even though he tried his best to make their childhoods better than the one he grew up with, they still witnessed the horrors he had to overcome. Regardless of how bad the circumstances got, he would always put a smile on their face. It also talks about how the music industry and fame changed him. He is also apologizing for never being there for them, but he says he would do what he can to make them smile. Listening to this song, makes me feel bad for Eminem. It is sad because he loves his daughter, but he cannot give her the life he wanted to. It also makes me feel a lot closer to not Eminem, but Marshal. It gives me a closer look to who Marshall actually is and it shows his soft side and his caring side. He lets his fans take a deeper look into his personal life and it is heart melting the amount of care he has towards his daughter and how sorry he is for not always being there for her. It’s also heart warming how much he is willing to stick with his daughter, even though his father never did that for him. Within a few minutes, you can feel the hardships that Marshall had went through. A part I really liked was the first verse. I love this part of the song because of how well the lyrics flow with the beat, and how meaningful the lyrics are. His lyrics have a certain way of making you connect with the artist. When the rapper says “No more crying, wipe them tears Daddy's here, no more nightmares We gon' pull together through it, we gon' do it,” it really shows you how much Mathers cares for his daughter, how much he is willing to do for her and how he is willing to stick with her through everything. My least favorite part of the song, is during the end of the song, where he says “Wow, I guess you pretty much are and daddy's still here Lainnie I'm talkin' to you too, daddy's still here I like the sound of that, yeahIt's got a ring to it don't it? Shh, mama's only gone for the moment” This part really messes with the natural flow of the song, and in my opinon, this line doesn’t have the same quality to the lyrics as the rest of the song. Out of nowhere, he disrupts the flow of the music. The camera shot is worth a median shot. The camera angle is low to eye level. I think the director chose this camera shot because it shows Eminem watching the home video. Through his facial expression, and his body language, you are able to tell that he cares a lot for his daughter, and he misses her, and would do anything to be with her. I feel this song has many important parental values, this is because Eminem spoke from his soft side and every single lyric came from “deep down” within him. Eminem says he will do whatever he can for his daughter, and will always put their needs in front of his. This is a value I feel all parents must possess. In the song, he constantly says Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird I'mma give you the world I'mma buy a diamond ring for you I'mma sing for you I'll do anything for you to see you smile.” He will truly and sincerely do anything for his daughter;a quality that every parent should have. He also shows us that it’s the thought that counts. Many kids don’t appreciate that enough. They only understand what they have physically. Most parents want the best for the child. That alone should be enough but kids need more. Throughout the song, Em mentions that he was part of the lower class. He didn’t have much money, so he couldn’t get his daughters the things that he wanted to, but he always wanted his children to smile, and be happy. After he achieved fame, he could never be with his daughters even though he wanted nothing more than to spend time with them. During the music video, you see Marshall watching videos of him family. You can see through his facial expressions that he misses those times; when he was able to make his daughters smile, and to be with them. This music video is set in 2 places. It starts off with Eminem, in a dark room, by himself watching old videos of him and his family. In the home videos, him and his family are all together, laughing, playing, and smiling in his previous home. The size and darkness contributes to the lonesome tone of the song itself. He is in room all by him self, watching videos of his family. This makes the listener feel what the artist is feeling. It shows them how much Eminem misses his family. Eminem is known for his crude, raunchy, and vulgar language. Many would call his music “distasteful” and some have even gone far enough to call him “satanic”. Despite of this, most people who have a passion for rap music, would agree that compared to many other rappers, Eminem’s music has a lot of meaning and depth to it . This song goes completely against what the public thinks of him. This is not one of his typical songs. Instead of bringing out his Eminem persona, he shows his true self, he as a father. This song shows a side of Marshall that always gets forgotten by the public.
The song I chose is called “Juicy” by Biggie Smalls, the title seems misleading but it actually related to the song because the melody was taken from another song called juicy fruit. It could have more of a meaning that he had some information or story that he wanted to tell because juicy could also mean secret or interesting, telling people how he grew up on the streets as Christopher Wallace. The main topic of the song is biggie talking about how people doubted him and how he grew up on the streets as a poor kid. He talks about how his life has changed and how he had nothing to having everything. When I first heard the song I thought it had a good beat and the lyrics flowed together, even if you do not really listen to the words the first time it is still a catchy song. The song also makes you understand how he grew up on the streets not having much and turning his life “from negative to positive” as he says in this song.
In third stanza Trethewey cries, “At the cross trussed like a Christmas tree” (9). Trethewey tries to give us reader an important visual image of a cross burning that she saw as a little child from a window by comparing with Christmas tree to understand the situation of her back in time. In addition, she also cries, “a few man gathered, white as angels in their gowns” (10). This implies the innocent view of Trethewey as a child. The white men in gown refers to those member of the Ku Klux Klan, who were standing in her front lawn wearing their customary white outfit. Little girl assumes that those men in white are sent by God, therefore, she links them with an angel. This stanza shows a faith and hope for little girl with new understanding of world who born in mixed race family and living in racist area, such a Mississippi during that time and suffering with a lifestyle because she was mixed. This has an impact on all her poems that comes from Native Guard. As Trethewey says, “I think I always understood myself as somehow a part of history. My understanding had to do with my very existence” (qtd. in
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee sheds light upon the controversy of racism and justice in his classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The notion of equality in accordance with the law and the pursuit of justice are hindered by racial discrimination. The essence of human nature is pondered. Are we inclined to be good or in the wrath of evil? The novel reflects on the contrasting nature of appearance versus reality.
Mockingbirds symbolically represent innocent, defenceless individuals, who bring nothing but joy to the world. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Arthur Radley, Tom Robinson and Dolphus Raymond are all symbols of the mockingbird. Many people in Maycomb see these people as mean and cruel but in reality they “don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.”
In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee, Lee uses a quote saying “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us” (Lee 94). Mockingbirds are portrayed as very delicate and innocent within this book, just as Boo Radley and Tom Robinson.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Twelve Angry men by Reginald Rose and The Scottsboro Trial are all about unfair trials containing discrimination towards different people and people being prejudice .The peoples action towards the defendants affected them for the rest of their life. Many of the people that came into the court brought in their own social problems and that influenced the verdict.
The Gender roles in society have greatly changed throughout the years of America from puritan women who thought that showing skin was undoubtedly a sin from the flapper era in american history that welcomed the idea of women showing more of their sexuality. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird which depict the events that occur when a white man who defends an african american man during the era of the great depression and what results from the story. Gender roles are a prevalent theme in the story. Through the characters dialogue and Scout's narration, Miss Maudie is characterized as a modern women while aunt Alexandra is characterized by her adherence to tradition.
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (90). Although the title of the novel has little literal connection to the actual storyline, it holds a huge amount of symbolic weight in this tale of innocents wounded by the evil surrounding them. The ‘mockingbird’ represents various characters in the novel that are harmed one way or another, particularly by the judgmental, prejudiced ways of the Maycomb townsfolk. Throughout the course of the book, the innocence they once had is destroyed, figuratively ‘killing’ the mockingbirds.
In the opening verse of the song, the speaker discusses the need to see her childhood home at least once more before moving on with her life. She shares with the current homeowner some of her experiences while growing up in the house. For instance, she says, “I know they say you can’t go home again, but I just had to come back one last time.” This shows that the speaker realizes that returning “home” is going to be a different experience than it was when she lived there, but she cannot resist the temptation of a final visit to the “house”. The speaker says that “Up those stairs in that little back bedroom, is where I did my homework and learned to play guitar. And I bet you didn’t know, under that live oak, my favorite dog is buried in the yard.” This indicates some of the significant memories the speaker has of her time in the house, such as honing her...
this metaphor analyses atticus finch, boo radley, and tom Robinson because in T.K.A.M, mockingbirds only sing and do good stuff never anything bad .
The daughter assumes her mother is mad at her,” When asked, she said she would grab something later/ and it made Kayla afraid to ask what she’s done.” (lines 10-11). Momma is not mad, but hiding the fact that they do not have enough food for all of them to eat. The narrartor says,” Momma put me down in my bassinet/ and began to lick the crumbs from my sister’s plate.” (lines 17-18). The poem is suggesting that their house is not in the best of conditions and they do not have a yard to play in: “When all the scampering children were bundled up/ and sent down to the parking lot of the Masonic Lodge/ to pass the football, futile task that it was,” (lines 12-15). This shows they have nothing but an empty lot to play in. The inside of the house is not in the best of conditions either: ” the fugitive football on the cracking counter.” (20). Even though the mother is not in the best situation,she still loves her
In the realistic fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the title emphasizes the stories of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, who symbolize mockingbirds because they are innocent and do not harm. After Atticus tells the kids not to shoot mockingbirds, Miss Maudie explains, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (pg. 93). Just like a mockingbird, Tom Robinson does no harm, yet he faces prejudice due to his race, which ultimately causes his death. He helps Mayella, Bob Ewell’s daughter, do many odd jobs for free out of the kindness and sympathy of
In “Night Calls” a man and a daughter of this kind of love. Not shown at first, but towards the end of the short story after the girl's mother died it brought the two closer than they were at the beginning of the story. The author, Lisa Fugard got her inspiration for this story after watching a documentary of the last two Japanese herons species and it touched her how an old man watched over them and cared for them. That caringness was brought into the story and brought out between the relationship of Marlene and her father. This carningness helps supports the sad but hopeful tone. This quote is Marlene listening and not hearing the heron, the father's last connection to his wife. “Then, one long night I didn't hear the heron’s call. The bird disappeared...I saw that my father’s eyes had gone dull like a dead animal in the morning”(Fugard 571). This quote shows how much this bird meant to the father and how Marlene was close enough to his father to tell that it really hurt him. Not only losing their mother, but their mothers prized possession was hard for both of them, but brought them closer together in the long
“Remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird…I asked Miss Maudie about it. ‘Your father's right,' she said. 'Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird'” (Lee 119).
A mockingbird “doesn’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy...they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.” (119) It is stressed by some influential characters, such as Atticus and Miss Maudie (119), that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Lee explains this metaphor through these characters to put a filter in the reader’s mind of what it it means to diminish innocence when considering upcoming issues and social confrontations.