The world knows Leighton Meester mostly as the rich, love-crazed and often manipulative Blair from the CW’s hit show, Gossip Girl. It looks like the world has to add songstress to her identity. Her debut album Heartstrings proves that acting is not her only talent. In fact, acting is not her best talent by a long shot. It may be a surprise to find that she’s not all that new to music. Leighton has featured on many pop favorites, most notably, “Good Girls Go Bad” by Cobra Starship. She has also sung on many of the soundtracks for her various television and film features. But with her new album, Leighton shows that she is a feature artist no more. As soon as Leighton began singing in the title track “Heartstrings”, I felt like I was ten years …show more content…
old in my bedroom with the hot pink walls and blow up furniture, listening to Mandy Moore. Similar to careers of new-millennium pop stars like Mandy, Leighton is a jack of all trades. Her folk-pop tune was soothing and the lyrics superb. Unlike many of today’s pop artists, Leighton Meester is solely responsible for the writing and composing of this album. All I can say is look out Colbie and Taylor. In “Run Away” the folk-pop sound remains but with a little country coating.
Leighton’s Texas roots poke out of the dirt in this song, with lyrics that express a desire to go back to where the love began; home. The lyrics say, “Runaway / home with me / Runaway into our past / Runaway / Let’s figure out / all we've had and lost / all we've had and lost.” The song told a story and was wholesome like a country ballad, but with the melodic sound patterns of a pop …show more content…
song. The wholesome feeling was short lived, as Leighton gets sassy in “Good For One Thing.” It’s a song about a man who’s hot, and well…that’s about it. Leighton’s personality shines through in the song. While the man’s talking her ear off about himself, she’s thinking about ways to make him ‘shut up’. Not only in the song sassy, but Leighton gets a little frisky as well. “Sweet” is a refreshing song that like the first two tracks, is very folk-like. The lyrics in this song are particularly poetic, the lyrics say, “My heart is bursting / My head is on overload / My lines are twisting / And I want more.” It’s a song about longing for love, even if it tortures you. The upbeat percussion and electric guitar work perfectly with Leighton’s cheerful vocals in “On My Side.” The melody of the chorus is well composed, and it stuck in my head long after the song ended.
The song contains a decent guitar solo which leads into Leighton’s beautiful stripped down vamp. What a voice! ‘O la la,' never sounded as good as it does in the background of Leighton’s “L.A.” The song had a bit of a Caribbean feel, making for a relaxing listening experience. It went well with the idea of a laid back California lifestyle. In the song, Leighton sings “I’m living in L.A. / won’t you come sometime.” After hearing this song, I might make a visit. Leighton Meester gets deep in “Dreaming.” Describing a love that haunts you and causes you to crave it even though it’s tainted or unrequited, the melodic tune made emotions surface in me. I still felt like I was on the island, but now it’s night time I've had time to fall in love with someone. The vibe continues to the end, leading into a “Blue
Afternoon.” Beginning with lyrics that say “Open your eyes / in the crashing wave, baby/ I’m your slave/ you said so,” the “Blue Afternoon” gets a little hot and a lot strange. But since love is one of those things people just can’t figure out, the song makes perfect sense. In the middle of the song, the tempo gets quicker and symbolizes a kind of wake up call. She explains that she doesn't care about the time that’s passing, as long as she with her lover. The album ends with a mid-tempo song with a quaint melody that helped me to stamp this album as beautifully understated. I learned something while listening to this album. And though I’m sure Leighton didn't expect to teach me a lesson, I always strive to exceed people’s expectations. While “Good for One Thing” was playing, I had flashbacks of Blair and Chucks steamy roles in Gossip Girl. Then for all the other songs about love, I was picturing their roller-coaster of a relationship. What I learned was, iconic roles can never be lived down. Even after putting the teenage roles behind her and getting married in her own life, Leighton will always be Blair to us. An iconic album may have blurred the image a little, but this one doesn't quite meet the title requirements. Still, it was a great first album and a big surprise.
hit,"Losing a whole year", followed by "Jumper", a song about suicide. This song became the
While reading the story, “I Ain’t No Good Girl” by Sharon Flake, I felt like the characters did not really develop the plot as I would have anticipated. The story “I Aint No Good Girl” is primarily about a girl who is madly in love with a guy named Raheem that she is completely blind sighted about the fact that he is abusing, threatening, and gets cheated on. But what aggravates me the most is that even after all that she constantly takes him back.
Do you ever wonder why most girls are insecure? In “So I Ain’t No Good Girl” by Sharon Flake it perfectly explains why girls are insecure at a young age. This short story is about a teenage girl who gets abused by her boyfriend Raheem. Her story begins with her wanting to ride to school with Raheem. He tells her to “go to school without him cause he’s got things to do.” In reply she snaps at him and he slaps her. She reluctantly agrees to go to school without him. As the school bus is driving away, she sees Raheem kissing another girl. Flake shows how teenage girls are taught to be insecure by using realistic problems to show her character’s struggle.
The mission of Girls Inc, as stated on their website is, “to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold” (girlsinc.org, 2014). This mission statement can be seen on nearly every publication and public image, it has remained central to the organization, and it continues to be a driving force in the future of the organization. The vision of Girls Inc is “empowered girls and an equitable society,” (girlsinc.org). Girls Inc. has also developed a Girls Bill of Rights, which states that the girls have the right to: “1) be themselves and resist gender-stereotypes, 2) express themselves with originality and enthusiasm, 3) take risks, to strive freely, and to take pride in success, 4) accept and appreciate their bodies, 5) have confidence in themselves and to be safe in the world, and 6) prepare for interesting work and economic independence” (girlsinc.org).
"Cold, shiny, hard, PLASTIC," said by Janice referring to a group of girls in the movie Mean Girls. Mean Girls is about an innocent, home-schooled girl, Cady who moves from Africa to the United States. Cady thinks she knows all about survival of the fittest. But the law of the jungle takes on a whole new meaning when she enters public high school and encounters psychological warfare and unwritten social rules that teen girls deal with today. Cady goes from a great friend of two "outcasts", Janice and Damien to a superficial friend of the "plastics", a group of girls that talks about everyone behind their back and thinks everyone loves them. Adolescent egocentrism and relationships with peers are obviously present throughout the film. I also noticed self worth in relationships, parenting styles, and juvenile delinquency throughout Mean Girls.
When artists go through an emotional down fall in there career’s you see some stars fall and other’s reflect to back when it all started to better themselves. As Katy Perry stated in her interview with U.S.A Today Prism is “less over-the-top and more “me””. I have come to realize that when artist put out an album, it isn’t just to see how many copies they can sell but it’s about making music with feelings, getting into there inner self and reaching out to those who admire them, the social text of the music is the heart of every song and the album altogether. A lot of the time artist will write about their emotions but never really behind the sense of what occurred. Here I will take two artists and break down there trails and show how they made them into triumphs through the context of there music. I will describe how these artist were able to create pieces of music that took over a particular emotion and were able to get it’s point across to the listener. These artists will be Katy Perry, and Britney Spears.
An Analysis on the lives of the Upper, Middle, and Lower classes during the Industrial Revolution
In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” Flannery O’Conner follows a family on their way to Florida. This family gets into some trouble along the way because of the grandmother and her big mouth. The focus of the narrative is on the grandmother and her not so typical lady ways. She is an older southern woman who thinks she is a lady based of what she wears and her way of speaking. Throughout the story, the grandmother acts selfishly, is judgmental and dishonest which put the family in danger. It is the grandmother’s lack of self-awareness about these characteristics that leads to the death of her family.
For many of us, one of the most accurate and effective ways to express the feelings that really matter to us is through music. We don’t only grow to attached to songs that are catchy, but also those with lyrics that we can relate to. It is not uncommon to feel like sometimes, artists can convey the way we feel better than we could ourselves. The storybook-like lines you read at the start of this page are a collection of lyrics
If analyzed carefully, the melancholy verses of the song are in sharp contrast to the overpowering chorus. Ignore the addictive chorus "Born in the U.S.A.” and what you really hear is a protest song that tells the depressing story and struggle of Vietnam Veterans returning home to a disillusioned life. To his most devoted ...
Demi Lovato is a famous singer, songwriter, and actor born in 1992 in New Mexico. Although she was on “Barney & Friends” as a child, most people know her from her years as an actress and an occasional singer on disney channel. She co-starred in the famous movie series “Camp Rock” and also in the television series “Sonny with a Chance.” After these acting positions, Lovato began a career in singing. She has released many albums and has had many hit songs such as “Heart Attack” and “Cool for the Summer.” In 2012 and 2013, Lovato was a judge on “The X Factor” (Wikipedia). Singing is a huge part of Lovato’s life, and she pours her heart and should into her lyrics.
I cried as we locked up the house for the last time. I felt like we had just spackled, primed, and painted over my childhood. I felt as if my identity had been erased, and like the character in the song, I had lost myself. There was no longer any physical evidence that I had ever lived in, much less grew up in, the house.
Throughout the song the tone changes from a disappointed and unsatisfied feeling until it progresses into a hopeful and maturing tone. This transformation of tone follows the story almost perfectly and allows the reader to feel a connection to the transformation of the protagonist. This transformation from “expecting the world” (line 1) to realising that some things must happen for others to come into motion “the sun must set to rise” (line 24) is especially impactful and emotional when paired with the lines “ This could be para-para-paradise, para-para-paradise” that are repeated to show her newly established happiness and maturity. Ultimately, this progression from disappointed
I have been in a similar situation where all your friends are telling you a person is not right for you, but all you can see is the good in them. It is very hard to let go of something or someone that has such a strong hold on your heart. It is nearly impossible for people on the outside looking in to understand a situation that they are not directly involved in. When I heard this song in concert it brought back so many memories from the situation I was in. The way that Brantley sings with such passion and a hint of pain in his voice touches my emotions as well. Towards the end of the song, there is a long pause where you think the song is over. Then you hear Brantley sing, “Not like I do” and the music plays and Brantley sings the lyrics “Never understand. That girl’s my best friend.” Then he belts “That girl’s my best friend!” with the drums and guitar blaring. I felt that that moment was the most powerful moment of his entire performance. Brantley transitions from softly singing to almost screaming about this girl that he loves, and in that moment you understand all the pain that Brantley feels. It is such a beautiful song that allows the whole audience to sympathize with Brantley, since so many people have experienced similar heartache.
Everyone deserves an education, but for some in the developing world, especially girls, it is hard to even get into a classroom, due to the opposition from those who believe a girl 's place is in the home, not the classroom. The 2013 documentary Girl Rising by Richard E. Robbins states, “There are 33 million less girls in primary school worldwide than boys.” Girl Rising tells the stories of nine girls varying in ages throughout the developing world who only want to learn or where school saved their lives. Richard E. Robbins the director of the film, uses famous celebrities to tell these stories in hope to reach people all over the world in order to raise awareness and money to girls’ educations worldwide. Mr. Robbins film produces a concerned or worried tone throughout the documentary which intrigued the viewer to pay full attention to the film. Mr. Robbins uses lots of textual strategies in the form of statistics and interesting facts, as well as audio strategies such as the celebrity