“Viva La Vida” by Coldplay, was released in 2008 and became the best-selling album of that year within days of its release. Coldplay dissatisfied with their sales from previous songs decided to do something different: out of the ordinary. The group traveled to Spain to record in several Spanish churches where the song “Viva La Vida” came into existence (Coldplay). This album has helped them become a well renowned group. Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” was an insta-hit and was number one in the US and UK. The title of the song makes reference to artwork by Frida Kahlo. The song has many biblical and historical references that allude to themes of pain and strength (Viva). “Viva La Vida” comprises of several allusions to certain people or historical events that are essential in showing how the song depicts a loss of power and the helplessness of life. Allusion is defined as an implied, indirect, or passing reference to a person or thing; (in later use more widely) any reference to someone or something (“allusion”).
Coldplay’s hit song title “Viva La Vida” alludes to the artwork Viva La Vida created by Frida Kahlo. The reason behind the title “Viva La Vida” is because of singer Martin. He saw a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo with Viva La Vida being the name of it. He chose this title after being aware of the fact that Frida Kahlo endured polio, a broken spine, and chronic pain. Martin said: “He loved the boldness of it” (Rolling). “Viva La Vida” symbolizes courageousness and strength in Martin’s eyes because of the consciousness of knowing what a helpless person can go through. The pain endured is beyond words, but also the strength needed to push through the desperate times of helplessness.
Frida Kahlo suffered many setbacks and i...
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... of power and authority. Louis XVI was a rich and powerful king until he let matter slip out of his hands. The key symbol is the storming of the Bastille Prison. This prison was a symbol of authority and power. When it was taken from Louis XVI it was the key turning point in his downfall and loss of supremacy. This historical reference proves how “Viva La Vida” portrays a loss of power and helplessness of life in multiple ways.
“Viva La Vida” is an inspiring and remarkable song, which will be known for a while. The way Coldplay was able to tell a story with music throughout the entire song is remarkable. This song has been interpreted in many different ways that one can only have their own unique feeling towards it. The background behind the song is truly inspiring and can touch many people’s lives. This song will be around for a long time for many to hear and love.
...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.
Kim Addonizio’s “First Poem for You” portrays a speaker who contemplates the state of their romantic relationship though reflections of their partner’s tattoos. Addressing their partner, the speaker ambivalence towards the merits of the relationship, the speaker unhappily remains with their partner. Through the usage of contrasting visual and kinesthetic imagery, the speaker revels the reasons of their inability to embrace the relationship and showcases the extent of their paralysis. Exploring this theme, the poem discusses how inner conflicts can be powerful paralyzers.
Known as the “Queen of Tejano” and the “Mexican Madonna”, Selena Quintanilla-Perez was the adored Latin singer who sadly did not get to live to see all of the success of her career. One of her most famous quotes is, “We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever but to create something that will (PhilosIblog, 2014).” That is just what Selena did and she made sure that her legacy would live on for years. Selena surely left a her mark in this world with the help of her family, in her short lived 23 years. Selena was an amazing singer, she even made it very far in a genre of music that was dominated by men. Selena Quintanilla-Perez is an influential person because of her loving personality, her music career, her determination to succeed in a genre that was only men, and her success with her music that will never stop playing even if she is not here.
When comparing and contrasting “Ozymandias”, written by Percy Bysshe Shelley and “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay, there is a strong contrast between the two. Ozymandias is a poem about a long-forgotten king who once had mighty power over his people, where as “Viva La Vida” is about a king who was overthrown. However, the similarities between the song and poem are astonishing. “Ozymandias” is similar to “Viva La Vida”because both texts mention a rockpile built upon sand for a king; because both texts show that the citizens are enemies of the king; and because they are both about a king who has lost his power.
This iconic song has many different styles of rhetoric in it, including the style of Pathos. The beginning of this song starts
More than eight million copies sold is a great figure for any music album. However, for a CD labeled with World Music genre, that number means an unprecedented success. The album, named Buena Vista Social Club, has changed the attitude of the world to Cuban music forever. Nonetheless, Buena Vista has been criticized for being a commercial product, and for causing negative effects to Cuban society. Let us discover the story behind this phenomenon from Cuba, and more importantly, explore the music inside this brilliant CD.
This song lacks logos but considering the context of the song, it would be unnecessary and inappropriate to add in any facts or resources. For the pathos aspect of the song, the artist uses the talk of drugs and the comparison to Peter Pan to affect the emotions of the audience. Both of these allow the audience to make possible connections as well as help them understand the emotions behind the story deeper. Along with these uses of rhetorical appeals, the acoustic sound of the song adds to the emotion of the song because it allows the listener to focus on the words and story with a slow tempo. The ethos for this song is the fact that the singer, Chance, is the one who personally experienced these emotions and this relationship. He is also the producer of this song. Overall this song is not only enjoyable to listen to but once you analyze the meaning it becomes a song you can relate to and enjoy on a more complex level. (Word count:
This darkly satiric poem is about cultural imperialism. Dawe uses an extended metaphor: the mother is America and the child represents a younger, developing nation, which is slowly being imbued with American value systems. The figure of a mother becomes synonymous with the United States. Even this most basic of human relationships has been perverted by the consumer culture. The poem begins with the seemingly positive statement of fact 'She loves him ...’. The punctuation however creates a feeling of unease, that all is not as it seems, that there is a subtext that qualifies this apparently natural emotional attachment. From the outset it is established that the child has no real choice, that he must accept the 'beneficence of that motherhood', that the nature of relationships will always be one where the more powerful figure exerts control over the less developed, weaker being. The verb 'beamed' suggests powerful sunlight, the emotional power of the dominant person: the mother. The stanza concludes with a rhetorical question, as if undeniably the child must accept the mother's gift of love. Dawe then moves on to examine the nature of that form of maternal love. The second stanza deals with the way that the mother comforts the child, 'Shoosh ... shoosh ... whenever a vague passing spasm of loss troubles him'. The alliterative description of her 'fat friendly features' suggests comfort and warmth. In this world pain is repressed, real emotion pacified, in order to maintain the illusion that the world is perfect. One must not question the wisdom of the omnipotent mother figure. The phrase 'She loves him...' is repeated. This action of loving is seen as protecting, insulating the child. In much the same way our consumer cultur...
It could be argued that ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ served exemplary as testament to the changing attitudes towards rock music and psychedelic acid rock of the time. The prevalence of the genre was tangible, even the AFVN (American Forces Vietnam Network) added a special channel in 1968 for those soldiers serving overseas who had reported an interest in the musical style (Kramer, 2006). Perhaps this song was indeed the natural progression of music in a time of so much uncertainty for an entire generation fraught with equal parts revolutionary ideals and Cold War paranoia. The track’s tone, ambiance were defined by an eerily dark otherworldliness unheard of up until that point in rock music and arguably not replicated again until Black Sabbath’s NIB
Music is regarded as a method of passing a message. Though some songs do not intend to do that, the message in them is still perceived. The song, “Get up, ...
In Coldplay’s song, “Paradise”, the songwriters use exaggerative language, personification, and rhetorical techniques to tell the story of a little girl’s escape from the harshness and disappointment of reality. The listeners of this song are treated to a beautifully written story about a girl’s maturity through the struggles and disappointment that life has offered to her. Some of the most effective ways that the songwriters explain the plight of the girl are when they attach the listener emotionally with her plight through their use of exaggerated language and personification. Ultimately, the girl copes with her situation and shows signs of maturity; which, enforces the emotional connection that the audience feels with her.
‘Analysing popular music: theory, method and practise’ (Tagg, 1982) is an article that illustrates brilliantly the issues and nuances of analysing and discussing popular music. It lays out a scientific method for achieving analytical goals, using some of Tagg’s previous work to help explain his methodology and process. In the first part of this essay, I will discuss the analysis of ‘Kojak Theme’ (Goldenberg, 1973) and ABBA’s ‘Fernando’ (ABBA, 1976) that Tagg writes about in his work.
of reality. The song looks at the downfalls in our society and how things went
DeNora introduced the concept of “aesthetic reflexivity” which explains why a person values the comfort as well as love (DeNora, 1999). The song I chose, according to my own opinion brings peace and harmony and on the basis of DeNora’s concept, music is simply a referentialist tool. People constantly utilize music as one of the major means of self-expression for representing who they actually are. According to DeNora, “One of the first things music does is to help actors to shift mood or energy level…‘care of self”. Here music simply becomes self-regula...
Our songs are for all the misfits in society. We deliver our music to all the souls that are searching for refuge. We wanted to give hope to all of those in struggle. ‘Killing me softly’ is about hearing the song that tell you exactly how hard it is to hear what you are going through. We use a lot of euphemism and metaphor in our songs to inadvertently provide a sense of security to everyone. I couldn’t be happier to hear that our songs are helping and sending the people a message. I wanted to spread our culture while doing this. I wanted people to identify themselves with our music and create this intercultural connection with each of us in order to help us break down all our language