Hero

"Hero” is a pop song that Mariah Carrey sang in 20th century. This song is the second song in Carey's third studio album called "Music Box”, also composed by Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey.

I noticed this song because of my idol, Michael Jordan, who is a famous basketball player. He used this song as the theme of his retirement concert. After that I started to listen to this song, and I find out that this song usually appeared in various occasions, such as some awards ceremonies, Mariah’s charity concerts, and some America presidents’ speeches. Obviously, this song not only caught my ears, but also be popular among people all over the world.

The lyrics were about that we are our own hero. When you face to difficulties, one does not give up hope easily. In other words, Life is full of up and down, thick and thin. Sometimes people may feel life is too hard to carry on, especially when someone is sick, someone passed-away in your family, sometimes your friends betrayed you, or some people go bankrupt. The song ‘Hero’ encourages people to be strong and tough, to have a fighter’s spirits. Every time when I feel down, I will listen to Hero. And told to myself a sentence which is in this song:” So when you feel like hope is gone look inside you, and be strong and you'll finally see the truth”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IA3ZvCkRkQ

Starboy by The Weeknd

        If anyone has listened to The Weeknd over the course of his career, it is obvious that his style has changed dramatically. All one would have to do is compare earlier songs such as "High for This" or "House of Balloons" to a song such as "Earned it" to see the differences. His earlier music was much more raunchy, and his fans applauded him on his refusal to go mainstream and succumb to the wills of the majority (A quick scroll through youtube's comment section proves this). But with "Beauty Behind The Madness", The Weeknd did exactly what his fans did not want. The album was full of radio hits, many of which I'm sure we all have heard, and did not display the deepness of his previous work.
        The Weeknd must have felt the same way as most of his fanbase, because his most recent song's music video deals with the issue. In Starboy, The Weeknd is suffocated by a masked stranger who is revealed to be The Weeknd himself. The killer Weeknd then proceeds to use a neon cross to smash promotional pictures, album awards, and eventually burn the house itself down. The music video also features a panther.
        In my eyes, this video shows The Weeknd killing his old self and destroying all record of his "Beauty Behind The Madness" days in order to usher in a new persona. The appearance of the Christian Cross and a panther both attest to this, as they both symbolize death and rebirth. It is likely that The Weeknd used "Beauty Behind the Madness" in order to make himself a superstar, and his next album will be a return to his older ways

Also, here's a link to the music video and the lyrics.

Joonoh Chun Blog post #2

"How to save a life"-The Fray
     To begin with, every time I've heard this song, I always had an image of a Friend talking to another friend about the usage of drug. The title, "How to save a life", clearly gives an image that the "friend" in the song is in danger that might effect his life. The mood of the song can be described as gloomy and a bit dark, which helps make a case that the song is about something bad. The song starts off with a friend trying to talk to another friend about something bad that a friend has done. "Some sort of window to the right, as he goes left and you say right" this phrase is very significant because the window can be interpreted as a source of light, or good, and the friend goes away to the left which means that he is avoiding the right(good, fix) of the situation, to stay left(continued usage of drug, or bad). As the song continues, the friend tries to deny what he has done which the other friend does not believe or grants him "innocence". When the friend does not admit to his usage, the other friend gives him a choice. The choices are to "drive until you love the road" which means continue using drugs until there is no road (Future) for him, or "Break with the ones you've followed", meaning stop using the drugs. "Ones you've followed" can be interpreted as the friends or company that he uses the drugs with. Given those choices, he will either admit to everything, or "say he's just not the same" which is basically saying there is no more of himself and what he used to be. The hook shows that the friend was not able to save his friend from continued usage of drug stating that he has "lost a friend".

Jillian English Post #2

"Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster The People

"Pumped Up Kicks" is a song by American indie pop band Foster The People . "Pumped Up Kicks" became the group's breakthrough hit and was one of the most popular songs of 2011. This snappy tune that top the charted is actually quite morbid. “Pumped Up Kicks” follows a teen boy Robert who is preparing to shoot his classmates at school. 

The song starts off with a cheery tune that I believe is used to show just how messed up the kid is.

The first verse introduces us to Robert, a depressed teen with a “quick hand”. Robert dreams about violence towards his classmates and creates a plan which won’t fall through. Robert seems to take on this alter ego “cowboy kid”. He fantasizes himself as some impassive badass like the cowboys he sees on TV. His fantasy of being a cowboy is comparably to any other kid wanting to be a superhero. Him shooting is like a game and he finds much enjoyment in this. His weapon will be a six shooter gun which he has found in his father’s closest.  Six  shooter guns are used commonly by Single- Action Shooting enthusiasts in shooting competitions, designed to mimic the gunfights of the Old West, and for general target shooting, hunting and personal defense. In the hook we are introduced to Roberts victims, the “kids with the pumped up kicks” or rather the cool kids at school. He wants revenge and no mercy will be shown so you better run.  In the third verse we get a glimpse of the neglect and abuse Robert faces at home. Life at home seems to trigger his anger and plan for school. Robert’s father irresponsibly has “hidden” his gun in his closest. This is very common for parents to assume the child has no idea where the gun is hiding until a fatal event occurs. “And he's bringing me a surprise” I infer the “surprise” Robert receives every night when his drunk father arrives home is a beating. Neglected and sad, Robert is forced to eat frozen dinner every night. I mean revenge is best served cold, right? The last line is Robert’s last warning to the kids at his school. He tells them to outrun his bullet as if his fellow classmates stand a chance. Can someone really outrun a bullet?

Foster the Pump wrote this song after being troubled by school shootings. This song was written as a way to create ongoing dialogue for an issue that was being talked about, but when it came to government intervention, was largely being ignored.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDTZ7iX4vTQ

Eddie Rus: Analysis of War Pigs

Here is a link to the lyrics, so i dont have to write them all: Black Sabbath War Pigs Lyrics

           

              One of the first things to do in order to fully understand a song is look at the narrator. In War Pigs there is an omniscient narrator, describing the history of whatever world War Pigs takes place in. One may easily dismiss this as Ozzy Osborne simply singing as the narrator but I feel it goes a little deeper than that. The song Iron Man, off of the same album, speaks of a man who "turned to steel, in the great magnetic field, where he traveled time for the future of man kind". I believe that this "Iron Man" is the narrator of the story that unfurls in War Pigs. Something that reinforces this is the guitar riffs found at the beginning of both songs. The beginning of Iron Man has a guitar note that changes key to the point that it matches the Two guitar notes that make up the beginning of War Pigs. This signals some sort of relation between the two songs, particularly the sharing of a character. This helps shed some light on the mood of the song, and why the narrator can view the entirety of the War Pigs history. From the beginnings of the machinations set in motion by the powers that be, to the biblical day of judgement.

           The first stanza shows the amount of disdain that the narrator has for the people in charge. He compares the gathering of generals to that of the witches by describing every one of their actions the same way that Shakespearean witches might have been described in Macbeth. (Generals gathered in their masses, Just like witches at black masses; Evil minds that plot destruction, Sorcerers of Death's construction) The generals, to the narrator, are pushing forward the war (likely the one being waged in Vietnam at the time, as that is when this was written) by poisoning the minds of others (see the last two lines of the first stanza)
                         
           The next stanza starts with "politicians hide themselves away". This is significant because it shows that the generals were manipulating them, subsequently making them take the blame for what had happened. Evidence for this is quite simple. If the politicians knew what they had wrought well enough, through other plots they would have not only remained in power, but also kept the peoples' favor. (this parallels Macbeth once again, as many view the witches machinations as what caused the entire ordeal, yet Macbeth is the one who is viewed as the big baddie) But the narrator, being omniscient, can see that instead of owning up to what they have helped start, through hiding , they allow the poor to fight their war.

          After this, we see a dual meaning begin to appear in the song. At first glance it seems that the narrator is speaking in the present tense. That eventually people will discover what they have done and punish them for it, yet when read with the perspective of the omniscient narrator, we see a different story play out. Time would eventually lead to the apocalypse and judgment of everyone, therefore "time will tell on their power minds"and the judgement that eventually falls upon the politicians is divine and not a mortal one, and we see this divine punishment is different than what is saved for the generals. It is likely they are not being punished for the wars, but rather for the cowardice in allowing others to die instead of coming clean and trying to stop it themselves

         My favorite part is this last stanza. the instruments go back to doing what they were doing when the generals were introduced, implying the focus is now on them once again. "Now in darkness, world stops turning; ashes where the bodies burning" implies that the wars and conflicts that were brought about through the machinations of the generals have finally destroyed everyone but them (evidence is seen in that ash is only present after something has been burned away, and that if fires were still burning, the world would not be in darkness) After having wrought this hell on earth, the generals are no longer in power as there is nothing left to govern. "Day of judgement, god is calling; on their knees the war pigs crawling" shows that now, powerless, the generals are attempting to ask forgiveness of what they have done, yet the next line shows that after all they have done, Satan is the one who they meet, not god, at their judgement day. This has two meanings. The first is quite simple. The belief that they are bad people and bad people go to hell. The next meaning has root in Dante Alighieri's famous depiction of the nine circles of hell. The Devil resides on the ninth, which is reserved for traitors, such as Brutus and Judas. To the writer, the fires of war going out could be an allusion to the cold ninth circle of hell. This means in the eyes of the writer, the generals actions betrayed humanity as a whole,  making their transgressions equal to, and placing them in the company of Judas, Brutus and The Devil.

Finally, heres a video of a 57 year old Ozzy performing this song: War Pigs 2005 at Ozzfest
This particular performance is what got me to pick this song to analyze.

Jamie Schwartz Blog Post #2 "Love Yourz"

I decided to write this week about the song "Love Yourz" off of hip-hop artist J Cole's most recent album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive. You can watch the music video here on YouTube.
In our materialistic society, people tend to chase a life of luxury, wanting the nicest car, the biggest house, and the trendiest brands to put on a display of wealth and success. DreamVille rapper J Cole speaks on this track to say that when he was young and up and coming in the rap game, he thought that having all the accolades, the money, and buying his mom a house would bring him happiness. Now that he has reached that level, after years of hard work and finally becoming a platinum-record selling artist, he is still unhappy. He thinks that maybe being broke was better. In the music video, we are given the perspective of two teenagers on the same block, one from a wealthy family and one from a poor family. On the outside, the richer kid seems happier because he's rocking the sickest brands and wearing a nice watch while the poorer kid gets made fun of for his cheap clothes. However, we see that their home lives are very different. The rich kid is lives in a big house with a depressed, alcoholic mother, and a neglectful, abusive father. This is similar to Cole's relationship with his parents. While he was out in LA enjoying his life, his parents back home had problems, which lead to his father leaving and his mother becoming depressed. The poor kid in the music video lives in a small house but he is welcomed home by his loving parents. Their lives at home parallel the truth in the line "Its beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success". He is right, we love the story of overcoming hardship, persevering through a bad situation, it's just in our nature to empathize with someone who is struggling but fighting.
J Cole explains to us that at the end of the day, all of that awesome stuff that you've got or still want doesn't mean anything. It's all about taking the time to appreciate what you have right now.

Always gon' be a bigger house somewhere, but nigga feel me
Long as the people in that motherfucker love you dearly
Always gon' be a whip that's better than the the one you got
Always gon' be some clothes that's fresher than the ones you rock
Always gon' be a bitch that's badder out there on the tours
But you ain't never gon' be happy till you love yours

Blog Post #2

Alicia Keys: If I Ain't Got You

This video is following the timeline of a relationship that is negatively affected by the boyfriend’s involvement in selling drugs to purchase the luxurious things in life for his girlfriend who simply has an admiration for him and not the luxurious things in life. In the beginning of the video, Alicia Keys is playing on a white piano by herself on a rooftop in New York. She is playing on this piano alone to express the idea of people living for materialistic things generally lack companionship. As the story of the video begins, a group of guys are moving an older wooden piano into a new apartment. The wooden piano differs from the upscale white piano Alicia is playing on the rooftop. Alicia plays both piano’s but in two different appearances. While playing on the white piano, her hair is done, she has on heels, and appears in a more formal outfit. While playing the brown piano in the apartment, she has her hair wrapped up, reebok sneakers on, and a dressed down outfit. However, she is in the presence of her boyfriend while playing on the brown piano which relates to the idea of love being enough over materialistic things. When Alicia is alone it seems as if she is well off and has everything she could possibly need but the sense of happiness her boyfriend provided for her. Her lyrics “And I’ve been there before, That life’s a bore, So full of the superficial.” Is acknowledging the fact that materialistic things are not necessarily as fulfilling as people think.  When Alicia is with her boyfriend in the old apartment, she appears as if she is at the happiest point of her life. The scene where she kisses him in the empty apartment signifies that all she needs is her significant other to get the real experience of happiness.  As the video progresses, Alicia and her boyfriend begin to experience difficulties in their relationship as they get the finer things in life such as the Mercedes, money, cell phone, fur coat, and silver chains. Her boyfriend has become more focused on getting the finer things in life which means less focus on her.  She is seen singing at the top of some stairs in a park but as she makes her way down the stairs it marks the turning point of their relationship.  This is symbolism for the reduction of the high she once felt in her relationship that then progressively falls to a low. “Everything means nothing unless I ain’t got you” means she is losing him to the materialistic things, therefore the things he is trying to cherish her with mean absolutely nothing. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju8Hr50Ckwk