Tamiara Hicks #2

The song i chose was T.L.C Waterfalls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WEtxJ4-sh4. The video just shows the analysis of what i'm going to say in this blog post. In the Video there were:

• waterfalls (water is relaxation)
• clouds (heavenly god)
• drug dealers (a group of sinners) a mother in distress ( a call for help)
• a son (a quick hustler to get better)
• a couple( haves sex without a condom he was going to use but she threw the condom and said no and so they both die of H.I.V/aids)

 In the first verse it explains the love a mother has for her child and how she wants him to live a better life but he can't. T.L.C says, "If at any time he's in a jam she'll be by his side,But he doesn't realize he hurts her so much But all the praying just ain't helping at all,
'Cause he can't seem to keep his self out of trouble. So, he goes out and he makes his money the best way he know how." They are referring to him selling drugs and ending up dead hence the next set of lyrics. "Another body laying cold in the gutter. Listen to me.", sings T.L.C. I thought the chorus of this song was about never leaving your family to pursue goals, but in actuality it is about doing good to change the outcome of the stereotypes people have of you already based on where you come from. In verse 2 it is about a couple who has H.I.V and dies. T.L.C sings:

Little precious has a natural obsession

For temptation but he just can't see

She gives him loving that his body can't handle

But all he can say is "Baby, it's good to me."

One day he goes and takes a glimpse in the mirror

But he doesn't recognize his own face

His health is fading and he doesn't know why

Three letters took him to his final resting place

Y'all don't hear me

This is such a powerful verse because women are most time manipulative and men follow our lead and give in. The girl in this couple slept with so many men that she lost count and ends up killing the one man who truly loved her which is shown in the video. In verse 3 the lyrics are showing how life can be a great thing if we overcome obstacles and trials as we keep praying to GOD. 

I seen a rainbow yesterday

But too many storms have come and gone

Leavin' a trace of not one God-given ray

Is it because my life is ten shades of gray

I pray all ten fade away

Seldom praise 

Charles Eno Post #2

Applaudise is a song by Nigeria artist, Iyanya. The title of the song “applaudise” means “applause” in Pidgin-English, a language spoken throughout Nigeria, Cameroon and much of West Africa. The lyrics of the song are also in Pidgin-English, which for the most part should be universally comprehensible to English speakers. The song reflects on the values and proceedings of an Ekoi wedding, showing the proceedings and events that take place during the wedding. The music video begins with Iyanya, the artist, complimenting and wooing a girl he’s interested in. He makes promises to her as to what will happen if she was to marry him. Originally, her parents really disagree with the union and want her to be with someone more traditional because they consider Iyanya to be too famous and involved with media. In the video, shes constantly on the phone with him and disobeys her parents request to stop seeing him. This is a struggle among many Africans, especially parents these days as they struggle to uphold traditional values in an ever-changing world. They end up in an interview with a news network in which they express their disagreement, saying that they don’t approve of the engagement. The girl retaliates by appearing on a T.V music video with Iyanya, showing that the two are a couple. Her father is silently impressed by the video but keeps it to himself because his wife still doesn’t approve of it. In the next scene, they have their traditional wedding. In many African cultures these days, a couple has a traditional and western wedding. Her parents surprise them by appearing at the wedding and giving them their blessings. The traditional wedding encompasses a series of traditions which confirm the couple’s union in accordance to traditional values and shows reverence to chieftaincy, while the white wedding shows more western perceptions of marriage. This shows the current state of African society as we balance both traditional values and western values.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=178&v=aqE0299oEvQ

Jimmy Yang This Love

                    Junior high school English teacher said a word, today also clearly remember:
               The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference.

                    Never cried the clamor of people, are not really people who will leave. Really want to                    leave the person, pick a sunny afternoon, put on a coat to go out, disappeared in the autumn                sun, never come back.

                    That's the song I was listening when I broke up with my girlfriend.

                   The so-called past events, the wind Huoliao, just off, goodbye.
           The book will say, the real down, nothing more than relieved, similar to the site into the                      Buddha, what would like to understand, put down, a small monk asked the monk, what is                    down, monk a thought, what is carrying, and no For no desire, like Dharma, twelve round                    feel, three Tuas, five Buddha, King Kong obstacle all kinds of magic, Bodhi anger crazy                     delusions worry, this is down.However, for ordinary people, I am afraid there is no magic                   bullet can be found, the so-called down, but is not seeking a heartache, not pictures, pat ass                 good way, ordinary people want to squeeze subway, smoke thick haze, but also live into a                   sunflower, drink Two bowls of chicken soup, jumping a afternoon exercise, the pursuit of the               so-called health, hard work, up, hard work, love, and peace, said this is called positive energy.

                                              This love has taken it's toll on me
                                       She said goodbye too many times before
                                      And her heart is breaking in front of me
                           I have no choice 'cause I won't say goodbye anymore
                                         I tried my best to feed her appetite
                                               Keep her coming every night
                                               So hard to keep her satisfied
                                  Kept playing love like it was just a game
                                               Pretending to feel the same
                                             Then turn around and leave again

             

Analyzing the video and lyrics of Alright- Kendrick Lamar

In the beginning of the video we see that the video will be in black and white. The fact that the video is in black and white can be interpreted in two ways. It shows how this song could divide the races and that is why you can see the two colors clearly and it also shows how the song is going to be “black and white” or honest about the situations it talks about. You also hear Kendrick screaming. The way he screamed was a representation of the screams of the mothers in the street after time and time again of black males being killed by police.  Kendrick says “I remember you was conflicted…miss using your influence,” in the context of the whole album it is clear that he is acting as his own conscious talking to himself. Before this album his music didn’t really have meaning and everyone was listening to his music mindlessly so he was “miss using” his influence that he had on the youth by not speaking on real world topics for the youth to learn from. Also right after he says “miss using your influence,” there is a visual of 3 young black boys riding their bikes downhill. So because of what Kendrick used to rap about they chose to follow him and their lives are going downhill. But this a direct contrast from later in the video after Kendrick has rapped a positive message those same 3 boys are seen going uphill and looking up at Kendrick because no he has turned around his message. Throughout the video Kendrick is floating through the streets which could be seen as him rising from the street life to deliver a positive message. The hook of the song “we gone be alright” is a direct message to the black community because of the deaths of so many of our black brothers and sisters to police violence. He is saying we have been here before, referring to how many of us died in slavery, and we made it through so we will make it through this as well. The second verse’s first 4 bars are the devil speaking to Kendrick saying that he is his friend and he can give Kendrick anything he wants. The devil knows the influence Kendrick has on his audience and the devil wants that control. As the man of faith that he is, Kendrick can “see the evil” and sees right through the devil’s attempt to tempt him. Kendrick is no longer afraid of the devil because he knows the God has him even with all the wrong he has done. He is now using his platform to glorify God and we begin to see more boys look up at Kendrick. At the end of the video Kendrick is standing on top of the street light with all these kids looking up at him and the police officer shoots him and he falls from the top with his finger symbolizing the power their index finger on the trigger of the gun. So we see how the video wants to convey a sense that the police are killing us that are being watched by the most people, for example Alton Sterling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-48u_uWMHY

Hong Lyu Post #2

               

          The background of The Birch Wood is in World War II, it describes a miserable separation of lovers because of war. In the prelude, there is a distant female voice echo around, sounds like a woman try to tell all her grief. The organ played a depressing tune, matched up with the sorrowful voice. The prelude set up the keynote of the song. As a narration, the lyrics tell the audiences a story with a sorrowful melody. “Snow”, “quiet village”, “doves” and “gloomy sky” set up a depressed ambience for the story. Doves represent the peace, but they “fly across a gloomy sky” implies that the war is coming soon. Under the depressed atmosphere, two lovers carved their name on the birch wood, promised they would stay in love forever. The war broke out, the young guy left his lover with sadness, and promise to her “wait for me in the birch wood”. The third paragraph describes the depressing environment second times, but “the young hid themselves behind the birch wood” suggests that environment still stays the same, but the life of the people who went to the front to protect their homeland were drifted away. This implies the destined separation of the lovers. Bad news came, her lover died on the battlefield, but she still goes to the birch wood wait for him. Then the sorrowful and distant female voice appears again, different from the voice in the prelude, there is a male voice sing along with her, implies the tragic ending of the boy and girl. The depressing ambiance appeared the third time with crescendo, emphasizes the ruthless war made so many “graveless love and lives”, brought people calamity and miserable life. At the end of the song, the young girl becomes an old lady. She used whole life waiting for her lover. When she is dying, she muttered “I’m coming, wait for me in the birch wood”, which corresponds with what the boy said to her before “waiting for me in the birch wood”. Now they finally can see each other in the heaven. The birch wood testified their love. The lovers’ live is limited but their love is immortal. The birches represent the dead soldiers who defended the country. The song eulogizes the great spirit of brave soldiers. Throughout the miserable tune and lyrics, audiences can feel the sadness of the separation, implies the war brings tribulation to the innocent people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UfLWc9smHw

Lyrics

Snow flows over a quiet village,

Doves fly across a gloomy sky.

Two names are carved deep on a birch;

They promised to stay in love all their life.

One day war broke out in their homeland.

The lad picked up a gun to go to the front.

“Don’t worry for me, sweetheart.”

“Wait for me in the birch wood”

Doves are still flying across the same gloomy sky.

Who would prove those graveless love and lives?

Snow kept falling over the village, quiet as ever.

And the young hid themselves behind the birch wood.

The bad news came at the other afternoon.

Her love laid down his life on the battlefield.

Quietly she came to the birch wood,

Waiting there each day on tiptoe.

She said he’d just lost his way in the land far away.

Surely he would come to the birch wood someday.

Doves are still flying across the same gloomy sky

Who would prove those graveless love and lives?

Snow kept falling over the village, quiet as ever.

And the young hid themselves behind the birch wood.

The long road is coming to its close.

Snow-white hair flew over the once young face

She often heard his whisper over her pillow,

“Come, sweetheart, come to the birch wood”

Over her deathbed she murmured,

“I’m coming, wait for me in the birch wood”

Jalen Brewer Blog #2

For starters, Drake has progressed tremendously over the last couple of years.  Before he became famous, he had a relationship with a woman named Nebby from Toronto.  At the time, she had a thing for him and would call him at any time of the day, and this is where the song originates from.  Drake starts the song off by reminiscing on the late night phone calls and almost getting choked up at the times the two shared.  Throughout the song, he uses memories and questions to show confusion and sadness.  In the hook, he makes a reference to how she would call him late at night for sex.  He says, “I know when that hotline bling, that can only mean one thing” referring to him knowing that it is Nebby calling. Because he is alluding to his cell phone as a “hotline”, the connection to a sex hotline can be made seeing that one will have a good time.  The repetition of the word “hotline” shows that Drake feels as if Nebby is only using him for sexual activities.

            In the second verse, Drake describes how leaving the city of Toronto may have ended the relationship.  He reveals the two often argue and do not get along which makes him feel as if he did something wrong.  Drake says, “You got exactly what you asked for, Running out of pages in your passport”.  This leads to the question whether Nebby wanted to travel the world with Drake when he became famous.  Also, after investigating her Instagram, many pictures were posted with her in flamboyant places with many different people.  Another connection that Drake makes is found in the bridge when he questions why she is never alone and how she has changed.  He is having a hard time accepting the fact that a girl that he once knew has changed completely and moved on.  Although some may look at this song as a comedic hit, I would characterize it as a cry for help.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxpDa-c-4Mc

Toni Woodard Blog Post #2

                                      Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34Na4j8AVgA

        The Weeknd 's new song called "STAR BOY", is about him becoming a new person. In the video and in this picture posted above  you can see that he cut off his hair. The Weekend's hair was a big part of his brand. For him to cut it off means that he taking a big step to  reinvent himself.

     In the begging of the video,The Weeknd was sitting across the table from a man wearing a ski mask. The man in the ski mask then kills The Weeknd. The man in the ski mask is revealed to be The Weeknd with his new haircut. This symbolizes the killing of his old self. After he kills his old self  he picks up a giant red cross and starts to smash his awards and posters. He is also wearing a cross necklace. The cross represents rebirth. Jesus died on the cross, but was resurrected three days later. In context to the song , this means that the old him is dead, and he has been reborn. Another thing that goes along with the theme of rebirth, is the black cat that turns into a black panther in the video.One of the things that a black panther symbolizes in some cultures is death and rebirth.

     The chorus to this song says"Look what you've done, I'm a mother fuckin star boy". By this he means that ,because of us he is now this wealthy star. The majority of the song is him saying  how rich  and successful he is." I come alive in the fall time" is a line in the song to get you prepared for his album ,which comes out in the fall on November 25, 2016. The Weeknd says that this album ,entitled "STAR BOY" as well, is his best sounding album. The line "switch up my style I take any lane" is him showing us that he is versatile. Just because he changed his style doesn't mean that he will not generate success and profit.