Devices + Elements Review

Imagery: visually descriptive or figurative language

Examples: Little Green; Joni Mitchell; “Like the color when the spring is born”

     Somewhere Only We Know; Keane

Hyperbole: exaggerated statements or claims

Examples: Drown in My Own Tears; Ray Charles; “I guess I’m drowning in my own tears”       Just the Way You Are; Bruno Mars

Alliteration: the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of consecutive words

Examples: Helplessly Hoping; CSNY; “Love isn’t lying, it loose in a lady who lingers”

                 Grenade; Bruno Mars

Assonance: the repetition of the sound of a vowel

Examples: Sleeping Through the Static; Jack Johnson; “Because it’s a battle when you dabble in war

                She Way Out; The 1975

Consonance:  repetition of internal consonant sounds

Examples: Sleeping Through the Static; Jack Johnson; “Mind your manners, wave your banners

                3005; Childish Gambino

Allegories: a phrase that can be interpreted in a way other than the literal

Examples: Mr.Tambourine Man; Bob Dylan; “Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin’ ship”

                 H.E.R; Common

Local Color; focuses on specific features of a character

Examples: Castles Made of Sand; Jimi Hendrix; “You can hear her scream, 'You’re a disgrace'”

                Arabella; Arctic Monkeys

Double Entendre; a word or phrase open to two interpretations

Examples: Mary Jane’s Last Dance; Tom Petty; “Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain"

               Cocoa Butter Kisses; Chance the Rapper

Oxymoron; literary device where two contradictory terms appear in a conjunction

Examples: I Just Want You; Ozzy Osbourne; “There are no unlockable doors”

                This Means War; Rizzle Kicks

Irony; a disordinance beyond a phrases obvious meaning

Examples: Funny The Way It Is; Dave Matthews Band; “One kid walks 10 miles to school, anothers dropping out”

               Fluorescent Adolescent; Arctic Monkeys

Paradox; a statement that has a senseless conclusion despite reasoning

Examples: I Just Want You; Ozzy Osbourne: “There are no identical twins”

               Something I Need; OneRepublic

Tone; speakers attitude toward the subject

Examples: Rock and Roll Band; Boston; nostalgically appreciative

                The Love Club; Lorde; optimistically anticipating

Point of View; determined by speaker of song and whom they are speaking to

Examples: Life’s Been Good; Joe Walsh; “I can’t complain but sometimes I still do” (1st)

Annie; Johnnyswim (multiple)

Buzzcut Season; A Tonal Analysis Draft

Giving the song Buzzcut Season a hauntingly nostalgic tone, Lorde uses melancholy allusions, eerie symbolism, and industrial metaphors to explain how “[She’ll] never go home again.”

  First, Buzzcut Season contains multiple lyrics that allude to Lorde’s past. For example, in the lines, “Cola with the burnout taste / I’m the one you tell all your fears to / And they’ll never be enough of us” Lorde references her past friendships. Lorde alludes to her and her friends sharing exclusive information with each other and how they use to have one-of-a-kind personalities. Also, Lorde showcases her past through the lines, “We ride the bus with our knees pulled in / People should see how we’re living.” These lines give a look into Lorde’s pre-fame life in the sense that before she found success through music, her life was anything but glamorous. Finally, through the line, “And all the girls with heads inside their dreams,” Lorde gives insight to her dismal past by showing that people were so displeased with reality that they started to live in their dream world.

  Next, Lorde incorporates eerie symbolism to enhance the tone of the song. First, in the lines, “The men upon the news / They try to tell us all that we will lose,” Lorde uses TV news anchors to symbolize the sudden loss of hope. Additionally, in the line “Shut my eyes to the song that plays,” Lorde uses a song to indicate how during the loss of prospect, all she can do is listen. Lastly in the opening line, “I remember when your head caught flame / It kissed your scalp and caressed your brain,” Lorde uses flames and fire to describe how bad and unpleasant thoughts took over her friends thinking process.

  Finally, Lorde strengthens the tone through the implication of industrial metaphors. An example of this is in the line, “I live in a hologram with you,” which shows how two people who don’t get along are living around the idea that their relationship is healthy. Also, the lyrics, “Place the call, feel it start,” Lorde uses the metaphor of making a phone call to reinstate tell someone what she truthfully thinks, then feeling a sense of uneasiness. Lastly in the line, “Play along / Make believe, its hyperreal” Lorde uses a “hyperreal” world to advise a friend that if they keep living in a made up world, then nothing bad will happen.

  To conclude, Lorde infuses her lyrics with spectral phrases that give a connection to her past.

Binary Thesis for Boston & Pink Floyd

Though Rock n’ Roll Band, by Boston, and Have a Cigar, by Pink Floyd both convey a theme of the inner workings of the music industry, Boston shows their excitement and eagerness of getting signed to a major record label through a appreciative tone, while Pink Floyd showcases how the road to a successful career can become very confusing through a scornfully mocking tone.

Binary Thesis

Though Lana Del Rey in her song, This is What Makes Us Girls, and Marina Diamandis of Marina and the Diamonds in, How to be a Heartbreaker both convey the power and importance of women, Lana Del Rey is concise about her opinion of impact of women by taking a laid-back approach, while Marina is very upbeat and open about her appreciation.