Weekly Response #5 / Music Option:

DUE NEXT WEEK (March 16th): Find a piece of music that you are NOT familiar with (i.e. world music, country music, classical music, celtic music, etc. -- something that you do NOT listen to regularly, but would be interested in listening to or learning more about) that incorporates poetic lyrics and discuss, in no less than two full typed pages, how your chosen piece expounds upon some issue, concern, or agenda. Make sure you include the title of the song and the artist's name (or group's name). Be sure to quote from the piece.

By "poetic lyrics," I mean having a quality about the lyrics that is poetic, which, as you can imagine, could mean practically anything, depending on how you interpret it. What I'm interested in knowing is how YOU interpret the phrase "poetic lyrics." Don't write about it (I don't want an essay explaining your thoughts on what "poetic lyrics" means) . . . but I'll get your interpretation in your choice of song and the way you write about the song. But don't focus on that . . . focus on choosing a song that grabs you in some way, preferably some genre that is new to you, and for some reason (that you will then "unpack" in your writing), says something to you . . . reveals some meaning, touches upon some concern, issue, or agenda. 

Below are some questions that should help you with this assignment:

• What is the song about?

• What is the title of the song, and how does it help you to further understand its meaning?

• What is the mood/tone of the song? Humorous? Biting? Sarcastic? Meloncholy? Angry? How does the mood or tone shed light on the subject or meaning?

• Are the words to the song ambiguous? or clear and direct? What are they saying or meaning?

• How do all the instruments (or lack thereof) help to express or to show the main idea of the song?

• How does the message of the song relate to what we've been discussing thus far in class and/or the readings we've done?

• Listen to the song and try to figure out what each sound/word represents, or what is meant to be symbolic (in other words, when the trumphet blares and then dips silently into the sound of a haunting violin, what might that represent or mean, given the context of the overall song? and when the singer sings of apples falling from a tree, is s/he talking literally of apples, or do those apples represent something symbolic? and if so, what?)

• Did you like this song? Why or why not?

** Always, always back up your thoughts with some example, quote, or explanation.