Social Relevance

The song "American Eulogy" by Green Day contains many socially relevant themes. In this song, singer Billie Joe Armstrong expresses his feelings about how this nation has rapidly declined. He feels like the government is letting down the people of America. He captures the hopelessness that most of us feel:"I'm the class of '13
In the era of dissent. A hostage of the soul. On a strike to pay the rent
The last of the rebels, without a common ground. I'm gonna light a fire into the underground." This nation doubts their own government. When there is corruption in the ones who are supposed to lead us, the country will eventually die. That is why the title of this song is "American Eulogy". The members of Green Day feel strongly about speaking out against the corrupted government. They want to educate the people who still refuse to believe that there is something wrong with our nation. They talk about how people believe everything that they hear from the media: " Red alert is the colour of panic. Elevated to the point of static
Beating into the hearts of the fanatics and the neighborhood's a loaded gun." People need to learn to think for themselves.

Another song that contains political social relevance is "Press Corpse" by Anti-Flag. This song illustrates the lies that the government pumps into the American people. The first line of the song is," ...We gotta work to make the facts fit the false charges. Pull the wool over the eyes of the filthy masses. Stab the people in the back for the corporate choice. Roll the propaganda out using The People's Voice." This means that the government and the media feed us lies but disguise it to look very true. American's are lazy and won't research the entire story, they just take in everything without questioning it. Americans believe these lies and so many conflicts are caused based on false facts: "Fires fueled on endless lies
Black shrouds coat desert skies. A nation's viewpoint blurred and led as embeds report what they're fed." No one wants to talk about the truth. They just want to walk around the problems that we have and then they never get solve. More issue are created. The government keeps a tight hold on the American people through the media.

A third song that contains social relevance politically is "Confrontation" by Otep. This song displays the theme of the government taking advvantage of America. The government just stands by and send our people over to fight for us and they don't do anything to help: "Its the rich man's war but its the poor that fight." The people that usually join the military are poor or of low income and they feel like the only way to help themselves is to join the military. The band, Otep, provides a solution to the problem of the government having complete control over its people. They scream, "defy the tyrants, don't be silent!" The only way to fight back against the injustices that the government creates is to exercise the freedom of speech. By speaking out and telling others how the government is corrupt, we win a little bit each day. They cannot take away the freedom of speech. The government thinks that they can control us because we a constantly silenced by fear. If we can gain the courageg to question things, and speak out when some thing is wrong, we will become a stronger nation.

The World in 6 Songs

The six different types of songs from the article are friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion and love.

An example of a song that has the theme of friendship is J.A.R. by Green Day. The song is about someone that member Billie Joe Armstrong knew.

A song that has the them of joy is Happy? by mudvayne. Although this song is not exactly about joy, it questions if the adressee is happy when they cut the speaker down.

A song about comfort is Odd One by Sick Puppies. In this song the speaker encourages listeners to be themselves.

A song about knowledge is Know Your Enemy by Green Day. it is about being able to see the corruptio in the government.

The song Jesus/Jesus Christ by Brand New is obviously about religion.

A song about love is She by Green Day.

Allusion, Ambiguity, and Allegory

An example of a song that contains an allusion is "Resistance" by Muse. The allusion is in the line, "kill your prayers for love and peace, you will wake the thought police". The reference is to the novel 1984 by George Orwell. The thought police were people who could hear other peoples thoughts and they arrested them if they were thinking badly about the government or Big Brother.

An example of a song that contains an allegory is "Sink" by Brand New. The first line of the song says "I don't want to let you go but it hurts my hands to hold the rope." This line is not literal but the meaning that the speaker intended is indeed figurative. He is saying that he can't hold on to the one he loves, he doesn't want to let her go but it hurts him too much for them to stay together.

One song that contains ambiguity is "Firefly" by Breaking Benjamin. The addressee of the song is firefly. I'm assuming that the speaker isn't referring to the actual bug but it can not be certain. The actual of the meaning of the word firefly is ambiguous. The meaning can be interpreted in any way.

Copy Cat

an example of a song that some what copies another song is "Knives and Pens" by Black Veil Brides. The beginning of the song is clearly the same as the intro to "Unholy Confessions" by Avenged Sevenfold. Both songs also have similar themes, but mostly the instrumental music is the same.

Simile

An example of a song with a simile in it is "Love like Winter" by AFI. The simile is the line "Love like winter." the speaker is comparing love to the coldness of winter.

Another song is "Was it a Dream" by 30 seconds to mars. the line that is the similie is "Your reflection I've erased Like a thousand burned out yesterdays" The comparison is to the adressee's reflection to a forgotten memory.

Metaphor

An example of a song that contains an extended metaphor is "Daisy" by Brand New. The first stanza is
"I'm a mountain that has been moved
I'm a river that is all dried up
I'm an ocean nothing floats on
I'm a sky that nothing wants to fly in
I'm a sun that doesn't burn hot
I'm a moon that never shows it's face
I'm a mouth that doesn't smile
I'm a word that no one ever wants to say."
The speaker is making a comparison to ironic things. He is basically saying that the good quality that he possesses turned into a bad one.


Another song is "One Trillion Dollars" by Anti-Flag. In the line "And all the people are just dust on the ground" the comparison is to people to dust. It is basically saying that they are nothing.

Irony

An example of a song that contains irony is "Knives and Pens" by Black Veil Brides. In the line "With knives and pens we made our plight" one can see irony. The aspect that contradicts itself is the knives and pens. The knives represent physically fighting against the opposing force in the song. The pens represent the more sophisticated form of fighting back and that is through words. The two objects seem to be complete opposites and they are, but they work well together to enhance the theme of the song. The contradiction shows how the speaker must stand up for himself and that he must do whatever possible in order to save himself.

Another example of an ironic song is "World" by Sick Puppies. In the line "Another lesson burned and i'm drowning in the ashes." This is ironic because one does not drown in ashes, they drown in water. The irony is that the speaker is drowning in the product of fire.

Paradox

An example of a song that has paradox in it is "The Art of Subconscious Illusion" by Avenged Sevenfold. There is an example of paradox in the first line of the song; "A living nightmare, asleep but still aware. The endless torture. The painless pleasure." These lines are a paradox because if the nightmare is taking place in the speakers life how can he be asleep but yet aware. Also, in the lines about endless torture but at the same time there is pleasure. Those are two completely different concepts being combined in order to prove a point. It is very effective.

personification

One example of a song that contains personification is the song Clairvoyant Disease by Avenged Sevenfold. When the speaker says "thoughts are haunting me" thoughts cannot haunt one. They do not have that ability to do that.

Another example of a song that has personification in it is She by Green Day. In the line "A sullen riot penetrating through her mind" a riot cannot penetrate any ones mind.

Point of View

In the song Seventy Times 7 by Brand New. The song has the points of view of first person, some second person, and the speaker is unreliable.

In the song Saltwater Room by Owl City the point of view is multi person narrative.

The song Make You Smile by +44 is also a multiperson narrative.

The song Hello Fascination by breathe Carolna is in the second person narrative.

Hyperbole

An example of a song that has a hyperbole in it is "Pitiful" by Sick Puppies. The line "Looks like that's all today I'm dying" s an extreme exaggeration because the speaker is not really dying. He is just having a bad day.

Alliteration

One example that has many examples of alliteration is "At the Bottom" by Brand New. The form of alliteration that is used mainly is assonance. The first line of the song is "Wait, I watched you throw out your bouquet." The words that contain the same vowel sound are 'wait' and 'bouquet'. another line is "Think something dark's living down in my heart". 'dark' and 'heart' have the same vowel sound.

Another example of a song that has alliteration is "Breakdown" by Breaking Benjamin. Some examples of lines that contain alliteration, both consonance and assonance, are "Such a lovely lonely night","What I found in this town", and "What's that sound, you're so loud".

A third example of a song with alliteration is "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" by Smashing Pumpkins. Some examples are "Even though I know - I suppose I'll show" and "Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage".

Imagery

The song “Seventy Times 7” by Brand New is a song describing the speaker’s reaction to heartbreak. There is intense imagery in this song illustrating how the speaker feels after having his heart broken and one is able to picture exactly how he feels based off of the imagery in his story alone. One example can be seen in the line, “Ignore the sun, the cover’s over my head. I wrote a message that says, “Jesse stay asleep in bed.” So don’t apologize. I hope you choke and die.” The listener is able to picture a depressed man staying in bed because he is so upset about what happened to him. Also, one is able to picture the anger the speaker contains when he says that he want the person who hurt him to die. There is another stanza that provides a morbid image, “Have another drink and drive yourself home. I hope there’s ice on all the road. And you can think of me when you forget your seatbelt, and again when your head goes through the windshield.” This provides a clear image of a car wreck on a snowy night. One is also able to see the anger the speaker has because they wish for death of another person in a dark way.

Another song that has a lot of imagery is “Issues” by Sick Puppies. In this song, the speaker is also angry about the factors in his life that made him into the person that he has become. One line that provides an image is, “I wanna slow down. I wanna be part of what is happening around me.” One can picture someone spinning out of control and desperately trying to hold on and stop. Another line that provides an image is when the speaker says, “I turn the page, to a chapter they thought was just a phase.” The image that is seen here is a book with all the pages turning and on each page is a scene from the speaker’s life.

Lacey, Jesse. Lyrics.“Seventy Times 7.” Your Favorite Weapon. Lp. Below Par Records. 2001.www.azlyrics.com. 2/4/2010.

Moore, Shimon. Lyrics. “Issues.” Dressed Up As a Life. Lp. Virgin. 2007. www.azlyrics.com.
2/4/2010.

Anger in Rock Music

The reason why I chose the theme of anger in rock music is because I love to listen to artists who spill their intense emotions through music. I find that everyone can relate to anger and it is interesting to see the different things that make one angry. Also, it is comforting to know that someone else feels the same way that you do and is even maybe going through the same problems. I feel like the theme of anger can be related to by everyone. I was inspired to choose this genre from my own experience. I like the more dark emotions so I knew that anger would be something i was interested in.