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.