Response 3: Lyrical Analysis

Due: Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010, ready to hand in at the beginning of class

Worth: 5 pts = 5% of final grade

Guidelines:

- Three well-developed paragraph, double-spaced

- 12 pt. font; Times New Roman font.

- Title that creatively informs us about which song and theme are analyzed

- MLA Citation used (page #) at end of ALL cited material. Plus a Work Cited page.

Prompt:

The main purpose of this essay is to make one analytical claim on the social relevance of a song, specifically the lyrics. The term ‘social relevance’ is used here to mean that the lyrics are impactful to a larger audience – an audience you will define.

Some general ways a song may be socially relevant include: the lyrics make a political statement, cultural awareness /identity, the expression of a common human experience. Your job in writing the analysis is to explore how a song makes an impact on an audience – what do the songs lyrics say on a subject, and how is their argument that listeners will “buy.”

For example, Bob Dylan’s song “Hurricane” was socially relevant because the lyrics told the story of a black man wrongfully accused and jailed for a murder he didn’t commit – it was a song outraged by racism and wanted people to meditate on the injustice. If this were my focus of analysis, I would spend the entirety of the essay discussing how the lyrics enlighten its listeners on the events of the night and how the injustice comes out of the plot.

The structure of your essay: one intro paragraph with a guiding principle, one body paragraph that develops one analytical point about the lyrics, and one conclusion paragraph that brings back the guiding principle and main point in body.

Critical Thinking Points

- What is the subject of the song?

- In what way does the song take a different approach on the subject?

- Does the song tell a specific story (like “Hurricane”), a general story that could be anybody, or does it speak for a specific group of people (like “God Bless the USA”)?

- What is the song’s major theme? Some songs have wide-ranging themes (such as Tupac’s “Changes”) and some have a narrower theme (like Third Eye Blind’s “Jumper,” which is about suicide).

- How is the song’s take on its subject and themes different from other songs?