Sean Bostrom

Period F

April 16, 2014

Tonal Analysis

SWEET CHILD O' MINE: GUNS N' ROSES

For every song created there are more and more literary devices being used. Now given that there are multiple different genres of music and multiple different literary devices, talking about all of them would just be exhausting and time consuming. That being said I believe the most commonly used literary devices are tone/mood, imagery, and simile's/metaphors. These three devices are the top three in my opinion and one song of many that incorporates all three of these devices is Guns N' Roses, “Sweet Child O' Mine”. This song does a really good job in expressing each device.

First device this song contains is simile/metaphors. For those who don't know, a simile is a comparison between two artifacts using the terms like an as. A metaphor is along the same lines as a simile but instead it only uses the term like. For example lines such as “She got a smile that it seems to me, reminds me of childhood memories,where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky” shows the comparison between her smile and the bright blue sky, how when she smiles it makes the sky bright and sends an happy upbeat vibe. Simile's are the best device to use when comparing two artifacts because you as the listener/reader can understand it to its full capacity.

Second device displayed throughout the entire song, is probably the most used literary device is imagery. Imagery is best described as a literary device that created a vivid and descriptive language to create depth. Lines such as “Now and then when I see her face, she takes away to that special place, and if I stare to long, I'd probably break down and cry” displays imagery because every time they see her that remember back to that special place where they may have met. Another example would be “She's got eyes of the bluest skies, as if they thought of rain, I hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain” puts the vivid picture of this girl is too pretty to cry and seeing her in pain is just not the sight worth seeing in your mind. Imagery is what made up this song.

The third and last device contributed in this song is tone/mood. Tone is all about the attitude towards the reader/listener intended by the artist/author. Mood focuses more on the setting. The tone of this song is a constant upbeat, cheery tone. The setting revolves around what seems to be the love of his life due to the lyrics I have already covered. The mood balances with the tone nicely because similar to the tone, the mood stays the same happy beat as it started out. Sweet Child O' Mine is a quality song for when you just want to dance and have a good time, those are just some of the many literary devices used in this song. 

Sean Bostrom

April 9, 2014

Period F

Plagiarism in Song

                Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as your own.

Plagiarism has been happening in songs for many years. An example of a piece of plagiarized music is The Beatles song “Come Together” and Chuck Berry’s song “You Can’t Catch Me”. Come together shares the some of the same lines as You Can’t Catch Me such as in the Beatles song they say “Here come old flat top, he was groovin’ up slowly” while in Chuck Berry’s song the line reads “Here come old flat top, he was groovin’ up with me”, the Beatles just reworded the phrase by replacing one word. Many have argued that the melodies are similar as well. The Beatles idolized Chuck Berry, in fact they listened to him nonstop and he was one of many who inspired them to play music. After hearing “Come Together” a man by the name of Morris Levy, who owned rights to many of Chuck Berry’s songs, took Lennon to court over this matter. Long story short after all the trials and counter suing was done Lennon was due 84,912.96 dollars. Who would have thought that just one phrase could cause so much chaos.

However there are many songs who were accused of plagiarism when in fact they just have coincidental features. Song such as Dave Matthews Band’s “Drunken Soldier” and Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” for example. Many have said that at the six minute point in “Drunken Soldier”, the guitar sounds a lot like the guitar that is played in “Breathe” just because of the similar notes that were used. But others argue that Pink Floyds song sounds more similar to the song another one of their songs “Great Gig”. It wasn’t brought to court which to me shows that “Drunken Soldier” only got accused due to its similar melody and not lyrics wise.

Sites Where I Found My Information

http://www.antsmarching.org/forum/showthread.php?t=316821

https://suite.io/aaron-humphrey/1nvc2zv

Sean Bostrom

April 1, 2014

Period F

Double Entendre in Songs

                Tom Petty’s song “Mary Jane” is counted as a double entendre. Mary Jane could either be a girl who he likes or it could be the drug marijuana. Lines such as “She grew up in an Indiana town” could be taken as a girl would was raised up somewhere in Indiana or it could be taken as a plant that has grown and blossomed. Another line that displays the double entendre for example would be “Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain” shows that one last dance could be with a women or he has a lot of pain and majority of people who use drugs use them to not feel pain anymore. I think Tom Petty used a double entendre for this particular song to show that no matter where you are from or where you go you are most likely to come in contact in marijuana at some point.

                Another song that contains a double entendre is GZA’s “Animal Planet”. GZA use’s different types of animals to show the listener all the different kinds of people that make up the world. For example lines such as “The rat squeals” and Now you’re neck deep in a bunch of loan sharks” relates to humans because people who tell on others who have usually committed a crime are known as rats and loan sharks are people who others borrow money from and if you don’t pay them back a certain amount at a certain time they will find you and most likely hurt you till the point of death. I believe GZA used a double entendre in this specific song to display the world we live in and all the corrupt people that make it up.

                Rush’s song “The Trees” use’s nature to represent a double entendre in this song. This song in my opinion is about equal rights between blacks and whites. Through lines such as “But oaks can’t help their feelings, if they like the way they’re made, and they wonder why the maples, can’t be happy in their shade” is basically saying that the blacks are proud to be who they are and won’t let the whites turn them into something they’re not so they do not want to live or be around the same area as them. Another line for example is “And they grab up all the light” shows that the whites believe that have all the power over the blacks and they basically control them in a way but the blacks just want more sunlight, they want their rights so everyone can be equals.

                The last song of the day that contains a double entendre is the band Tool’s song “Right in Two”. This song talks about crime and how people are figuratively act like animals. Lines that support this idea are “Fight over the clouds, over wind, over sky” is saying that people will kill one another over the littlest things just because they can, and “Angels on the sideline again, wondering when this tug of war will end” is saying that those who have past and are in heaven are wondering when will the crime and violence will end because it is get worse and worse as the days go by. Tool also is trying to say that why were people given free will because all they are doing is abusing it and using it for bad and not good.