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.