Music
Song Analysis

Generation Y is the echo boom, the children of baby boomers born between 1980 and 1995 to the baby-boomers. There is no clear cut boundary in terms of the year as it is argued that this generation could extent to 2000 and even begins as early as 1976. The Generation Y is also referred to as the Gen Y, millennial, Gen Yers or the internet generation (Wise Geek, 2012).

This is the generation that is generally viewed as being retributive, prone drug abuse and alcoholism, rude, prone to obesity and generally prone to several societal negativities that may befall the contemporary society. It is a generation that is full of self-centeredness, a generation that struggles constantly with the issue of self-esteem, they believe that they deserve what they want straight away even without striving very hard for it, they do not respond positively to criticism, they have impractical expectations…...

Ricky Martin: A pioneer of openness in "The best thing about me is you"
hen Ricky Martin sings "The best thing about me is you" today, there is no question that the song he sings is a proud testimony of his status as an openly gay man. Recently, a number of pop stars such as Tyler Glenn of Neon Trees and Adam Lambert have garnered a great deal of publicity for being honest about their sexuality. However, the Latin music star Ricky Martin has been "out" since 2010, when he came out in Rolling Stone. Martin's honesty about his sexuality is particularly noteworthy given that he began his career as a Latin heartthrob, a genre which has tended to embrace very rigid standards of masculinity. Martin has been forthright and honest, however, and retained his fan base, despite the commonly-expressed fear that when a male singer comes out women cannot find…...

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Works Cited

Martin, Ricky. "The best thing about me is you." AZ Lyrics. Web.

 http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rickymartin/thebestthingaboutmeisyou.html 

"Yes, he's gay: Ricky Martin comes out of the closet." Rolling Stone. 29 Mar 2010.

  [11 Oct 2014]http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/yep-hes-gay-ricky-martin-comes-out-of-the-closet-20100329 

1). hitman is the spokesman of the American soul when he states, "How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he" (6.2). The American soul is newborn -- without, so it seems, definition.
He guesses that grass might be the symbol of his disposition -- green and growing, youthful and alive; or that it might be "the handkerchief of the Lord / A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt, / & #8230;that we may see and remark, and say hose?" (6.4-6). Or it may be that the grass is a symbol of the child, just as the child, according to ordsworth, is father of the man: so too is the grass father of us all -- as we are all part of the same life cycle -- samsara, as Eastern philosophy would call it.

The truth is that the grass is all of this:…...

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Works Cited

Whitman, Walt. "Song of Myself." Leaves of Grass. Web. 14 Aug 2011.

Songs of Sorrow
"The Sorrow Songs" is a message that is related to the spirituality of the African-American people. In summary, Dubois gives what he perceives as a message of the African-American people, which is that of hope, not only in that particular time period, but also subsequent generations. Without doubt, African-Americans have made a substantial contribution as to what the United States is as a nation. This, in particular, does not take into account the work that the African-American partook and accomplished for the economy of the United States while being slaves, or the influences of African-American playwrights and originators as significant as all that was. Instead, this takes into account the manner in which the African-Americans' struggle for freedom and liberties instigated by the United States to extensively analyze its morals and epitomes. More so, this caused the United States to question itself, whether it actually was the land…...

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References

Craven. J. (2014). Please don't tell me all lives matter. Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 November 2015 from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-craven/please-stop-telling-me-th_b_6223072.html 

Du Bois. (1903). The Souls of Black Folk; Essays and Sketches. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1903.

Gooding-Williams, R. (2009). In the Shadow of Du Bois. Harvard: Harvard University Press.

Massey, J., Tenhoor, M., Korsh, S. (2015). Introduction: Black Lives Matter. Aggregate Organization. Retrieved 30 November 2015 from:  http://we-aggregate.org/piece/black-lives-matter

At the beginning, Twain makes it clear that she is happy she chose her husband for a partner, and that he's "still the one" she loves and admires. She also makes it clear that others were against the match, and predicted they would not "make it" as a couple. This shows how outside influences can often doom a relationship. Later, she celebrates the fact that she and her husband did not listen to the nay-sayers. She says, "I'm glad we didn't listen / Look at what we would be missin'." She also shows that their relationship has not become tired or old in any way when she says "You're still the one I kiss goodnight." All of this is a celebration of her relationship and commitment, but it is also a deeper look into relationships in general, and what types of forces can tear them apart. She is proud of…...

"When I was your Man" By Bruno Mars
Gifted Grammy award-winning singer, Bruno Mars, in his "When I Was Your Man," has largely utilized sad and regretful lyrics portraying longing for the woman who left him. However, does this really indicate he's now more sensible and mature, or is it simply wishful thinking? "When I was your Man" strikes straight at the hearts of people who lost a special person or loved someone deeply but did not realize it and failed to value them till it was too late. This song's lyrics depict a multitude of emotions such as remorse, discontent and miserableness expressed effectively through the singer's voice (Louis).

Same bed, but it feels just a little bit bigger now

The musician begins with the typical picture of a ruined relationship: an empty bed with a lone occupant, speaking of loneliness and sadness (Popdust).

Our song on the radio, but it don't sound…...

Song from the Sound of Music
Shakespeare began the story of Twelfth Night with the line "If music be the food of love play on." Though, in the play, the Duke of Illyria, Orsino, asks for a surfeit of music in the hope that an overkill of love will help him overcome his infatuation for Olivia (Shakespeare, 1.1, 1-18), the line has now become immortalized as audiences have tended to read a wealth of meaning into it. The popularity of the oft-quoted line is hardly surprising given experiential knowledge of music as one of the greatest pleasures of life. Indeed, music sensitizes and heightens all kinds of emotions and moods, ranging from the sentimental, philosophical, and maudlin to the sensual, ecstatic and peppy. But more than anything, the real power of music lies in soothing the soul by enabling a sense of connection to a universal consciousness. The title song…...

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Works Cited

Goodwin, D.P. "Thoughts on Writing." Accessed Feb. 28, 2004 from the Blue

Musings Web site: http://www.geocities.com/athens/olympus/1466/page54.html

People & the Planet. "Amazon rainforest takes new battering." Peopleandplanet.net.

July 2, 2003. Accessed Feb. 21, 2004:  http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2003

Held notes at the peak of a melodic line create a very interesting effect for the listener and attract attention to the words being sung at that particular moment. All the words or sentences aforementioned have a positive and loving connotation, which is well in line with the general meaning of the text -- thanking the art of music for its beauty and grace.
Finally, it is of the utmost importance to mention that Fischer-Dieskau's interpretation does add an additional layer of meaning and understanding to An Die Muzik. In the particular version I listened to prior to this assignment, a young Fischer-Dieskau sang with passion and poured his heart into each word sung. Considering the nature of the text, a strong interpretation was certainly necessary, as flat or bland vocal line would have been completely out of context. Both Fischer-Dieskau and Moore (at the piano) create a perfect rendition…...

Prayer (Foster, Bocelli, Dion; Live NYC Central Park, 2011)
This is a musical piece that modulates from F major to Bb Major and is duet version with its lyrics written and sung in English and Italian. The duet consists of Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli performing the piece live in New York City Central Park before a large audience. There is also a live band accompanying the duo with instruments (Bravo F., 2012).

Bocelli was born in Italy in 1958 and took up musical lessons at a tender age of six when he started off with the piano and later on took up the flute and saxophone. He suffered poor eyesight due to congenital glaucoma that he was born with, and by fate he suffered some football accident that rendered him totally blind at the age of 12. He later studied law and used the money he earned from law to…...

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References

Billboard, (2016). Artists: Adrea Bocelli. Retrieved March 30, 2016 from  http://www.billboard.com/artist/279059/andrea-bocelli/biography 

Sony Music Entertainment, (2016). Celine Dion: The Journey so Far. Retrieved March 30, 2016 from https://www.celinedion.com/biography/

Bravo F., 2012). Celine Dion Andrea Bocelli The Prayer Live NYC Central Park 2011.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGn9yMxvkTo

alt hitman's "Song of Myself" continues to evoke strong emotions because of the paradox inherent in the juxtaposition between egotism on the one hand and selfless idealism on the other. The poem therefore encapsulates what it means to be an American, which is why other American poets -- and indeed poets from around the world -- have responded to "Song of Myself" poignantly. hen hitman penned "Song of Myself," the poet was imbuing verse with powerful social commentary that belies the relatively simple diction, tone, and style used. The poet reacts to the troubles in 19th century America, including but not limited to slavery and racism, urbanization and capitalism. hitman draws attention to the fact that the United States has built itself as an ideal: "the hand of God is the promise of my own." Yet that ideal has been stymied by the struggle for equality, epitomized most noticeably and…...

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Works Cited

Whitman, Walt. "Song of Myself." Retrieved online:  http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/whitman/song.htm

Song lyrics reflect the culture and social norms of their time period. Examining song lyrics from two different time periods can therefore reveal the ways these two generations differed in terms of messages about core subjects. Love is a universal theme in all song, making it an especially good subject for analysis. Songs about love will differ according to the definition of love, how love is expressed or shared between two people, and also gender roles in relationships. In 1975, one of the biggest-selling songs was by a band called Captain and Tennille. The song is called, "Love will Keep us Together." In 2010, there was a song called "Boyfriend" by Best Coast. Both of these songs are overtly about love. Although "Boyfriend" is about unrequited love, and "Love will Keep us Together" is about relationships, these two songs have similar lyrics about the meaning of love and about gender…...

Songs from completely different eras, historical contexts, and musical genres can often share point of comparison and remarkable musical similarities. Gershwin’s “Oh, I Can’t Sit Down,” is from the colloquial English-language opera Porgy and Bess with lyrics/libretto by DuBose Heyward. Conductor John DeMain reworked the original Gershwin compositions with Houston Grand Opera, staging Porgy and Bess to win both a Tony and a Grammy Award, thereby anchoring the production firmly within the realm of pop culture. Being from an opera, the song “Oh, I Can’t Sit Down” is lyrically driven, and the vocals remain the cornerstone of the piece. “Oh, I Can’t Sit Down” occurs about halfway through the opera, and is a light, whimsical piece sung by a chorus as opposed to any musical lead. The DeMain arrangement includes a range of instruments including tubas serving as bass lines and a full horn section as accompaniment. Although Porgy and…...

" Du Fu, of course, is speaking of the An Lushan Rebellion, which was not put down for nearly a decade in mid-eighth century China.
Emperor u's wars have essentially decimated the land. The lands are barren -- in more ways than one. The consequences of war are numerous: the men are gone, so in villages where couples should normally be uniting and having children, no children are had. The image Du Fu uses is of stark fields where "nothing grows but weeds," but the image could easily be construed as being representative of the lack of new life in the "two hundred districts / And in thousands of villages."

The next image Du Fu employs is one of heartbreaking sorrow: "and though strong women have bent to the ploughing, / East and west the furrows are all broken down." Du Fu's image is akin to the ballads of Ireland, "The Fields…...

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Works Cited

Du Fu. "Song of War Chariots." Web. 24 May 2011.

"Heroes or Bandits! " 2008. Web. 24 May 2011.

Her society tells her she needs one, and when Milkman enters her life, she invests her entire personality in him. When he leaves her, Hagar lacks the self she needs to survive. Pathetically, she tries to create a self that Milkman will want by buying makeup and clothes, turning her beautiful African hair a horrible orange (Milkman has been dating light-skinned redheads), and generally abasing herself.
Morrison certainly deviates from a sterotypical feminist perspective when she criticizes Hagar's possessiveness as well as Milkman's cruelty. When Hagar and uth argue over Milkman, Pilate points out that a man is not a house to be owned. Finally, when Hagar is trying to kill Milkman (not able to possess him, she does not know what else to do), Guitar tells her how wrong she is to base her value on the possession of a man. How can Milkman love her if she is…...

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References

Bakerman, Jane. Failures of Love: Female Initiation in the Novels of Toni Morrison, American Literature 52 ( January 1981), 541.

Cowart, David. Faulkner and Joyce in Morrison's Song of Solomon. American Literature 62.1 (1990): 87-100.

Duvall, John N. Doe. Hunting and Masculinity: Song of Solomon and Go Down, Moses. Arizona Quarterly 47.1 (1991): 95-115.

Marilyn, Atlas. A Woman Both Shiny and Brown: Feminine Strength in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature Newsletter 9 (Fall 1979), 1-13.

Social Analysis of the lues Music in the American Society
The blues, or blues music, has been considered an important and popular music genre in the history of American music. Its history goes back many years ago, during the black slavery period in the American history. lues music was said to have traced its roots in the cotton plantations commonly found in the South, and that blues music sang by the African-American slaves were their forms of protest against the slavery system that the white American society encourages. However, blues music did not proliferate and became prevalent among the black and white American society until after the Emancipation period, wherein most African-American slaves were now freed from bondage to slavery legally, and slavery was now abolished and prohibited to practice in the society, especially in the white American community.

The blues is defined as a "musical style created in response to…...

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Bibliography

David, Angela. "Blues Legacies and Black Feminism." 1998. George Washington University Newsletter Web site: "Women Writers Talk History, Feminism, and Politics." 3 November 2002  http://www.gwu.edu/~wstu/newsletter/spring98/writers.htm .

Douglass, Frederick. E-text of "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave." 1845. Afro-American Almanac Web site. 3 November 2002  http://www.toptags.com/aama/books/book10.htm .

Evans, David. "Demythologizing the Blues." 1999. Institute for Studies in American Music Newsletter. 3 November 2002 http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/isam/evans.html.

Herman, Hawkeye. "History of the Blues."