Personification is expressed using Common’s verse, “I walk
where money talks and love stutters,” Money and love are
inanimate objects and therefore cannot talk or stutter. The usage of
personification, in my opinion, changes the tone of the poem, going from
statements to unrealistic situations to represent how wealth and status replace
love and affection in the world. I also came across a simile: “Real talking, in
they ear like a Walkman,” This is
used to refer back to a previous line, “Is it what we talking, we really ain’t walking.” He cleverly uses imagery, as
well, to describe the faults of the people of society, how we are all able to
claim what we are and what we will do, but showing that we really are not as
acclaimed as we argue ourselves to be. This leads to a deep thinking of the
real side of our country.
Common’s second verse includes a metaphor (I think?): “We go
from being oppressors to Oprah” saying that the murderers and hustlers are now
praised and honored as Oprah is today. Allusions towards Martin Luther King Jr.
and Barack Obama are evident, too. “From one King’s dream he was able to Barack
us” refers to the “I Have a Dream” speech, declares that without Martin Luther
King Jr.’s dream, Barack Obama would not have been able to be our president. I
think this is a very straightforward statement and is used to shock us
listeners, as truth usually shocks our society having been so blinded by the
media. And throughout the whole song, rhyming and repetition of words are evident, but I don’t
think I will include those since there are quite a good bit of them.
After reading the blog prompt for this week, I knew without
hesitation that I had to turn to Common and his brilliant faculty of poetry.
(See what I did there?) I must admit, the process of finding a school
appropriate song was a bit difficult. But after having found the perfect one,
analyzing it wasn’t as challenging as I imagined it to be. The process was not too horrific. However, I probably am off on almost everything, and I apologize for
my mistakes. I love this song, and I hope it inspires you all.
I really love your connections that were made. If you don't know I am I very passionate musician and music lover. Ive played guitar, drums, keyboard, and even some exotic instruments for, more or less, a combined 7 years (as I mentioned in my previous comment.) I love dissecting songs to find the deeper meanings of the lyrics. I love how you noticed the overall theme of society. With the lyrics about our faults and how we cant "talk the talk." I especially loved how you noticed the SUPER creative lyric that says "From King's dream he was able to Barack us."
ReplyDeleteAs a musician, writing lyrics for a song is hard, writing lyrics that connect together so rhythmically and appropriately only for a hope that someone like us will spot it is nearly impossible. Being in numerous bands it is hard to fall into the rut of just playing cover songs because lyric writing is extremely difficult. All in all I LOVED this post!
GREAT song pick. I am always impressed with Common's lyrics. Very strong analysis, too!
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