M U S I C
a l w a y s t a k i n g n o t e s...
I enjoy a wide array of musical genres. Though it is a leisure activity, my interest is spurred by the analytical skills I developed through literary analysis. Here, I explore the depths of songs that shaped my life, demonstrating how literature has both allowed me to gain valuable skillsets to bring to the workplace, but further, changed my perspective of the world. Click in the boxes below to see how I turned my literary analysis skills into a lyrical analysis of my favorite songs!
Records on Replay
Lyrical Analysis
Pulling from ideas seen in works like Beowolf and Frankenstein, we question if the monster everyone fears was born like that, or did the community make him a monster? Here, Swift uses this in application to negatively labeled women in modern society for exhibiting aggressive attributes. She suggests that society has created a false idea of “mad women” but in reality, it made her that way.
Lyrical Analysis
Will generational issues, trauma, and vices ever come to a halt or are they a vicious cycle? Mayer proposes the idea that we don’t have to repeat the sins of our fathers, but there is also something beautiful about embodying the good traits they passed down to you. And also, even if we do give way to the generational curse, there is hope that we can still be “made clean.”
Lyrical Analysis
The Head and the Heart tell the story of a kid that tried to live life through their books, neglecting to connect to the world and the community around them. With all of the sounds in the world, it's still important for you to make a sound because people need your melody in their lives. This is one of my favorite songs of all time!
Lyrical Analysis
For the chronic overachievers that could relate to my TED Talk, this song may be a favorite of yours as well. Vienna was a crossroads during the Cold War and it symbolizes a change between worlds. Joel uses it here to discuss the feeling of growing older; you're in between worlds, possibly going from feeling that you know everything to feeling like you know nothing at all. However, he urges not to grow old too quick, the crossroad is waiting, and it's a slow process.