"Silver Lining" Analysis

Take this silver lining
Keep it in your own sweet head
Shine it when the night is burning red
Shine it in the twilight
Shine it on the cold cold ground
Shine it till these walls come
Tumbling down

We were born with our eyes wide open
So alive with wild hope
Now can you tell me why
Time after time
They drag you down
Down in the darkness deep
Fools in their madness all around
Know that the light don't sleep

Step into the silence
Take it in your own two hands
And scatter it like diamonds
All across these lands
Blaze it in the morning
Wear it like an iron skin
Only things worth living for
Innocence and magic-amen

We were born with our eyes wide open
So alive with wild hope
Now can you tell me why
Time after time
They drag you down
Down in the darkness deep
Fools in their madness all around
Know that the light don't sleep

We were born with our eyes wide open
So alive with wild hope
Now can you tell me why
Time after time
They drag you down
Down with talk so cheap

Fools in their madness all around
-Know that the light don't sleep
-Know that the light don't sleep
Time after time
They drag you down
Down in the darkness deep
Fools in their madness all around
-Know that the light don't sleep
-Know that the light don't sleep

David Gray is a rock/pop artist with the ability to write catchy, yet profound songs. His song "Silver Lining" revolves around the importance of innocence and the inevitable cynicism that clouds our minds as we grow older. The first verse of the song tells us to keep our silver lining--which, in this case, is a metaphor for innocence--and use it when life gets hard ("when the night is burning red", "on the cold, cold ground"). The singer encourages us to use pure bliss and ignorance to help us when we are feeling trapped: "Shine it till these walls come tumbling down". The second verse is similar, using silence as a metaphor for the preservation of wonder and hope. A simile is used: "scatter it like diamonds", as well as imagery. Diamonds symbolize wealth and happiness; the singer is telling us to spread the silence around the world.

In the chorus, the singer talks about the hope we are all born with: "We were born with our eyes wide open; So alive with wild hope". The following lines refer to the tearing down of these hopes, which happens as we learn and experience more in life. Limits are created that did not exist before, and our innocence is lost: "Time after time they drag you down; Down in the darkness deep". The line "know that the light don't sleep" implies that no matter how much it seems to be forced out of us, the innocence we are born with will always live inside us.

Season Poem Analysis

One by one
The days fall beside us

Like yellow leaves

We have no conscience

Oh, what we're becoming

Month by month,

The rings on our tree trunks,

Like old wise eyes,

Grow wider and winter

Lends them a dead disguise

Now time- like an ocean

knows tide - like a notion

To toss about the house

And lose inside the couch

And piles of our thoughts

Run miles in the dark

Just trying to get home

Age by age,

We rhyme with our seasons'

Rehearsed routines

Still turning

And returning

Now I'm wide as the ocean

Now I bleed roses

And you are just a mark

on the map of my past

But I am a road

I wind along alone

All day until the coast


Singer-songwriter Meredith Godreau, of the band Gregory and the Hawk, is a little-known artist with a knack for writing beautiful music. Her song “Season Poem” displays this gift effectively. The song is very poetic, with similes, metaphors, and a large amount of personification. Imagery also exists throughout the song, as there are many references to nature.
Many comparisons are made in the song, mostly in the form of simile: “The rings in our tree trunks, like old wise eyes”, “Now I’m wide as the ocean”. Metaphors are used as well, such as in the line, “And you are just a mark on the map of my past”. Many of these comparisons involve nature (“yellow leaves”, “ocean”), which creates strong imagery. Personification also plays a large role in the song: “Days fall”, “winter lends”. In the chorus, time and tide are personified. The line “And piles of our thoughts run miles in the dark, just trying to get home” is all personification.
All of these poetic devices work together with a single guitar to create a dreamy sound, and vivid pictures come to mind while listening to the words. The main concepts that can be taken out of the song are the constant passing of time and the process of moving on. The singer compares our lives to seasons--they are "rehearsed routines". The ending verse illustrates the way in which all of us are forced to move on and keep going, letting go of the past. "I wind along alone" suggests that in the end, all we have is ourselves.

Mr. Brightside Analysis

I'm coming out of my cage

And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down

Because I want it all

It started out with a kiss

How did it end up like this

It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss

Now I'm falling asleep

And she's calling a cab

While he's having a smoke

And she's taking a drag

Now they're going to bed

And my stomach is sick

And it's all in my head

But she's touching his chest now

He takes off her dress now

Let me go

'cause I just can't look, it's killing me

And taking control

Jealousy, turning saints into the sea

Turning through sick lullabies

Choking on your alibis

But it's just the price I pay

Destiny is calling me

Open up my eager eyes

'cause I'm Mr. Brightside

I never

I never

I never

From Sam's Town, Las Vegas, The Killers erupted into the indie music scene with their debut album "Hot Fuss". With catchy songs driven by synthesizers and Brandon Flowers' clever lyrics, the band quickly got recognition. The song "Mr. Brightside" is a perfect example of Flowers' ability to convey emotions and create images through his words.

The song "Mr. Brightside" centers around the paranoia of the speaker, who fears his lover/love interest is sleeping with another man. At the start of the song, the speaker is "coming out of [his] cage" and "doing just fine", but this soon changes when his suspicions begin haunting him. It is implied that he has seen his lover kissing this other man: "It started out with a kiss". We are then taken into his delusional mind, where he imagines his lover "going to bed" with the other man. The speaker knows this is just in his mind--"and it's all in my head"--but he cannot help himself; his delusions continue to haunt him. The speaker's awareness to his paranoia shows a self-destructive personality; he feels like he deserves to be in this state: "But it's just the price I pay... Open up my eager eyes". The line "I'm Mr. Brightside" is actually ironic; the speaker is being sarcastic and somewhat mocking himself.

There are many poetic devices used in "Mr. Brightside", such as metaphors, imagery, and irony. The speaker's "cage", for example, is a metaphor for how he makes himself feel; his personality makes him feel trapped. Imagery is used mainly in the chorus ("Jealousy, turning saints into the sea..."). An image of what's going on inside of the speaker's mind is created. Irony is present in the lines: "And I've been doing just fine" and "I'm Mr. Brightside". Both of these lines contrast the speaker's situation; he is not "doing just fine", which is made clear by the rest of the song. "I'm Mr. Brightside" implies that the speaker is always looking at the bright side of things, which is the opposite of his reality.

"I Was Married" Song Analysis

I married in the sun
Against the stone of buildings built before you and I were born
Into my heart confusion grows against
The muscles fought so long
To control against the pull of one magnet to another

Now we look up in
Into the eyes of bullies breaking backs
They seem so very tough
They seem so very scared of us

I look into the mirror for evil that just does not exist
I don't see what they see

Try to control the pull of one magnet to another


Tegan and Sara have always strayed away from the typical, never falling into any specific genre or category and keeping their music diverse and unique. The two sisters have always written separately, putting their own style and passions into the songs they each write, and rarely collaborating in the process. Tegan's style is more forthright, with lyrics that evoke raw emotion and tell the listener exactly what she is feeling. Sara, on the other hand, generally writes more elaborate, complex songs whose meanings are sometimes ambiguous or more profound. Her song "I Was Married" illustrates Sara's style of writing and the way in which she expresses her feelings through her music.

"I Was Married" is a track from Tegan and Sara's latest album, The Con. This track sticks out from the rest for its subject matter: it is about struggling with homosexuality. Tegan and Sara Quin are both lesbians, although they rarely allude to this in their lyrics (and when they do, it is normally in a very subtle way). "I Was Married", however, deals with homosexuality more directly. The song starts off with a reference to Sara's marriage to her partner. The following lines are, "Into my heart confusion grows against; The muscles fought so long to control against the pull of one magnet to another". The confusion stems from society's intolerance toward homosexuality, and Sara tries to fight her feelings. The two magnets pulling together represent Sara's attraction to women. The next lines are, "Now we look up in, into the eyes of bullies breaking backs; They seem so very tough; They seem so very scared of us". These lines reference homophobia; people are afraid of Sara because she is gay, and they act "tough" or violent toward her. "I look into the mirror, for evil that just does not exist; I don't see what they see". Sara does not understand homophobia, and she doesn't see anything wrong with herself. The song ends with "try to control the pull of one magnet to another". In general, the song is about the struggles of being gay, and being pushed to believe that homosexuality is wrong. Sara is struggling between who she is, and who society wants her to be. But in the end, she can't fight what is in her heart.

Playlist

Playlist

Comment my playlist here!

Diction: Emiliana Torrini

"Sunny Road"
Wrote you this
I hope you got it safe
It's been so long
I don't know what to say
I've travelled 'round
Through deserts on my horse
But jokes aside
I wanna come back home
You know that night
I said I had to go
You said you'd meet me
On the sunny road

It's time, meet me on the sunny road
it's time, meet me on the sunny road

I never married
Never had those kids
I loved too many
Now heaven's closed its gates.
I know I'm bad
To jump on you like this
Some things don't change
My middle name's still 'Risk'
I know that night's
A long long time ago
Will you still meet me
On the sunny road

It's time, meet me on the sunny road
It's time, meet me on the sunny road

Well, this is it
I'm running out of space
Here is my address
And number just in case.
This time as one
We'll find which way to go
Now come and meet me
On the sunny road


"Serenade"
New world forming
Picturesque in its stance
Midnight calling
Moonlight shadows start to dance

For the dark finds ways of being
Engraved in the light
And the heart bears indentations
Of yesterdays hurting child
The now we will run with smiles
The morrow will heal the night so
Morning comes
Midnight make fast with the sun
I can hear my name be reborn
On the cloud within the sky beneath the dawn

Oh I
Serenade the dawn
Serenade the dawn
Serenade the dawn

For the dark finds ways of being
Engraved in the light
And the heart bears indentations
Of yesterdays hurting child
The now we will run with smiles
The morrow will heal the night so
Morning comes
Midnight make fast with the sun
I can hear my name be reborn
On the cloud within the sky beneath the dawn

Oh I
Serenade the dawn
Serenade the dawn
Serenade the dawn

Da da da da dum dum
Da dum dum
Da da da da dum dum
Da dum dum...



Emiliana Torrini is an undoubtably gifted songwriter, with her subtle but effective vocals and dreamy acoustic sound. Despite the limited musical sources Torrini encountered while growing up, she developed a knack for songwriting that she put to use through her varying musical creations. Torrini's songs often differ in tone and feel, with some falling under the pop "trip-hop" category, and others maintaining a strong folk sound. The lyrical diction used in Torrini's songs is also distinguishable. Her songs "Sunny Road" and "Serenade" are good examples of this, each conveying a different feel through the words Torrini chooses and the way she executes singing them.

The song "Sunny Road", by Emiliana Torrini, is a beautiful acoustic song with very simple, straight-forward lyrics. The song is written in the form of a letter, implicated by the first lines: "Wrote you this, I hope you got it safe; It's been so long, I don't know what to say". It is being written to a loved one-- someone from the speaker's past that she has not been in contact with for a while. "You know that night I said I had to go; You said you'd meet me on the sunny road". The "night" is later described as happening a "long, long time ago". The lyrics stay mostly direct and forthright, getting the point across without straying into the abstract. Thus, a story-telling format is created, with a very light, easy-going mood. Torrini gets to the point with her lyrics and ends the song with a sense of closure.

"Serenade", by Emiliana Torrini, contrasts "Sunny Road" in lyrical and vocal structure. The airy tone in Torrini's voice creates a haunting and eerie feel, and her eloquent lyrics, laden with metaphors and personification, complement these vocals perfectly. "Serenade" has a great deal of substance within its lyrics, shown through lines such as: "For the dark finds way of being engraved in the light; And the heart bears indentations of yesterday's hurting child". The lyrics capture several emotions--tragedy, beauty, pain, and relief--and produce strong images of nature through descriptions of night and day. The abstract words and eerie sound create a sense of mystery.

The use of diction within songs is a notable aspect of songwriting, and a songwriter’s capability to vary their diction is important. Emiliana Torrini uses different forms of diction throughout her music, as shown between her songs “Sunny Road” and “Serenade”. “Sunny Road” is a simple song, with subtle wording that leaves little room for confusion or ambiguity. “Serenade” is a much more in-depth song, carefully thought-out and filled with imagery, personification, and metaphors. The clear contrast of “Sunny Road” and “Serenade” efficiently illustrates Torrini’s diverse style of writing between songs.