Analyzing Donald Glover's Song 'Stand Tall'

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My mother has been a very important influence in my life. They have given me moral support when times have been bleak and depressing. In Donald Glover’s song, “Stand Tall”, he addresses how his parents have been there for him; how they are caring when times are rough. As a sophomore in high school, I feel as if I relate to the feelings he shares in the song. Donald starts the song off by talking about his attitude towards things as a 9-year-old boy; he says “when the sun is rising over streets so barren since the evening, colors flash before my eyes”. Donald was raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia, a small city with streets that didn’t have much life to them, I feel as if the same description applies to Ashland in the sense that Ashland is a small and boring town. …show more content…

As a 9-year-old boy, you aren’t really aware of all the bad things around you. It is when he grows up and loses some of his natural innocence that he becomes aware as in the second verse, Donald describes his life by saying: “How this used to feel so far and free now these broken souls are all I see fists have fallen to our side”. This is a flashback, like how the first verse is. In the first verse, Glover is 9 years old, and is seeing the beauty in things. He is young, and is happy for the most part. This verse is a little different though. Glover is growing up, and talking from an older perspective. He is starting to see some of the horrible things life can bring. Furthermore, as many know, Glover has struggled with depression over the years, and expresses some of the sadness he has felt with these beautiful lines. When he was a kid, sadness was “far and free” from him, a distant thought. But now that he’s older, all he seems to see are “broken souls” and sadness. He can’t get away from it. The “fists have fallen to our side” can imply almost giving up, like the fight against life is

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