Exploring Poetic Devices in Song Lyrics

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Final Paper: Exploring Poetic Devices in Song Lyrics rough draft

Permanent Memories upon my Soul

Poetry is taught in classrooms and has become a very important aspect of literature throughout the years. Whereas, songs have not, if anything, they have developed a negative connotation stating that less (words and meaning) is more (popular in society). Some people argue that song lyrics essentially are less valuable compared to poetry. Poetry is considered literature due to the fact that it is written in verses, prose, and forms that reflect the mastery of literary techniques and mechanisms. The biases between the two works, poetry and song lyrics, does a disfavor and prejudice to both. In giving one work over another the title of a valuable piece of literature, the audience is missing out on the meaning and appreciation behind the work. The difference among poetry and song lyrics seem very juvenile. At first glimpse, poetry relies solely on words alone, their sounds, tones, meanings, and silence all depend upon the individual himself reading the poem. The words within the poem take place in silent context. Whereas, lyrics relay on the same forces; however, it is supported by music. The musical artists use a lot of deliberate musical information to help exaggerate certain words and meanings. The main difference is the conditions of the environment which affect the structure of the words. To gain the full comprehension and appreciation of both pieces of work, poetry and song lyrics, is to read them with the same respect in order to see the correlation between the two.

The song “Tattoos on This Town” by Jason Aldean is a symbolic narrative in which there is a secondary meaning behind a story and the character...

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...ng both Jason Aldean’s song “Tattoos on This Town” and Jim Foulk’s poem “Memories in the Mind.” Both pieces of work are allegories written in first-person point of view hoping to teach a lesson through imagery and flashbacks created by previous experiences. The audience of both are able to relate to the experiences being discussed and connotations, deeper meanings behind the surface of words, even though they are written in different forms and structures.

Song lyrics can be forms of poetry. The use of literary techniques and mechanisms help develop valuable lessons. The music support given in songs adds additional elements to help create the artists desirable conclusion. “Tattoos on This Town” by Jason Aldean helps illustrate this. This piece of work is applies literary techniques throughout the lines in order to create meaningful and great poetry.

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