Popular music is readily available everywhere, such as on the radio, the media, and online. Artists often make use of their creativity by adding in some unique and creative lyrics that contain words that we haven’t heard often or even before. As a result, popular music affects our everyday speech; certain words and phrases from its lyrics integrating themselves into our language. Bryson says that some of the ways we adopt and make up new words is by “adding to them, by subtracting from them, by making them up, and by doing nothing to them” (811) as well as by “borrowing them from other languages and creating them by mistake” (811). Popular music follows the same pathway that Bryson presented into our ears and out of our mouths. Popular music …show more content…
We mishear words words often in our daily language. Bryon says that “many other words owe their existence to mishearings. Button hole was once buttonhold. Sweetheart was originally sweetard, as in dullard and dotard” (811). For a long time, people believed that was the real way of saying the word, because they heard others say it. In Taylor Swift’s song, “Blank Space”, most people misheard “got a long list of ex lovers” as “all the lonely starbucks lovers” for a long time, until they looked up the song and realized the actual lyrics. Now it has become a popular inside joke phrase that even Taylor Swift acknowledges. A study published in January 2014 reports that when we mishear lyrics, we hear what the singer is singing, but our own brains change and interpret what we hear based on our own experiences (Hutchison). Many people can scoff at the notion that popular music “lingo” can affect how we speak our language. They could say that popular music speech dies out and that it is a bad influence to us because most of what we experience as pop talks about sex and partying. But popular music helps to enhance our language, rather than dirtify it. It gives us new ways of saying a word or describing something. It gives us more versatility in
In itself, music has intrinsic value. From Ludwig Van Beethoven to Miles Davis, instrumental music can stand on its own legs, and have meaning that transcends grammatical meaning. However, the implementation of words that are either spoken or sung creates a new genre, and a different aesthetic. In a sense, this is literature juxtaposed over rhythm and melody. This has the effect of giving a more concrete meaning to the music, and more emotion to the words or lyrics. It is a matter of taste, and a subject of intense debate to try and say one style of music does this the best. Blues music, one of America’s greatest exports, is a contender for this title, and is also interesting in a linguistic sense.
There is one universal language: the language of music. Music has a special quality and ability to bridge both social and cultural divides. A proposed theory by Dr. Gray, Founder and Director of National Musical Arts’ BioMusic Program; describes music has been around longer than human-beings have. Music is the one thing human beings from various backgrounds can relate to. Every living creature would agree. Music is heard everywhere not just among humans, but in nature as well, through the twitting of birds, winds blowing, the soft sound of raindrops against a windowpane, the ocean waves moving back and forth and the hum of the ocean rushing in a sea shell. There is no escaping it; music lives in and surrounds us steadily. While there are countless songs which confer social or cultural consciousness, this paper will analyze and address the dynamics of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”, video. Stylistically, the paper will examine the artist point of view, the unique use of lyrical analysis and sound description in relation to its historical, social, political and/or cultural context. This essay will also trace the lyrical analysis and sound description of song and discuss how the elements (visually, sonically, and lyrically) interplay with the theme of immigration and/or violence.
Popular music places a premium on accessibility, represents various meanings to boost both instant appeal and memorability - distinctive tunes, novel instrumental flourishes, danceable rhythms, repeated riffs - but its signal feature is melodic emphasis and great vocal gatherings.
When the human brain is used for ten minutes straight, it generates enough electricity to power the Sears Tower for forty-eight seconds. That’s more than a hundred floors of electricity powered. The brain creates more brainwave signals than every cell phone signal in the world at one time, in one second of use. When humans listen to music, we generate three times the amount of electricity and brainwaves. Music is widely used to express ourselves thoroughly. Bruno Mars’ “Unorthodox Jukebox” album does just that. It expresses. It allows us to express how we feel about s...
I wish to acknowledge three things first. One is that, in regards to this last subject of alternative language and identity formation within hip hop and jazz there exists such a vast amount of practices that arose out of these cultures for which this notion of re-affirming alternative language and identity could be applied, that it 7-8 pages just would not cut it. And two, my aim of investigation within hip hop and jazz was in unpacking the major things that effect human life in general space and language. As a result I have limit...
The genre of pop rock has taken the music industry by storm, giving record companies enormous amounts of power and endless financial success along with a way to reproduce it. Owing its popularity to the “light” nature and simplistic, yet catchy melodies, pop music is one of the broadest genres. There’s no way of clearly defining parameters as to what distinguishes a pop music song from other genres. This is largely due to the genre's’ reliance on popularity. Pop music has taken many forms over the decades, keeping characteristics through each generation it passes through.
The birth of Rock and Roll Music was a mixture of popular music and African American country blues and hillbilly music. However, Rock and Roll music was influence since the 1950’s by two particular African American artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin` Wolf. Through their distinct voices, style, deliverance, and performances that helped the music in the 1950’s give rise to this new style of music genre Rock and Roll. During the World War II era, this style of music was looked at; as traditional music and, through the music people could tell their story, not just about their struggles but the real struggles going on around them, like, isolation between black and white people. Most artists were sharing their values and trying to associate through
Music censorship of the lyrics begins in the early age, and it is usually used to regulate the lyrics in Rock music because the furor characteristics of this music genre. Thus ac...
If one were to look back into the world’s history, one would find that an important and consistent element is the world of music. Music has presented itself in various forms throughout its spread and through our identification of its magical realm, people have been fortunate enough to come across a means of relation. Whether it is blues and reggae or rap and pop rock, there is music out there for everyone. Music can serve as a stabilizer for some, a relaxant to others, and to many a form of inspiration.
Music has long been an expression of people from different cultures around the world. Music has been present since the dawn of man. Archaeologists in recent years have uncovered age old music instruments made by early modern humans. Music can influence the way we act, dress, talk, dance, or socialize. Music can be inspiring and uplifting if we are going through a difficult time in our life. The same can be argued with musical styles that reflect use of drugs or promote violence. With this being said, have you ever wondered in what ways music and radio has shaped the American culture and its values?
The right words with the right sound can move a person emotional. The plans of writing songs, producing the work, and eventually becoming an artist has been a dream. Any career or goal will always be a challenge to achieve, especially in the career of music. The type of knowledge and skills develop through this process is the mistakes that will happen and how to learn from them and the passion put into this career. It’s not easy it can take days just to find the right words to create a song, or the perfect drum that will go with the beat in the music. It takes time and patience, but with hard work eventually everything will pay off.
Perhaps the most formative years for rock and roll were from 1945 to 1964. It is evident that the social climate of the time period shaped music. However, the music also shaped the social climate. The musical meaning of the songs of the era is vital to an understanding of the social implications of the music. On a primitive level, the lyrics of a song give some insight into its musical meaning. Often, however, the lyrics paint an incomplete picture of a song’s true social significance. By studying other factors, such as the instruments, the melody, and the artists themselves, one can gain much more insight into a song’s musical meaning. Through this analysis, common themes of sex, drugs, and race relations are usually found.
In today’s society, people more and more express themselves and reflect the current social situation with artistic languages. Songs, some of the most important artistic language, have had a huge influence on people’s inner worlds and society’s diverse cultures. Colbie Caillat said,“A great song should lift your heart, warm the soul and make you feel good”(Liscomb 1). Obviously, wonderful songs not only show the artistic forms but also can evoke listeners’ emotions and resonate with listeners through a perfect combination of its lyrics and music. “Big, Big World” recorded by Emilia Rydberg in 1998 (Lachno 1). It was popular in the world because it’s lyrics is catchy and the rhythm of its music is intoxicating. “Big, Big World” conveys a message
“The parallels between musical and linguistic boundaries are obvious” as stated in author Peter M...
“Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb; Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow.” For centuries “Mary had a little lamb” has become one of the most universally recognized nursery rhythms since being published in 1830. Centuries later it is still one of the most popular songs of the world. Merriam Dictionary defines music as “the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity.” With that in mind, music is found everywhere. Whether it’s in the Great Wall of China to the jungles in Africa, music is found everywhere. The main purpose of this paper is to show that music is in fact a universal language by comparing music with other official languages, showing how music influences emotions and how music literacy and emotions helps people understand music as a language. In order to fully execute my purpose of proving that music is a universal language, I will be focusing on using personal experiences, researching articles and specific musical examples from class.