Reflection on Popular Culture in Music

Jackie Toomey

Poetry of Song G

10/7/2011

            It is said, in the Turkish Proverb that “as the music is, so are the people of the country”, and by analyzing a few select songs from the top 50 songs in the United States, one is able to see that this statement contains value and merit. The songs that were chosen to be analyzed for this reflection on popular culture in music are “Mr. Know It All” by Kelly Clarkson, “Dirt Road Anthem” by Jason Aldean, and “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry. Each of these songs contains multiple aspects of poetry within the lyrics, while expressing certain things about our generation and their culture.

            In the first song, “Mr. Know It All”, Kelly Clarkson writes about a girl who has a falling out with an ignorant, overconfident lover that treats her as if she is a piece of property, and the point of the song is to let that person know she’s not going to put up with his games anymore. The first three lines of her song contain the most prominent example of irony that presents itself within the lyrics, and it’s when she says “Well ya think you know it all/ But ya don’t know a thing at all”. These lines also contain hyperbole when she says that he doesn’t know a thing at all. This is untrue because like almost all human beings, they most likely know SOMETHING, which makes this an over exaggeration. Another example of hyperbole in her song is in the line “So what you’ve got the world at your feet”, due to the fact that the entire world can never actually be sitting at someone’s feet. The last major poetic device found in this song is metaphor, when she says “When somebody tells you something ‘bout you/ Think that they know more than you do/ So you take it down, another pill to swallow”. She refers to the information given to the person as a pill that they have to swallow, and does not use the words ‘like or as’ in her comparison, making it metaphorical. This song and its entirety convey to the rest of the world an image of American women that do not roll over in submission to the man, and do not take any abuse (whether it be physical, mental, or emotional) from him. It also shows that the gender roles have been leveled; by not submitting to the man, it gives women a stronger, more liberating sense of self. Overall, the song “Mr. Know It All” by Kelly Clarkson gives a strong image of a woman’s sense of self, and also shows that music consumers of this generation are very opinionated and like to hear about women not giving in to male pressures.

            Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem” is a reminiscent country song that is meant to trigger memories and elicit certain feelings from the listener, and he does this by using simile, personification, and local color. “Laid back swervin’ like George Jones” is the second line in the song, which contains both simile and allusion. “Swervin’ like George Jones” is an example of simile because he is comparing himself swerving to George Jones swerving, and it is an example of an allusion because he references George Jones, a famous country singer. Personification is used in the lines “Smoke rollin’ out the window/ An ice cold beer sittin’ in the console”. As one might know, beer cannot actually “sit” in a console, thus giving it humanistic qualities. He uses local color when he alludes to Pott’s farm in line 9 of the song, because it is a specific place he used to visit “back in the day”. This song doesn’t really portray any messages about gender roles in society or success, but it does create the feeling that our generation is becoming less and less satisfied by things, and should learn to enjoy their childhoods and make the best out of their young years.

            The Band Perry has a song out called “If I Die Young”, which is about a girl’s wishes for after her death. This song includes metaphor, simile, and oxymoronic diction, which work together to carry the somber tone that is used to get the point across to the listener. When they write “the sharp knife of a short life”, this is a metaphor because the sharp knife cuts things and brings them to an end, which is parallel with a short life- suddenly ended. The simile included in this song is contained in the lines “And I’ll be wearing white when I come into Your Kingdom/ I’m as green as the ring on my little cold finger”, where they compare how ‘green’ she is to the ring on her finger. Finally, the oxymoronic diction used in their song is best exemplified in the line “what I never did is done”, and this is due to the fact that what she didn’t ever do can’t possibly be done, but it is also paradoxical because she is done, and therefore she will never even get the chance to do what she’s never done, so in that sense it is logical. This song shows that Americans have begun to create a fondness of country love songs, and that modern American culture is constantly changing, with ever-present variety.