The song uses Metonymy to talk about the girls funeral. "Send me away to the words of a love song", it means that the words spoken as she is buried are filled with love and longing. This line is repeated several times. Another line that is repeated a lot is, "the sharp knife of a short life". This is a metaphor because it is saying that a life cut short is always the most painful. Another metaphor in the song is "I'll be wearing white when I come into your kingdom". She is talking to God saying that she will be in heaven where everything is perfect. A paradox that is included is "what I never did is done" she is saying that what she never got never will be.
"A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I'm a gonerAnd maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin'
Funny when you're dead how people start listenin' "
This whole stanza is the whole songs purpose, this is why she is talking about dieing young, so she can get noticed and people will listen to her and not just brush her away, because you never know how much time you have.
This song is perfectly balanced in its music. If it were any faster and it would ruin the message of don;t underestimate life. If it were to be any slower it would make the song to sad and depressing. It is also very good to music in general because when you just read it, it sounds like a suicide note and that was note the goal of this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw8W6hYGZ0E
Very good song choice, Joie, and very good analysis. You have a few lit terms mixed up, but you also made some very adept points, such as the one about the paradox. There are some minor grammatical errors and awkward wordings too, and I would like to see and introductions and conclusion paragraph, but I really liked your analysis overall. This song was a perfect choice, so well done!
ReplyDeleteThat is a very interesting and insightful analysis. This song always makes me really sad. First of all, the tune of the song evokes strongly sad emotions. This song is also sad because it resembles the thoughts of many teenagers nowadays. I see it in many of the people who go to school with my younger sister (who is in a public middle school). People do not realize the effect their words have on others, so they do not think twice about bullying one another. That one comment could be the thing that sets that person off the edge, the one thing that makes them feel that they are "worth so much more after (they're) a goner". There are so many people around the age of 12-16 that honestly feel that everything would be better if they were dead, which is the saddest thing I've ever heard. I feel like you have captured the meaning of this song extremely well.
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