I was driving to Youth Worship Team rehearsal one Thursday evening, and I had the radio on. Zedd ft. Hayley William's "Stay The Night" came on and I started singing at the top of my lungs. I mean, I really rocked out. If you can get past the annoying repetitiveness of the song, and listen to the lyrics, it's quite good. The song is at such a good range for my voice I love jamming out to it.... anyway, I really listened to the one part, "You kill the lights, I'll draw the blinds Don't dull the sparkle in your eyes". I wondered why those lyrics stuck out in my mind so.
Don't dull the sparkle in your eyes
I pictured a young couple, so in love, eager and excited, and it's very romantic. That's the thing-- I pictured it, this moment between two people I've never met. I found the imagery created in this song, created by simply the word choice (and the melody), to be beautiful, and such a level of imagery is so important in any story.
Lots of songs put images in our heads, whether it's a specific scene or even how we interpret a certain feeling. In Katy Perry's Dark Horse, she warns her new lover of the revenge she will bring should he do her wrong. She'll come at him "like a Dark Horse". With these lyrics, do you picture a strong warrior woman on a dark horse, or maybe a confident woman with a pistol in her purse approaching an apartment. Either way, the lyrics of the song (and the melody) helped you picture the feeling of "wanting to seek revenge".
I had a hard time last year adjusting to the AP essay format because I was used to painting a scene in my introduction for the standardized essays. I love creating a scene: using words you wouldn't think could describe a setting, personifying everything-- giving my readers a vivid image.
One thing songs can teach us is how potent words are when creating imagery. One thing songs do particularly well is transport you to a scene so quickly, almost as if we were watching the scene play out in a movie. Effective diction is a must in every story to efficiently create vivid imagery.
I suggest watching this twice, because the first time you'll be like "what the heck interpretive dance?!" and the second time, knowing what's coming, you may find it's a pretty cool dance.
Hayley Williams has such a strong voice!
This was such a cool post! I never thought about songs like that before. I am a very avid listener of all genres of music and i do realize now that the more details they add into their lyrics, the more I put myself in that scene as if I was the person the song was about. I feel that artists have become very creative with their pieces of music and I love hearing about the story about each song. Dark Horse by Katy Perry happens to be one of my songs at the moment as well! Such a powerful message! Keep belting out those tunes :)
ReplyDeleteOkay so I'm totally one of those people that belt out certain songs, "Don't Stop Believin'" is my jam, but anyway.... I really liked this post. I love all different genres and I especially love songs that have that "storytelling" component. In fact, many of my favorite songs have imagery in them. A song is just like any movie or book, it tells a story and has the ability to capture a massive amount of emotion. Music videos, like the one in your post, also give way to a more artistic form of the song. Music videos also allow us to see what the artist wants us to see and experience when we listen to their song. Interesting post!
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