Wednesday, January 14, 2009

3 song analysis

SONG 1

My first song isn’t really in my theme-genre, but, it’s still a great song, so I’m going to go with it anyway. The song is “Letters from Home” by John Michael Montgomery. This song is about a soldier off fighting in a war. All the while he is receiving letters from his family back home. (Hence the name) Throughout the song, he shows the letters to all of his friends, and it’s an escape away from the war for the time being. The letters keep him able to go on strong.
In the first verse, he receives a letter from his mom. She goes on about normal banter, and then mentions his dad. We get the feeling that his dad was upset about him going to war because of what she says. “Your stubborn 'ol Daddy ain’t said too much, but I’m sure you know he sends his love”. She explains that his dad is handling his going away not very well, because he pretty much hasn’t said anything about it since he went away.
In the chorus, we find that his company has gotten to be about as close as brothers. He shows all his friends the letter and they forget about the war for a little while. “I hold it up and show my buddies, like we ain’t scared and our boots ain’t muddy, and they all laugh, like there’s something funny bout’ the way I talk, when I say: "Mama sends her best y’all"”. They laugh at how he’s from the south and has the southern accent, then, when the letter is all read, they get right back to being soldiers.
In verse two, the letter is from his fiancĂ©. This time, she tells him that she showed his mom the ring and revealed their, until then, secret engagement. She also says that when the television says soldiers have died, she gets uneasy and cannot sleep. Yet, she knows that it’s just her nerves getting to her. Then says how much she misses him. “I’ll be all right, I’m just missing you An' this is me kissing you, XX’s and OO’s”. The chorus following says how when he reads this letter, he leaves out all the good parts, like the mushy ‘I love you’. “And they all laugh, 'Cause she calls me "Honey", but they take it hard, 'Cause I don’t read the good parts”.
In the last verse, (kinda a tear jerker), his dad finally writes to him. His dad tells him how proud of him he really is. “Dear Son, I know I ain’t written, But sittin' here tonight, alone in the kitchen, it occurs to me, I might not have said, so I’ll say it now, Son, you make me proud”. In the last chorus, no one laughs when he reads this letter, which is because he cries. The reason is that his dad finally tells him that; although he hasn’t written or said anything to him, he really is proud of him for going into the war to defend his country. “But no one laughs, 'Cause there ain’t nothing funny when a soldier cries. An' I just wipe me eyes”. We also know that the letters are what keeps him going, because he waits to hear from his family to know what is going on back home with everyone that he cares about. “I fold it up an' put it in my shirt, pick up my gun an' get back to work, an' it keeps me driving me on, waiting on letters from home”.
Together, this song evokes a lot of emotion, especially to those with loved ones in the war. The song also has a bit of imagery, in how you can imagine a bunch of soldiers getting together to read their letters. You can almost feel the emotions of the soldiers as well. The artist also has his own dialect throughout the song.


_____________________________________________________________________________________ SONG 2



Boy:]
But when you touch me like this (touch me like this)
And you hold me like that (hold me like that)
I just have to admit that it's all coming back to me
When I touch you like this (touch you like this)
And I hold you like that (hold you like that)
It's so hard to believe but it's all coming back to me now