Analyze one song Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analyze one song - Essay Example The key is to critically analyze and determine why songs impact us the way they do. To demonstrate this point, this student will analyze the song â€Å"Always Remember Me† by Ry Cuming. The specific aspects that will closely look at involve the songs instrumentation, lyrics, and electronic production. When analyzing any given song, one needs to look at how the instrumentation employed impacts the listeners’ mood as the music fills their ears. No matter how impactful the lyrics of a song might be, it is of little use if the musical content does not work. It would be similar to a car having a perfect engine, yet no tires. This particular song has instrumentation that truly seems to place the listener into the music studio of Ry Cuming. Viorica Barbu-Iurascu reminds us that â€Å"Music is the metaphysical counterpart to everything physical† (170). Perhaps like no other media, music transcends us to another place. We can leave the world behind as our consciousness be comes completely involved with the music that is playing within us. Naturally, some musical composers accomplish this transformation to the metaphysical world better than other, but this is still the aim of the musician. Music becomes an art that must be studied and examined closely to truly appreciate its beauty. â€Å"Always Remember Me† is composed of music that represents the lyrics being sung. The musical arrangement of this song begins with a softly playing guitar. This immediately sets the tone for what is to come by providing the listener with a soothing introduction into the lyrics to come. In essence, this opening prepares all who listen to relax, settle down, and be moved by arrangement. Without this type of opening, the song would not be nearly as effective in transforming people to that metaphysical realm that Iurascu talks about. As the lyrics begin to be sung, something interesting happens. The guitar playing moves softly to the background. When lyrics are not being sung, the guitar once again becomes the centerpiece and gradually becomes louder. Reflecting upon this, the author feels that Cuming has done an effective job at using the instrumentation to be a focal point of the song. Whereas most songs rely on the lyrics and the rhyming of such words, this particular artist seems to be more focused on allowing the guitar to speak to the listener. The softly playing melody really rocks most who listen into a new arena and a new realm of thinking. It is almost as if the old adage ‘forget all of your troubles for the moment’ rings true with this song. The music has a way of comforting and soothing the soul. The arrangement does not ‘jar’ the listener awake, rather it allows them to sit back and really be metamorphosed into another place and time. It is common to want to analyze the lyrics in a song. We seem to be obsessed with trying to understand what the artist is trying to say through his or her music. Analyzing m usical lyrics, however, must go deeper than merely just trying to understand what the words mean. As Katrina McFerran writes, â€Å"Lyrics are not simple statements of information; they are creative and multifaceted expressions of experience† (38). So, as one seeks to analyze the lyrics of any given song, they must move beyond simply trying to ‘understand’ what the words mean and move into the realm of experiencing what moved the artist to write the words in the