Thursday, October 23, 2008

Song Analysis 2 - If I Close My Eyes Forever



If I Close My Eyes Forever
Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford


Singer Key
LITA FORD
OZZY OSBOURNE

Baby, I get so scared inside and I don't really understand
Is it love that's on my mind or is it fantasy?

Heaven, is in the palm of my hand and it's waiting here for you
What am I supposed to do with a childhood tragedy?


If I close my eyes forever
Would it all remain unchanged?
If I close my eyes forever
Would it all remain the same?

Sometimes, its hard to hold on, so hard to hold on to my dreams
It isn't always what it seems when you're face to face with me
Like a dagger you stick me in the heart and taste the blood from my blade
And when we sleep would you shelter me in your warm and darkened grave?

If I close my eyes forever
Would it all remain unchanged?
If I close my eyes forever
Would it all remain the same?

Will you ever take me?
No I just can't take the pain
Would you ever trust me?
No I'll never feel the same (oh)

(Instrumental)

I know I've been so hard on you
I know I've told you lies
If I could have just one more wish
I'd wipe the cobwebs from my eyes

If I close my eyes forever
Would it all remain unchanged?
If I close my eyes forever
would it all remain the same? (Oh yeah)

Close your eyes...
Close your eyes...
You gotta close your eyes for me..........

In the late 80’s Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne, two well known songwriters, teamed up to make a dual song. This song, If I Close My Eyes Forever, combines the two musical styles of Ford and Osbourne, the synthesizer and heavy guitar. This song focuses on the theme of loss, for one another, using the poetic device point of view, allusion, imagery, and metaphors. Throughout the song, Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford switch off singing, sometimes half-way through a verse, expressing the loss that they have gone through. What needs to be known about this song is that it is a musical conversation between two people.
This song starts out with Lita Ford singing, “Baby, I get so scared inside and I don't really understand/Is it love that's on my mind or is it fantasy?” Here she is singing to Ozzy, questioning whether what she feels is love or not. He replies with, “Heaven, is in the palm of my hand and it's waiting here for you/What am I supposed to do with a childhood tragedy?” Here, he is alluding to love, “heaven” is in the palm of his hand, and all Ford needs to do is take it, and that there is no other use for it other than her. Allusion is the indirect reference to something without saying the exact words.
In the next verse, Ozzy starts by singing, “Sometimes, its hard to hold on, so hard to hold on to my dreams/It isn't always what it seems when you're face to face with me” In this verse, Ozzy is saying to Ford that he can’t hold onto his dreams, because when he is with her he sees the truth; the truth which he thinks that she doesn’t love him. The conversation continues as Ford sings, “Like a dagger you stick me in the heart and taste the blood from my blade/And when we sleep would you shelter me in your warm and darkened grave?” Here she alludes to how his words deeply hurt her, seeming as if he enjoys to; stabbing her in the heart with a dagger is how she is hurt by the words, as “taste the blood from my blade” is how he enjoys causing her pain. These same lyrics provide imagery to the song, which is the deliberate visual pictures throughout the song; the listener can see the images of the dagger covered in blood in their head.
The next verse is the most interesting of the song, where the conversation switches off every line, between Ford and Ozzy. It starts with Ford, “Will you ever take me?” This is Ford simply asking a question, whether Ozzy will take her, whereas he responds with “No I just can't take the pain”. She continues with “Would you ever trust me?”, where Ozzy will respond with, “No I'll never feel the same (oh)” This is where Ozzy tells Ford that he will not be with her, for he doesn’t trust her anymore. The remainder of the song is a monologue of Ford describing that she has lost him, and her last wish would be to “wipe the cobwebs” from her eyes, alluding that she would not be blind to his feelings if she could have just one last chance.
The song, If I Close My Eyes Forever, by Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford describe a common problem, a fight in a relationship, leading to the loss of their love. Throughout the song, each “character” confesses to each other how they have been hurt. At the end, Ford lets him know the love she feels for him. However, he is ultimately lost to her.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Diction Essay

Two historic bands, White Lion and Poison, rocked the 80’s with their ripping guitar solo’s and their flick-your-bic ballads. The theme of loss soared through the 80’s; ironically never lost itself throughout time and it still exist largely in today’s music. White Lion’s When the Children Cry is an example of the theme of loss, while Poison’s Every Rose Has Its Thorn shows a different type of loss. Both examples demonstrate a different diction, the choice of words the songwriter chose, throughout their lyrics.

White Lion’s When the Children Cry is demonstrates the loss of the world around us and the world that is left to the younger generation. This type of loss differs from many other songs that were created throughout the 80’s, which usually depicts the loss of one’s love. An example of the loss of the world around us in the song’s lyrics is, “What have we become/Just look what we have done/All that we destroyed/You must build again.” This shows that man now is destroying the natural world around him, and that the younger generation must rebuild what this one has destroyed. The diction used here is plain and simple to describe the situation, as opposed to the next song…

Poison’s Every Rose Has Its Thorn is an example of the loss of one’s love. Every lyrics of this song is about how the songwriter intended this song to be depicted as loss. Many of the lyrics, as well as the title, allude to the theme of loss, and some lyrics come out plainly and show the listener that the song is about loss. The lyrics, “Every rose has its thorn/Just like every night has its dawn/Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song/Every rose has its thorn” show the usage diction and allusion to describe how the songwriter has been through a loss.

In the two songs, When the Children Cry and Every Rose Has Its Thorn, both use different diction to show how their songs use the theme of loss. However, both songs show a different type of loss. When the Children Cry shows the destruction of the natural world by the current generation and how the next generation will have to rebuild it; as Every Rose Has Its Thorn shows how the loss of one’s love affects their life. The diction in the first song is blatant and shows the audience the point of the song clearly, where as the second song uses different diction to allude to the theme.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Theme-Genre Song Analysis

The theme of Loss in 80’s Hair Metal covers a wide variety of songs. One song above all others show this theme, Don’t know what you got (Til it’s gone) by Cinderella. This song demonstrates the usage of two poetic devices, personification and imagery. The song also demonstrates the extent of the theme of loss. Examples of the poetic devices and themes are shown throughout the song.
The first example of personification and loss is in the second verse with the lyrics, “I can't clear my heart of your love it falls like rain/Ain't the same/I hear you calling far
Away/Tearing through my soul I just can't take another day” This shows personification because a heart cannot ‘fall like rain’ nor can a voice tear through a soul. The theme of loss is shown in these lyrics also. The songwriter is taking the role of someone who has had their heart broken by the person they love, and they are not over them yet. “I can’t clear my heart of your love it falls like rain” shows that he is still in love with this person.
Another example of personification and loss in the song is in the third verse with the lyrics, “Do you wanna see me beggin' baby/Can't you give me just one more day/Can't you see my heart's been draggin' lately”. The personification is shown with the line, ‘Can’t you see my heart’s been draggin’ lately”. This gives the heart a human quality, dragging. An example of loss in these lyrics is ‘Do you wanna see me beggin’ baby/Can’t you just give me one more day’. The songwriter feels lost without this person, he explains how he would beg to have her back for just one more day, perhaps to mend the wounds that caused the heart break in the first place.
Throughout the song, the theme of loss and the poetic device of personification are shown. The examples of these two devices are found in the second and third verse of the song. This song is an example of how the theme of loss was a large part of music in the 80’s Hair Metal.

Don't Know What You Got (Til It's Gone) by Cinderella

I can't tell ya baby what went wrong
I can't make you feel what you felt so long ago
I'll let it show
I can't give you back what's been hurt
Heartaches come and go and all that's left are the words
I can't let go
If we take some time to think it over baby
Take some time, let me know
If you really want to go

Don't know what you got till it's gone
Don't know what it is I did so wrong
Now I know what I got
It's just this song
And it ain't easy to get back
Takes so long

I can't feel the things that cause you pain
I can't clear my heart of your love it falls like rain
Ain't the same
I hear you calling far away
Tearing through my soul I just can't take another day
Who's to blame
If we take some time to think it over baby
Take some time let me know
If you really wanna go

Don't know what you got till it's gone
Don't know what it is I did so wrong
Now I know what I got
It's just this song
And it ain't easy to get back
Takes so long

Do you wanna see me beggin' baby
Can't you give me just one more day
Can't you see my heart's been draggin' lately
I've been lookin' for the words to say

Don't know what you got till it's gone
Don't know what it is I did so wrong
Now I know what I got
It's just this song
And it ain't easy to get back
Takes so long

Don't know what you got till it's gone no
Don't know what it is I did so wrong
Now I know what I got
It's just this song
And it ain't easy to get back
Takes so long