Tim Mcgraw Diction Essay

Tim McGraw is a stellar country star in many ways. He is best known for his moving lyrics that are rich with emotion. Many of his songs use contrasting dictions, such as “She’s My kind of Rain” and “Indian Outlaw.” Some are very elegantly written, like “She’s My Kind of Rain”, or on the other hand is the deep southern twang of “Indian Outlaw.” The first has imagery and metaphors flowing through it, while the latter has a “hillbilly” slang vibrating through the words.
“She’s My Kind of Rain” is a love song where they have their secrets but are willing to forgive and love each other still. In the first verse says, “She’s my kind of rain, like love in a drunken sky, confetti falling down all night.” Within these first three lines there are two metaphors and a simile. In the next verse there’s another simile, “she sits quietly there, like water in a jar.” Many of his metaphors and simile add to the imagery that McGraw expresses throughout the song. His diction is moving and loving throughout. In the main chorus McGraw uses many metaphors such as, “She's the sun set shadows she's like Rembrandt's light, she's the history that's made at night.” The reference to Rembrandt’s light is also an allusion to the famous painter. “Together in this brief eternity summer days, winter snows, she's all things to behold”, these lines express an oxymoron (the brief eternity). The diction is sophisticated and endearing. He continues to reiterate previous lines. The last lines, “She's my kind of rain, oh, rain on me, she's my kind of rain” convey his love. Rain can sometimes be viewed as a negative thing or positive thing, this woman that he is singing about clearly makes him happy, and she is his kind of rain.
On the opposite end of the McGraw lyrics scale is “Indian Outlaw” which is very divergent to the graceful “She’s My Kind of Rain”. “Indian Outlaw” is McGraw taking on the point of view of a Native American proud of his heritage. The first lines clearly state, “I’m an Indian outlaw, half Cherokee and Choctaw, my baby she’s a Chippewa.” The lyrics are very straight forward, the way he sings them make them sound full of twang. In the following lines state, “All my friends call me bear claw, the village cheaftin is my paw-paw, he gets his orders from my maw-maw,” “paw-paw” and “maw-maw” are the equivalent to dad and mom. There are few literary devices throughout the song, just the strong diction. “I ain’t lookin for trouble” is a line that clearly expresses the southern diction with the slang. In the following lines of the fourth verse there is more slang and improper English, “I remember the medicine man, he caught runnin water in my hands, drug me around by my headband,” although it does not take away from the song. McGraw also makes allusions to teepees and wigwams, which support the proud Native American point of view he is expressing.
Diction is an important aspect to all songs, whether in the country genre or not. Diction is the style of speaking or writing and depends greatly on word choice. Both songs analyzed above have contrasting diction but are both powerful songs do to their different but effective dictions. McGraw is a talented songwriter partly because he can write songs with such varying diction that are still honest to him as an artist.