Last night I had a crazy dream
A wish was granted just for me
It could be for anything
I didn’t ask for money
Or a mansion in Malibu
I simply wished, for one more day with you
Chorus
One more day
One more time
One more sunset, maybe I’d be satisfied
But then againI know what it would do
Leave me wishing still, for one more day with you
First thing I’d do, is pray for time to crawl
Then Id unplug the telephone
And keep the TV off
I'd hold you every second
Say a million I love yous
That’s what I’d do, with one more day with you
Chorus
Leave me wishing still, for one more day
Leave me wishing still, for one more day
Diamond Rio has been around the country block quite a few times. Stepping into the spotlight in the early 1990’s, their soothing lyrics lull any audience. Diamond Rio uses their tranquil lyric writing abilities to create “One More Day”, which is about the heartache in losing the woman of one’s dreams. They bring together their soothing lyrics and guitar strumming to erect a broken-hearted love song.
Within the first verse they sing about having a dream where, "A wish was granted just for me/it could be for anything." They go on to sing about how they didn't ask for anything special, like a mansion or a million dollars, they just wanted one more day with the woman that left. This song could be interpreted to mean many different losses of love. It could be a dead relative, or a significant other that has left, it is up to the interpretation of the listener to decide that. In the chorus they use some imagery in the line, "one more sunset maybe I'd be satisfied." But in the next lines, the speaker realizes that no matter what, one day would never be enough; he'd always want another day with her. In the second verse the speaker describes what he would do if he did get his wish. He sings, "first thing I'd do is pray for time to crawl," which is also personification. He then goes on to say that he would unplug the telephone and "keep the TV off" which is also more imagery. He'd "say a million I love you’s" which is a hyperbole as well as so sweet. The chorus then repeats itself and the song ends with the line, "leave me wishing still for one more day with you."
All of the members of Diamond Rio have the smooth voices to woo any woman into loving them. Diamond Rio have become a huge influence in country writing lyrics. Being part of the "young" country movement, they paved the way for future song writers of today to take a piece of the fame for themselves. Diamond Rio still tours and still makes hits that drive their fans wild.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
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.
“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.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
There Goes My Life Analysis
All he could think about was I'm too young for this.
Got my whole life ahead.Hell I'm just a kid myself.
How'm I gonna raise one.
All he could see were his dreams goin' up in smoke.
So much for ditchin' this town and hangin' out on the coast.
Oh well, those plans are long gone.
[Chorus:]And he said,There goes my life.
There goes my future, my everything.
Might as well kiss it all good-bye.
There goes my life.......
A couple years of up all night and a few thousand diapers later.
That mistake he thought he made covers up the refrigerator.
Oh yeah..........he loves that little girl.
Momma's waiting to tuck her in,
As she fumbles up those stairs.
She smiles back at him dragging that teddy bear.
Sleep tight, blue eyes and bouncin' curls.
[Chorus:]He smiles.....There goes my life.
There goes my future, my everything.
I love you, daddy good-night.
There goes my life.
She had that Honda loaded down.
With Abercrombie clothes and 15 pairs of shoes and his American Express.
He checked the oil and slammed the hood, said you're good to go.
She hugged them both and headed off to the West Coast.
[Chorus:]And he cried,There goes my life.
There goes my future, my everything.
I love you.
Baby good-bye.
There goes my life.
There goes my life.
Baby good-bye.
Babies are miracles that are brought into this world on a daily basis. However, some parents do not consider their child a miracle for one reason or another. Many times this is because the parents aren’t even ready to be parents to begin with. In the song “There Goes My Life” by Kenny Chesney, he writes about a teen having a baby and that baby turning out to be the love of his life.
Within the first verse Chesney is singing from the perspective of a teenage boy who was just told that his girlfriend is pregnant; “I’m just a kid myself. How’m I gonna raise one?” He then goes on to reminisce about all the plans he had, such as “hangin’ out on the coast” and how those dreams were “goin’ up in smoke.” In the chorus he writes, “there goes my life. There goes my future, my everything”, Chesney uses the child and his life as an interchangeable metaphor. The child is now the speaker’s life. In the second verse the tone has changed, in one line he says, “that mistake he thought he made covers up the refrigerator. Oh yeah… he loves that little girl.” The speaker is now happy that he has his baby girl in his life. This line also has personification in it. The last line of the verse when he is watching his daughter climb up the stairs, “sleep tight, blue eyes and bouncin’ curls” is also personification. The chorus then repeats, except now he says I love you, the listener can tell he is happy to be a daddy. In the last verse, Chesney describes the daughter leaving home finally and driving to the west coast, which is ironic because the dad wanted to do that when he was younger but never got to, because of his daughter. In the last chorus, the tone is completely different from the first chorus, “he cried, there goes my life. There goes my future, my everything. I love you. Baby good-bye.” At the end of the song the speaker, or dad, is sad to see his daughter leave and has no more regrets of ever having her.
“There Goes My Life” by Kenny Chesney, sends a moving message, that everyone deserves a chance, even a baby. It also shows that as we grow up we realize what is most important to us, something that may have been important to us when we were younger may now, not even matter. Leaving for the coast was the speaker’s future, by the end of the song, his daughter was his only future, and he did not want it any other way. As we grow up, we learn a lot, make many decisions, and have some life-altering experiences on the way.
Got my whole life ahead.Hell I'm just a kid myself.
How'm I gonna raise one.
All he could see were his dreams goin' up in smoke.
So much for ditchin' this town and hangin' out on the coast.
Oh well, those plans are long gone.
[Chorus:]And he said,There goes my life.
There goes my future, my everything.
Might as well kiss it all good-bye.
There goes my life.......
A couple years of up all night and a few thousand diapers later.
That mistake he thought he made covers up the refrigerator.
Oh yeah..........he loves that little girl.
Momma's waiting to tuck her in,
As she fumbles up those stairs.
She smiles back at him dragging that teddy bear.
Sleep tight, blue eyes and bouncin' curls.
[Chorus:]He smiles.....There goes my life.
There goes my future, my everything.
I love you, daddy good-night.
There goes my life.
She had that Honda loaded down.
With Abercrombie clothes and 15 pairs of shoes and his American Express.
He checked the oil and slammed the hood, said you're good to go.
She hugged them both and headed off to the West Coast.
[Chorus:]And he cried,There goes my life.
There goes my future, my everything.
I love you.
Baby good-bye.
There goes my life.
There goes my life.
Baby good-bye.
Babies are miracles that are brought into this world on a daily basis. However, some parents do not consider their child a miracle for one reason or another. Many times this is because the parents aren’t even ready to be parents to begin with. In the song “There Goes My Life” by Kenny Chesney, he writes about a teen having a baby and that baby turning out to be the love of his life.
Within the first verse Chesney is singing from the perspective of a teenage boy who was just told that his girlfriend is pregnant; “I’m just a kid myself. How’m I gonna raise one?” He then goes on to reminisce about all the plans he had, such as “hangin’ out on the coast” and how those dreams were “goin’ up in smoke.” In the chorus he writes, “there goes my life. There goes my future, my everything”, Chesney uses the child and his life as an interchangeable metaphor. The child is now the speaker’s life. In the second verse the tone has changed, in one line he says, “that mistake he thought he made covers up the refrigerator. Oh yeah… he loves that little girl.” The speaker is now happy that he has his baby girl in his life. This line also has personification in it. The last line of the verse when he is watching his daughter climb up the stairs, “sleep tight, blue eyes and bouncin’ curls” is also personification. The chorus then repeats, except now he says I love you, the listener can tell he is happy to be a daddy. In the last verse, Chesney describes the daughter leaving home finally and driving to the west coast, which is ironic because the dad wanted to do that when he was younger but never got to, because of his daughter. In the last chorus, the tone is completely different from the first chorus, “he cried, there goes my life. There goes my future, my everything. I love you. Baby good-bye.” At the end of the song the speaker, or dad, is sad to see his daughter leave and has no more regrets of ever having her.
“There Goes My Life” by Kenny Chesney, sends a moving message, that everyone deserves a chance, even a baby. It also shows that as we grow up we realize what is most important to us, something that may have been important to us when we were younger may now, not even matter. Leaving for the coast was the speaker’s future, by the end of the song, his daughter was his only future, and he did not want it any other way. As we grow up, we learn a lot, make many decisions, and have some life-altering experiences on the way.
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