Just a Dream

Born on March 10, 1983 in Checotah Okla, Carrie Underwood has become one of the most recent and popular uprising stars in the country music world. Most people know her from the winner of American Idol in 2005. While still in college Carrie decided to audition for American Idol since the opportunity would never be given to her again. Carrie was a finalist and ended up winning the whole show at only the age of nineteen. After American Idol, Underwood released her first single “Inside Your Heaven” which became the best selling song in the nation, with sales reaching over 170,000. The song later made its way to number 1 on billboard’s Hot 100, the first country song to ever do so since the year 2000. Carrie Underwood’s first album was Some hearts which was also considered to be a big hit. Carrie’s next album released, Carnival Ride features a heart wrenching song, “Just a Dream”.

“Just a Dream” is one of the more emotional songs that Carrie Underwood has produced since the beginning of her career. The song is very emotionally evocative because of the story line, the song describes a relationship between a man and women. They were a young couple and the man was in the military. Unlike the girl had wished, instead of walking down the aisle to marry the man of her dreams, she was walking down the aisle to place a flower on his casket. The song holds universal relevance because many people everyday losses their loved ones to the military, army, navy, and more. Throughout the song, there are many examples of imagery to help make the song feel more real. While opening the church doors for the funeral, the setting is explained, “the church doors opened up wide she put her veil down trying to hide the tears”. In the women’s dream she would be crying because her husband is waiting for her down the aisle, but now the women is in morning for the death of her loved one. Carrie also uses imagery to help make the song even more emotional, “she heard the trumpets from the military band and the flowers fell out of her hands”. The woman is crying as she lays down the flowers on the casket, as the military plays in the background. The song also uses a lot of alliteration to enhance the creativity of the lyrics. During the ceremony the congregation, “sang the saddest song”. By using alliteration it makes the song a little bit more interesting, without completely overdoing it. While talking about the ceremony, the military men gave the women his flag, “folded up flag”. Folded up flag is alliteration and the flag is also a symbol for her husband.

Through the past years Carrie Underwood has created many great songs, one of them being this one. “Just a Dream” is a great narrative song that expresses the pain so many people go through every day. Death is not an easy subject to talk about, but Carrie Underwood does an amazing job at incorporating it into a song. Ultimately Carrie Underwood’s song shows the importance of living for the moment, for things can be gone in the blink of an eye.

Taylor Swift's Album Review

Known as one of youngest country singers to every make it big at the age of sixteen, Taylor Swift has been able to accomplish the unimaginable. Taylor Swift is a country singer-songwriter and a guitarist, who has become a triple platinum artist. Born on December 13, 1989 in Reading Pennsylvania Swift has always has a passion for music. Even though she is considered a recent musician to the American Public, Swift has been performing for almost her whole life.
Taylor Swift’s first album was a huge success and made its way to becoming a 3x Multi-Platinum record. Her second album which some would agree to be even better, has become to be an even bigger success. Fearless, her second album was released in November of 2008. The Nielsen SoundScan has rated Swifts album as the highest-selling album in the United States with net sales of more than four million albums. Writing all of her songs, Taylor Swift is considered to be one of the most successful country artists.
During the release of the album, Fearless spent eleven weeks on the Billboard top two hundred chart . Within this decade, Taylor Swift is considered the top female artists having produced over forty successful songs. Based on all of her album sales this year, Forbes names Taylor Swift the 69th most powerful celebrity, with earnings over $18 million.
Fearless has been one of Swift’s most powerful and inspirational albums she has made yet. Taylor called this album Fearless to express all of the doubts and fears that she has experienced, “To me fearless is not the absence of fear. It’s not being completely unafraid. To me, fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts”. With songs like Fifteen, White Horse, You’re Not Sorry, and Tell Me Why, Swift sophisticatedly expresses the pain she has experienced from past memories. Along with the gloomy emotions expressed by Swift, the album also shows feelings of happiness and uplifting moments as revealed in Love Story and Forever and Always. Taylor Swift has come a long way from being a small town girl in Pennsylvania, and her success is expected to keep on rising.

Someone Else's Star

Every person, at some point in their life, will have the dream to find that special someone that makes them feel complete. Just like every other person, Bryan White tells his story of misfortunes he has with finding the right person, in the song, “Someone Else’s Star”. Bryan White is a multitalented country singer who over the years has become a multi-platinum artist. The uniqueness of his songs tells stories about White’s life experiences that help bring the listener closer to him as a person. Bryan White is a “master stylist” who is determined to build on his career and success. “Someone Else’s Star” is a heartfelt single that describes the success other people have finding their lifelong partner, while the artist seems to have the worst luck out of everyone. Bryan White incorporates the literary devices of imagery and alliteration to enhance the song as a whole.

“Someone else’s star” revolves around the theme of never receiving what you want regardless of how hard one may try. The entire song is an allusion to the nursery rhyme of wishing upon a shooting star. The man keeps wishing on the bright stars, “Oh I wish I may/And I wish with all my might”, but every time he seems to wish on a star another person, besides him, seems to fall in love. Imagery is used throughout the song to enhance the song, and allow the reader to fully imagine what Bryan White is trying to portray. While looking at the sky, “the stars are shining bright” is showing the setting of the night as he stares up at the sky. The night is dark and lonesome but the stars give a twinkle and a sense of hope for Bryan to try and find love again. At another instance “I sit here in the dark/and stare up at the sky”, the listener of the song would picture the great outdoors on a cloudless night to fully grasp the song content. The use of the imagery adds a sense of creativity and vividness to the theme of the song. Bryan White makes the song more artistic by adding alliteration throughout the song. While still outside the singer looks up to see that the “stars are shining” all over the dark sky. The repetition of the constant sounds helps to give the song a little bit of rhythm.

Bryan White is an artist that writes about personal experiences and hardships he has faced and overcome. “Someone else’s star” is a great song to show the emotions that writers experience while trying to write a particular song. White is going through pain in the song and he expresses the pain of loneliness throughout. The artist tells his story of wishing upon stars but never seeing any progress. As he wishes on the stars his friends seem to be the lucky ones. Bryan shows distraught when wishing to be someone else that is able to find the type of love that he is looking for. It is seen as lucky to wish upon a star when you want something, but Bryan is receiving the opposite of what he wants, pain.

Alone again tonight

without someone to love

The stars are shining bright

So one more wish goes up

Oh I wish I may

And I wish with all my might

For the love I'm dreamin of

And missin in my life

You'd think that I could find

A true love of my own

It happens all the time

To people that I know

Their wishes all come true

So I've got to believe

There's still someone out there

Who was meant for only me

I guess I must be wishin on someone else's star

It seems like someone else keeps gettin what I'm wishin for

Why can't I be as lucky as those other people are

I guess I must be wishin on someone else's star

I sit here in the dark

And stare up at the sky

I can't my heart

One good reason why

Everywhere I look

It's lovers that I see

Seems like everyone's in love

Everyone but me

I guess I must be wishin on someone else's star
It seems like someone else keeps gettin what I'm wishin for
Why can't I be as lucky as those other people are
I guess I must be wishin on someone else's star

Why can't I be as lucky as those other people are
I guess I must be wishin on someone else's star

Reflection

On the billboard top 100 chart, “Throw It In the Bag” by Fabolous and The-Dream is ranked at number nineteen. The content of the song is based mainly on the idea of money. The two singers/rappers sing about the idea of no limits on money. They buy what they want when they want regardless of price. In a way the rappers are showing signs of haughtiness, by saying price tags are not for them, “I’m the one with them ones/ F*** the price tag, just throw it in the bag”, money sets no limitations for the two rappers, because of the amount that they make. The fact that this song is ranked at number nineteen shows that America is materialistic. We favor songs that talk about nice clothes, cars, and houses even though many people do not have that particular lifestyle, “I keep her in Louboutin, Louis Vuitton/Gucci down to her feet, yup, just like me”. Gucci and Louie Vuitton are extremely expensive brands; dressing in the clothes is a way of showing materialism by needing the top of the line clothing. In this song the gender role plays an important part. The rappers sing about how they earn the money, and how they spend it on the women. It shows that they go along with the theory of men being the provider of the household. In this particular song success is not measured by how many record one sells, but by the amount of money that they make singing. The song is written in first person, it is a story of how the narrator spends money on unnecessary items, to flaunt that he has money.
The second song that I choose is also on the billboard top one hundred songs. “Good Girls Go Bad” by Cobra Starship and Leighton Meester made it’s was to number twenty-two on the charts. The song is a stereotype of rich girls who fall for the bad guy “I know your type/You’re daddy’s little girl”. There are two singers, a boy and a girl, who each give their opinion of the night and each other. The song is sung in first person, by both of the people. In one of the lines Cobra Starship uses the alliteration to show that he can make any girl like him not matter the type of girl, “She was so shy”. The girl was so shy but he is going to make her become a bad girl by the end of the night. In this song as well as “Throw it in the Bag” gender plays a big role. The song is sung mostly by Cobra Starship, a male, who believes that since he is a considered a bad boy he can get any girl. The idea that America has voted this song number twenty-two shows that as a population, we enjoy songs that tell a story. The song tells the story about a shy girl who plays by the rules. She is sitting with her friends, when this troublesome guy walks up to her and makes her bad for the night.
“Already Gone” by Kelly Clarkson has made its way to number twenty-three on the billboard top one hundred songs. The song is about a relationship that went bad. Everything in the relationship seemed well, but it was not working out for one person. Kelly Clarkson loves the man she was with, she loves him enough to give him away, “Looking at you makes it harder/But I know that you’ll find another/That doesn’t always make you want to cry”. This song shows that America enjoys listening to songs about love and hardships. The gender of Kelly Clarkson plays a somewhat important role in the song. Because Kelly Clarkson is a woman it shows that women are just as likely to make hard decisions in their lives as well as men. Women are just as likely to end a relationship if they feel as if there is a disconnection between their partner and themselves. The repletion of the line “already gone” is used to show that nothing can change her mind. She is already out of the relationship and nothing is going to bring her back into a relationship that will not work out.

God Must Be Busy by Brooks and Dunn

That anchor man

says the fight began

somewhere in the Middle East.

The world prays for peace.

There's a single mom

just got laid off when she lost a job

to some foreign hands

in some faraway land.

Last night in Oklahoma

some twister took thirteen

and they're praying that they find

the missing three.

God must be busy.

That highway sign

went from slow ahead

to traffic's dead.

Thought it couldn't get worse

than that Amber Alert.

They say she's 4,

Colorado plates, headed out-of-state

in a Chevy van.

It's hard to understand.

You can see it in the faces

of all those highway strangers,

they're praying that God

keeps that girl from danger.

God must be busy.

And I know in the big picture

I'm just a speck of sand

and God's got better things to do

than look out for one man.

I know he's heard my prayers

cause he hears everything,

he just ain't answered back

or he'd bring you back to me.

God must be busy.

That evening news,

Ain't much changed

pretty much the same

since I left home.

Yeah that war's still on.

They found that little girl.

She was soaking wet,

half scared to death

on the side of some road.

Them prayers work, you know.

And the Bloods and Cripps are at it,

and theres a killer drought down south,

and old folks can't afford the drugs

they can't live with out.

God must be busy.

And I know in the big picture

I'm just a speck of sand

and God's got better things to do

than look out for one man.

I know he's heard my prayers

cause he hears everything,

he just ain't answered back

or he'd bring you back to me.

God must be busy.

That anchorman,

says the fightings worse,

cities burn in the Middle East.

[The] world prays for peace

There are many talented country singers in the world today, but together Brooks and Dunn have come together to form one great country music dynamic duo that beat out all the rest. Leon Eric Brooks is an energetic man that runs the stage and plays the guitar, where as Ronnie Gene Dunn has the quiet personality but loud and unbelievable vocals. Over the years Brooks and Dunn have written and produced many hit songs that have made their way to be number one on the charts, one of these including “My Maria”, which spent six weeks at the number one spot. Along with their single songs placing at number one, Brooks and Dunns album Red Dirt Road instantly became a chart topper and earned the two a Grammy nomination. One of the more emotional songs, “God Must Be Busy”, incorporates the use of many poetic devices, which ultimately strengthens the song as a whole.
“God Must Be Busy” reveals the problems in the world, and the idea that they will happen no matter how hard we try to avoid them, it is just the way of life. The song incorporates many examples of alliteration that help to enhance the message behind the song. Brooks and Dunn involve the war in the middle east by saying “the world prays for peace”. Praying for peace is the alliteration which aids in describing how people feel about the war. In hope to end the war people will be praying for the soldiers to come home, and most often the prayers will be directed toward god. The song also talks about world disasters that are non preventable, “twister took thirteen”. Brooks and Dunn are playing with the alliteration to make the song more artistic to look at and listen too. Natural disasters cannot be prevented, they have no mercy and take lives when they want to. The country singers talk about god being busy because all of the prayers are not being answered. They do not want to sound selfish, but it seems hard when they feel neglected from the one person they tell everything to. “Speck of sand” is used to describe how small they feel in gods world due to everyother person on earth that prays to god for answers. The alliterations in the song make it more interesting to listen to. They create a sense of creativity that helps listeners to understand what is really meant by the song on a deeper level.
Along with alliterations, point of view is integrated to develop the story of the song. Throughout the song, Brooks and Dunn mostly tell the song from first person point of view. They use I because they song is about one person and their feelings about the world. The singer knows god is there, he just does not have time for everyone, “I Know he hears my prayers”. The narrator believes that god hears how he feels, but god has to much going on to reply to everyone at once. Refeering again to oneself, the narrator say, “I know in the big picture I’m just a speck of sand”, looking at god and hoping for the best, even though he understands everything god has to deal with. Having the song in first person point of view, allows for the song to have more emotion pertaining to how the narrator is feeling.

Brooks and Dunn are extremely talented producers and singers, that use poetic devises only to make their songs better. The narrator of the song is feeling pain for the natural disasters that go on around the world. Most people blame what happens on god if something goes wrong when really it is not his fault. The singer is in pain because he believes that things happen because god is too busy to listen to what he has to say. Instead of questioning god and feeling pain, the singer should realize life is going to do something’s people do not always agree with, but instead of blaming god trust in him.

Photos of Stevie Wonder

You Are the Sunshine of My Life

You are the sunshine of my life
That's why I'll always be around,
You are the apple of my eye,
Forever you'll stay in my heart

I feel like this is the beginning,
Though I've loved you for a million years,
And if I thought our love was ending,
I'd find myself drowning in my own tears

You are the sunshine of my life,
That's why I'll always stay around,
You are the apple of my eye,
Forever you'll stay in my heart

You must have known that I was lonely,
Because you came to my rescue,
And I know that this must be heaven,
How could so much love be inside of you?

You are the sunshine of my life, yeah,
That's why I'll always stay around,
You are the apple of my eye,
Forever you'll stay in my heart
[Background] Love has joined us,


Love has joined us,
Let's think sweet love

http://vodpod.com/watch/26248-stevie-wonder-you-are-the-sunshine-of-my-life