(Please see lyrics and youtube link in post below).
Perhaps one of the most puncturing devices implemented by Curran throughout her work is the employment of repetition. This can be seen through lines 4-5;
"You don't act much like you need it, you don't look much like you care.
And will you need me in the summer, will you need me in the spring?"
This can also be seen in the repetition of the first and last lines of the song,
"Hello, its me, the Mistress."
Curran's rhyme scheme of AA BB is also effective - the sounds in the song, a mishmash of constantants and vowels, seem almost condensed, seen clearly in stanza four, most notably in the first two lines;
"And then you praise me for my inspiration, asked me for an explanation
Followed up with hesitation, fit my primal expectation.
I don't care but I don't mind, you can call me anytime
You can holler through the fortress, kick me out on line."
Not only is there a repetition of sound, but the closeness of the words creates a rhythym that the music only adds to, yet it is very present with solely the diction and vocabulary.
Internal rhyme is also present, which also adds to this effect, seen in line 20, "I confess to my distress, yeah I get crazier each year."
Curran's references to well-known phrases, characters or objects such as the seven deadly sins, Judas and his women, the Bible Belt and the Devil set a certain tone for the piece as they refernce things that evoke a certain universal feeling amongst readers. Each is associated with a certain emotional trigger, and her refernces - especially to the Devil and demons, suggests very accurately that the narrator is struggling.
Curran's implementation of familiar or 'slang' phrases such as "give it here," or inversion of the well-known on the outside looking in to "on the outside looking out," seen in line 9, also paint a portrait of the narrator and her lonely strife.
Perhaps my favourite line is the question posed at the end of the song, "Is it better to be grounded? Is it better to be free?" This juxtaposition and repetition is highly effective in conveying the inner turmoil beheld to our narrator, and finishes off nicely a powerful piece rich with poetic devices and classic poetic form.
Thanks for this thoughtful analysis.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of writing you've done here easily satisfies my expectations for this assignment, but when you're thinking about writing a longer essay for class consider taking your arguments further. You talk here accurately about what Curran is doing; for an engaged analysis in an essay I'll what to see not just what and how but also why.
So you say, for example, that repetition is a puncturing device and you give an example. I think you're quite right. But can you say WHY repetition is effective here? That's the next step that, in an essay for class, will make the difference between a B+ and an A.