Aspects of Love in Love Songs - Essay Example

Love and togetherness (Dave Matthews: “You and Me The American rock band, the Dave Mathews Band is famed as one of the most sensational bands of all times both in the United States and around the world. It is sometimes taunted to be the music that defined the mid-1990s. Their popular romantic song, you and me, was written by the songwriter and lead singer Dave Matthew himself in August of 2OO8 in a boat cruise with his family friends. Circumstances of Composure It is not definitively conclusive to say how much impact the setting of the place where the song was written had on its lyric and actual sensation but there is, to an extent, a taste specifically synonymous with this kind of setting in the lyrics. By referring to taking a boat to the end of the world, when they get to the ocean, it can be convincingly argued that the location of the setting had an obvious reflection into the song. Talking of riding the blue all the way to the end of the world, which is interpreted as the water they were riding on and referring to the children in the lyrics and the circumstantial fact that he was there with his family and friends points to greater prominence of the setting onto the lyrics. The very heavy burst of emotions within the lyrics makes it also possible to have a depiction of having loved ones on board. Romance The song has a very heavy romantic embodiment within its various aspects. To begin with, the lyrics have a unique and very immediate and almost tangible tinge of adulation that is almost out of this world. The lyricsdepict an approach to love and romance as a whole new beginning and which requires completely letting go of the baggage of life and the memories of the past. They also portray a perception of commitment as they talk of having only the “two of us” and out of this world. The other aspect of commitment shown in the lyrics is the inclusion of grown kids and anticipation to teach them to fly. This shows that the lover portrays love not as a short term affair but a lifelong commitment to also be taught and passed onto the kids when they are old enough. The perception of love is shown more by the composer as he states repeatedly “you and me forever”. The lyrics also point to the fact that love does not require much to instigate as the composer urges the lover to take only what she needs and insists on just something small. The lyrics also paints love as a very intense and dramatic feeling to an extent it is capable of accomplishing virtually anything. The song has many intriguing special moments in terms of perfect interchange of tempo crescendo and focus in a way that creates harmony and musicality that makes the song all the more unique and rich in most aspects. The song employs very limited accompaniments and they are each uses rather sparingly appropriately to give the song a clear and précised feel. The beats for instance are specifically light and well-timed with the lyrics to embolden a tender sensation associated with love and romance. Rhythm The song has a relatively slow romantic rhythm which gives it the completeness and allure associated with love and romance. The slow rhythm is also complementary to the lyrics as it ensures full clarity and heavy articulation that creates the theme of love in a more pronounced and precise way. Not only does it also allow the other accompaniments, especially the violin and acoustic guitar the full incorporation to result into an extremely rich and lulling effect associated with love but also ensures sensational and sharp blend that fully maps the lyrics and gives the song a theme so distinct, unique but obviously romantic. Melody The song has a wonderful melody that captures the theme and rhythm in a way the lyrics are easily infused to fully enrich the song. The melody makes the song a little simple so as to easily bring the audience into the participation as it is performed. The accompaniments are a complete harmony with the rich acoustic tune of the guitar setting the stage for a soothing thatching hum of the violin. These two come together in complete concord that is absolutely sentimental and supremely catchy. The keyboard and drum set form the primary foundation for the melody and both blend in powerfully to produce a particularly unique progression that determines variations and special moments in the song and ensures proper infusion of other accompaniments and also perfectly accommodate the lyrics. All these accompaniments are form the fundamental theme and approach to this song in a way that ensures the gives complete power and precision to the lyrics and makes the song rather immediate and directly authentic and unique. Structure The other aspect of this song is its structure. The song has a particularly complementary structure that establishes its powerful communication and immediacy. “You and Me” is structured in a way that intentionally and tactfully self-propagates its purpose as a love song and gives it an extremely sharp focus on its theme. Love and personal strength (Joni Mitchell: “A Case of You”) Biography Toni Mitchell is a Canadian songwriter, musician and painter born in 1943. She began her music career in Toronto Canada before moving to the United States in 1965. The resilient musician exploring other genres, specifically Jazz and Pop music. She is known for wide ranging vocals and a particularly open-tuned guitar and piano compositions. Her musical versatility saw especially applauded for wandering into some completely unconventional music, especially in the early-1970s. She also encompassed electronic music and took part in some degrees of political activism and is also known as a blunt critic of music. Instrumentation and Culture The song “A case for you” was employed an acoustic guitar. The acoustic guitar was very revolutionary in music during the folk period. It was the cause for the emergence of the various forms of popular and rock musical. Some of these included jazz rock which was a blend of jazz and rock, popularly known as fusion. Others were southern rock, folk rock and soft rock among many other emergent forms of music at the time. This by extension gave rise to the rock and pop cultures which shaped the way of life in terms of dressing, expression, language, film, relations between youth and adults and on many other spheres of life at the time. The culture of the time has arguably had a great impact on the lyrics of the song in a profound may. The era was noted for great hype and secularism and the fact she continuously refers to liquor is proof to that. She also refers to a bar to depict the general outgoing culture of the period of her composition. The acoustic guitar gives the song a sense melodrama and it drowning hum gives the lyrics the feeling of the struggles the writer faces. The acoustic adulations also allow the dramatic feel of strength and love in a way that defines the theme of the song. The song, therefore becomes rich and in harmony with the passion of the lyrics and the sensational feel of the instruments. Love and irony (Robert Schumann: “IchhabimTraumgeweinet”) Biography Robert Schumann (1810-1856) was born inZwickau in modern South-eastern Germany. He wanted to be a pianist from an early age but was unfortunate to injure his hand. Upon that misfortune, he went into composition and music criticism and served as an editor for a music journal for ten years from 1834. He was a hard lined conservative who opposed flair in music, advocating for older music. Most of his composition was inspired by finances and emotions. In 1940, he married a very gifted pianist and composer, Clara Wieck. He lived a very troubled life fro 1953and died in 1956. The weird nature, dramatic and critical nature of this composer coupled with the general romantic times he lived clearly showed in his composition of“IchhabimTraumgeweinet” as he described seeing his loved one in a grave and that she had left him but still goes to write a completely romantic song in the process. Schumann’s Piano and Vocalizations Schumann’s “IchhabimTraumgeweinet” has a particularly peculiar aspect in the sense that the piano carries most of the melody. Notably too are the extended preludes and postludes that comment on the lyrics and give voice to the thoughts and feelings of the lyrics. The piano and the voice feature on almost equal basis and not as you would conventionally expect that the piano features just as an accompaniment and not to appear to capture the essence of the song as depicted in this song. This is completely unique and out of the slightest stretch of imagination. The vocals in themselves are a particular eccentricity. The variations are so wildly varied, hitting high pitches and lowest of the depths in a dramatic and sudden way. The song has a melody organization that sequences the lyrics in synch and sequence of the keys to create an almost perfect harmony. “…du wärstmirnoch gut…” When the words“…du wärstmirnoch gut…”are said, there comes a particular stressed variation that depicts focus and captures attention than at any other part of the song. This projection thrusts the figuration that concentrates focus on the central emotion and in essence the single most prominent theme of the song as it is sung. The part of the lyrics also points to the contrast and the primary aspect of irony as much as the song generally reeks of utter negativity, the inherent message and theme is actually that of complete love and romance. Heinrich Heine and Schumann Heinrich Heinehad a special style similar with Schumann’s in the sense that they both used allusions, dreams and contradictions laced in stark irony. They also found a way to employ the most basic and simple diction to depict the deepest of emotions and passions. Reference Bent, Ian. Music Analysis in the Nineteenth Century: Fugue, form, and style. Cambridge London: University Press, 2004. Print Read More