Resonance of Poetry in Born to Die by Lana Del Rey - Essay Example

Resonance of Poetry in Lana Del Rey’s “Born to Die” Elizabeth Woolridge Grant is a singer-song who now has the world enchanted by her sultry siren like voice. The singer donned on the stage name ‘Lana Del Rey,’ by drawing inspiration from the early American cinema figure Lana Turner and from one of Ford’s automobiles, the ‘Del Rey.’ It was her second album, ‘Born to Die’ (2012), which accelerated and pulled through her image as a famous music and fashion icon. This album consisted of prominent music hits such as Video Games, Summertime Sadness as well as Born to Die, all of which showed the extensive abilities of the artist including vocals as well as her poetical song writing skills. Born to Die, released as a single in 2011, is such a song that showcases the true talents of Del Rey, as one is not merely mesmerized by her voice but also the lyrics of the song, which flow like poetry. Although Justin Parker collaborated on this song with Del Rey as for four more songs from the album, the song was mostly written by the latter, whereas the former was more on the production lines (Jamieson 1). The song is one among the featured singles from the album, thus it is understood that it is easily a song that is bound to become a big hit among the audience and this instinct of the producers witnessed a literal translation. Examining the song closely reveals its aesthetic and literal quality, thus it becomes clear that the song is poetic in nature due to features including various poetic elements, its structure, tone, rhyme scheme etc. First of all, when analyzing the song Born to Die, one cannot help but notice its suggestive title, which in fact is a poetic attribute in itself. The words “born” and “die” are the opposites of each other, and have been used in the same phrase or context. Thus, it becomes clear that the title is an oxymoron, as two contradictory ideas have been brought together in a single phrase consisting of only three words. The author also uses the literary device of foreshadowing in the title, thus hinting to the audience what the song is going to be about or what the theme of the song is. Furthermore, the title also proves to act as a hook to the audience, which will lure them into listening to the song. The title is directly related with the song as the lyrics tell “a dark love story seen through hopeful eyes” (MTV UK 1). This theme is further illustrated through various word choices as well as symbols used in the song. However, before getting into the literary aspects of the song, it is important to take note of the physical qualities of the song that characterize it as a poem, for instance, the structure, the poem type, rhyme scheme, rhythm etc. The song is actually a ballad type of poem, as it tells the narrative of the author’s romantic relationship, however, it the lyrics are not strictly representative of the ballad form. The rhythm of the song is a haunting and lingering melody, thus the verses of the song are also reminiscent and do not stick to a given set of structure or rhyme scheme. The song can be said to follow free verse, however, it is not completely lacking in rhyming words, but still it can be seen that there is no definite rhyme scheme. For instance, in the first verse, “Feet dont fail me now…Theyll tell me that youre mine,” when one views the lyrics, they can clearly tell that the second line rhymes with the fifth line, ending in words ‘line’ and ‘mine’ (Del Rey). However, when listening to the song, the way the singer croons the lyrics, it can be seen that there are other rhymes and pauses implicated, which make the song even more poetic. For example, in the same verse, ‘breaks’ and ‘take’ have a rhyming effect, which is further accentuated with the last word in the fourth line, that is, ‘gates.’ In the next verse, “Walking through the city streets
…
Its like I told you honey,” the second line, which ends with the word ‘design’ rhymes with the last word from the previous stanza, which is ‘mine’ (Del Rey). Furthermore, within the second verse, when listening to Del Rey, the audience can see how with her pronunciation and skill of emphasis, she makes the last words of the second, third, and fourth line rhyme, that is, ‘design,’ ‘night,’ and ‘mine’ respectively. Moreover in the next stanza, which is the chorus “Don’t make me sad, don’t make me cry… Try to have fun in the meantime,” one can see how the first, third and fifth line have rhyming ending words, namely, ‘cry,’ ‘why’ and ‘high’ (Del Rey). Likewise, the ending words of second and fourth lines rhyme, that is, ‘tough’ and ‘laugh.’ One may think that the sixth line does not rhyme, with the ending word ‘on,’ but as Lana sings it, it becomes clear with her pause, that it rhymes with ‘long,’ which is the starting phrase in the same line. Therefore, these rhyming words show that there is no definite pattern or scheme of rhymes used in the song, however, within the same line there words that rhyme, thus giving a more poetic feel to the song. The tone and theme of the song are well expressed, as the verses of the song elicit a haunting melody, whereas the chorus has a more high-pitched perky feel to it. Thus the author tries to communicate the message that even though everyone is destined to die one day, they must live their life to the fullest while they can. For instance, consider the first verse and the chorus that follows right after, it can be seen that the former is slow and lingering, whereas the latter has a more fast paced wording. Thus, this rebellious tone in the chorus emphasizes the theme of living on the “wild side” or being “insane” and just having fun, irrespective of the fate of death that is written on everyone’s foreheads (Del Rey). Therefore, the tone, theme, melody and rhythm of the song work well together and indicate a more poetic feel to Born to Die. Sound is an important characteristic of a poem, and this attribute is also seen in Born to Die, thus making it a poem. There are a lot of examples of alliteration in the song, for instance, ‘f’ sound is repeated in ‘feet,’ ‘fail’ and ‘finish,’ ‘s’ sound is repeated in ‘city streets,’ ‘g’ sound in ‘go get,’ ‘w’ sound in ‘walk’ and ‘wild’ etc. In terms of assonance, it becomes clear that the whole song has the ‘ai’ or long ‘i’ sound in most places, which is a long vowel, thus creating an eerily somber mood. For instance, consider the first verse and second verse, the ‘ai’ sound is reflected through ‘line,’ ‘mine,’ ‘design,’ ‘night,’ ‘mine,’ ‘blind,’ ‘child,’ ‘tried,’ ‘find’ etc. This sound is repeated throughout the song, along with other sounds like the long ‘o’ seen in the ending lines of the chorus, reflected through ‘go,’ ‘road,’ ‘long,’ ‘on.’ Therefore, such features make the song poetically justified, and one cannot argue that the song is not a poem. There are other literary devices in the song, which make it rightfully described as a poem, for instance, personification, symbolism, imagery etc. De Rey sings, “Feet don’t fail me now,” which means she is ascribing a human like quality to her feet. She tells them not to fail her as if they have a mind of their own, and as if with her request they would listen to her (Del Rey). Symbolism is seen in the line “But Im hoping at the gates,” as the gate she refers to here are the gates of the heaven (Del Rey). As suggested in the chorus of the song, the author knows she is bound to die, but she tells her lover that she hopes to be together with him even after death, thus hoping to hear that he is hers at the gates of heaven. The gates are also symbolic of the hope she has regarding her relationship, despite knowing that it is a damaging one and that it will come to an end one day. Imagery is well represented through lines such as “Walking through the city streets,” “walk on the wild side,” “kiss you hard in the pouring rain” etc (Del Rey). Symbolism of the rebelliousness in the song’s theme is also portrayed through phrases such as ‘wild side’ and ‘insane,’ which indicate a carefree attitude one must have towards life, trying to enjoy maximum while they are alive and not worrying about death. Therefore, such literary attributes also contribute to the poetic feel that Born to Die. Thus, after analyzing the song Born to Die, one can understand that it is not merely a song but is largely reflective of the poetic art form. The song contains features of poetry including physical features such as structure of the song, rhyme scheme, tone, rhythm etc, as well as literary devices such as alliteration, assonance, various figures of speech, symbolism, foreshadowing etc. Therefore, the lyrics of Born to Die characterize it to possess a poetic feel, with various aesthetic qualities that are mostly seen only in poems, thus it becomes clear that the song contains a lot of attributes of poetry. Works Cited Del Rey, Lana. Born To Die. YouTube. N. p., 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. Jamieson, Natalie. Lana Del Rey Co-Writer: No-One Liked Video Games. BBC News. N. p., 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. MTV UK. "Lana Del Rey." MTV UK. Jan. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. . Read More