Lyric Analysis Project:
Are you the type of person that listens to music for the lyrics or just strictly for the music? Do lyrics move you? Do you think about them throughout your day? Do they help shape your opinions or have a lasting effect on you?
Lyrics can be very profound and often life changing. They also can be silly and meaningless. Both types of lyrics serve different purposes in the music we listen to, or like.
Your Task:
Choose two songs of your choice to analyze, from two different artists. Both songs should be songs you enjoy lyrically and admire. (Songs you wish you had written).
Then choose a song from the list of songs below.
All THREE songs need to be analyzed for the following information:
-Include the lyrics
-Analyze lyric structure (rhyming lines, structure, flow and rhythm)
-Analyze for diction, important themes, and memorable lines.
-Analyze the message of the song (serious, silly, what do you learn from the song).
-Analyze the tone, mood, and feeling of the song.
-Analyze how the lyrics work with the musical accompaniment, as well as the melody
Once you have analyzed all the THREE songs, begin to write down the techniques or qualities of the songs that you admire and would like to incorporate into your own music.
Next, write your own song lyrics incorporating at least two of the lyric techniques that you have discovered in your analysis. You will write your lyrics for a song that Mr. Carson-Foster & Mr. Cummings have recorded so you won't have to worry about coming up with your own music. Choose the song that best fits your preferences musically and create a melody for your lyrics.
Finally, record your song on top of Mr. Carson-Foster & Mr. Cummings' track. Tracks will be shared on the google classroom.
Mr. Foster's List of Songs:
De do do do, De da da da - The Police
Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead
Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson
Imagine - John Lennon
Ghosts That We Knew - Mumford and Sons
The Hurricane - Bob Dylan
November Rain - Guns and Roses
Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Your Song - Elton John
Hallelujah- Leonard Cohen
American Pie - Don McLean
Bad Apple - David Wilcox
BYOB- System of a Down
Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes - Paul Simon
Nothing Else Matters - Metalica
Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton
Hallowed Be Thy Name - Iron Maiden
Chasing Pavements - Adele
Ironic- Alanis Morissette
Natasha Bedingfield - These Words