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Adriana Snchez
Prof. Jeff Bain-Conkin
September 30, 2014
Rhetorical Analysis HW
Arguments in Music
No Surprises by Radiohead
The song proposes a message that the protagonist of the story conveyed in
the song is tired and exhausted from troubles and tribulations life has presented.
The singer is inside a concave, astronaut like glass container with reflecting light
sources and lyrics on the surface; the way he sings while the water rises shows the
exhaustion of things that trouble him while he remarks, no alarms and no
surprises.
Birmingham by Shovels and Rope
The song argues that in tough situations you have to be resilient and quick to
recover. One way to see this is when the song quotes, Made a little money playing in
the bars. With two beat up drums and two old guitars. From the Crescent City to the
Great Salt Lake. It ain't what you got, it's what you make. Another factor is that the
music video portrays children living out the lives of the two band members of
Shovels and Rope.
The Funeral by Band of Horses
The song states that depression leads to sorrow and potentially death. The
video shows a man drowning his sorrows by drinking alcohol and the image of the
dog might indicate the cause of the depression. At the end, death caught up to him,
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hence, At every occasion Ill be ready for the funeral. At every occasion, once more,
its called the funeral.
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips
This song claims that one must never stop fighting against your adversity and
defeat the obstacle in the end. The band uses Yoshimi as the warrior battling against
her obstacle, the pink robots; this is a metaphor for the claim to fight until the end.
Disclaimer: After further research, the singer refers to Yoshimi battling breast
cancer (her pink robots).