"The Spirit of Radio"

The band Rush was formed in Canada in 1968. It wasn't until May of 1972, however, that the band had a stable line up. Although their first self-titled album Rush, was clearly influenced by Led Zeppelin, the band has devolved into what one would call modern rock. Their songs encompass many different topics; the themes range from science fiction to political concerns. Impressive instrumentals always accompany the lyrics, no matter the subject. The song "The Spirit of Radio" tells how a person feels about the radio, music, and the music industry.

Rush uses several different poetic devices to convey their message as well as capture the attention of the listeners. One device that is used a lot in the song is alliteration. Rush's use of this device is mainly to draw the listener's attention to particular lines. These lines are important to the person in the song's point of view and their opinion. The line, "And the magic music makes your morning mood," is important because it is describing how the person feels when listening to the radio. Another example of alliteration is, "All this machinery making modern music/Can still be open hearted". These lines are also an example of both a metaphor and personification. When they sing about the machinery that is making music, it is a metaphor for how insensitive the music industry has become. Rush personifies the music industry when they sing, "Can still be open hearted". It is giving the industry the human quality of being open heart to explain that it does not have to be all about the money as it has become, but it can remember the passion that goes into making music.

When looking more closely at the song, one might notice it has a shift from the person's happiness with the radio to their disapproval of it. In the second verse, the paradox, "Undemanding contact in your happy solitude," describes a content feeling the person has when driving in the car by yourself, but having the "contact", or company, of the radio. Also, the metaphor, "There is magic in your finger tips," describes an exciting feeling, like you have the power to chose the music. When the person begins to express his unhappiness with the industry, Rush uses hyperboles to describe music contracts when singing, "But glittering prizes and endless compromises/Shatter the illusion of integrity." Here, they exaggerate the "prizes", or money, that they receive by compromising and how artists lose the true reason why they create music, out of love for it. Another alliteration, "Concert hall/And echoes with the sounds of salesmen/Of salesmen/Of salesmen," is also symbolic of how the modern music industry is all about selling music, not necessarily because that's their passion.

Rush's "The Spirit of Radio" describes a feeling that many artists have. This song is about how truly wonderful music is, but also how bad the music industry has really become. In the song, the person who is talking is torn between these two things as well. Although not directly affected by these problems, he still understands them and is troubled by them. It is ironic how this song became very popular because of it being played on the radio. No matter the song's popularity, Rush still created a great poetic work when writing this song.

"Last Kiss" Analysis

The song "Last Kiss," although most commonly associated with Pearl Jam, was actually written by Wayne Cochran in 1962. Cochran was inspired to write his song after a car crash near his home killed three teenagers and injured others. Two of the teens killed, J.L. Hancock and Jeanette Clark, were a couple. Cochran wrote "Last Kiss," from the perspective of Hancock who was driving, using many literary devices to tell the story of that fateful evening.

Throughout the song, Cochran creates a constant mood that consists of the feelings of loss, love, and pain. Using the perspective of the teen boy, he was able to display all of these because the boy's love was dying. An example of this mood is when he states, "I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss/I found the love that I knew I would miss." To help balance out some of the undesirable aspects of the song, Cochran used euphemism. He says, "The Lord took her away from me," and, "She's gone to heaven..." to tell the story and to create the correct emotions without saying how truly unpleasant her death was. He also uses euphemism in the paradox, "But now she's gone, even though I hold her tight."

The imagery in the lyrics is very strong. Cochran tries to describe the scene to the listener by saying lines like, "The screamin' tiers, the bustin' glass/The painful scream that I heard at last." He uses imagery to explain the boy's first sights after the car crash when he says, "When I woke up, the rain was pouring down/There were people standing all around." Trying to enhance the appeal of listening to the song, Cochran uses several alliterations such as, "I lost my love, my life that night," and the phrase "... so I got to be good," which appears in every chorus.

Cochran wrote this song pertaining to an event that happened back in the 1960's. His lyrics, however, still have the ability to evoke emotions and are about a relatable circumstance. "Last Kiss" was covered by several bands, even being redone into Spanish by a few singers. It was Pearl Jam, however, that was able to give the song the right tone and sound to match the powerful lyrics.

My Declaration

Over the years, I have come to love many types of music. With my dad's love of rock, my mom's country CD's, my brother's forever changing tastes, and my friends listening to the newest music, I was bound to pick up a little from everywhere. I'd like to think that the differences in the artists and genres I listen to complement each other. That is why I wanted to do a theme-genre combo that would magnify this idea. The perspective of each artist is just as different as their songs, so perspective in twentieth century music seemed like a perfect fit.