The Rose

The Rose ~ Amanda McBroom Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reed. Some say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed. Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need. I say love, it is a flower, and you it's only seed. It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance. It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance. It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give, and the soul afraid of dyin' that never learns to live. When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long, and you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong, just remember in the winter far beneath the winter snows lies the seed that with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose.

Sound of silence by Paul Simon and art Garfunkel Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence In restless dreams I walked alone Narrow streets of cobblestone 'Neath the halo of a street lamp I turned my collar to the cold and damp When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light That split the night And touched the sound of silence And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand people, maybe more People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never share And no one dared Disturb the sound of silence "Fools", said I, "You do not know Silence like a cancer grows Hear my words that I might teach you Take my arms that I might reach you" But my words, like silent raindrops fell And echoed In the wells of silence And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls And tenement halls" And whispered in the sounds of silence

CRITICAL APPRECIATION SKBS1023 (ASSIGNMENT 1) NAME : SHARLINI d/o MANICKAM MATRIC NUMBER : A129200 IC NUMBER : 890309-01-6156 LECTURER : DR.RAIHANAH MOHD

MYDIN

Lazarus Heart by Sting

of m y m ot he r’s ho us e W ill sit on m y ro of so m e da y T he y fly at th e wi nd o w, th ey fly at th e do or W he re do es sh e ge t

Introduction “Sound of silence”by Paul Simon and art Garfunkel,”Lazarus Heart” by Sting and “The Rose”by Amanda Mcbroom are the three songs which i chose to do my assignment.Based on the three songs,i’m ought to look for the figurative languages used in the songs such as metaphors,simile,imagery and infer how the use of these figurative languages affect the meaning of these songs. “Sound of silence”by Paul Simon is about the domination of technology in human life which lead to the lack of communication among themselves whereas “Lazarus Heart’ by Sting is about a man going through a tough moment after the death of his mother.On the other hand,”The Rose”by Amanda Mcbroom portrays love from many perception and tells us that everyone have the rights to fill their world with love.

SOUND OF SILENCE BY PAUL SIMON Basically,the writer Paul Simon used personification to begin his song as in line “Hello darkness,my old friend”.It is imposible to greet darkness as it is abstract but as i look into the content of this song, it can be inferred that he might be looking forward for the night and he wants to have conversation with someone.Besides that, metaphor is also being used in this song.For an instant,the line “Because a vision softly creeping”in the first stanza shows that he is trying to recall his dream which he had before.The word “vision softly creeping” indicates that he has the dream in his mind but he is unable to figure it out. Other than that,the second stanza had an imagery touch as for lines “Narrow streets of cobblestone” and “Neath the halo of a street lamp”.These lines gave me the picture of a lonely narrow pathway which is slightly bright with the presents of the streetlight and he is walking along the street lonely.Perhaps,the weather was cold

and he might be shivering in cold. Above all that,in stanza four,Paul Simon used simile.The line “Silence like a cancer grows” can be inferred as warning to the people to change their mindset to communicate with each other.Lack of communication may cause lost of connection among friends and family members.As we go on to the last stanza,the writer used symbolism.The line “To the neon god they made” represents symbolism.The “neon god” simply means technology.Intensive technology growth had made man worship the technology as their god.This is a common matter as people are more seen with their handphones,i-pod and other gadgets as it has become their priority. Nevertheless,people nowadays are more passionate on material goods and money while they forget that they are losing the companionship. To add on,Paul Simon also made use of quotation “The words of the prophets are written in the subways walls and tenement halls” which means people are focusing on their work in order to have luxury life.Apparently,they do not have time for relative and companion.. Futhermore,as we look into the title “sound of silence” which is an oxymoron itself.It means ignorance portrayed by human towards communication among themselves. LAZARUS HEART BY STING The second song whjch i chose is the “Lazarus Heart” by Sting.As we look into the first stanza he has used simile in line “To show her the wound in his breast that burned like a brand”.This line is to appoint that the wonderful memories of his mother will remain in his heart forever.Thus,it shows that he is having a tough time to accept the death of his mother. Besides that,the line “But the sword that cut him open was the sword in his mother’s hand” in the first stanza refers to personification.No mother will harm her child but he used this line to indicate the pain and the depression he is going through

upon his mother’s death.This gives me the perception that he appreciates and loved his mother dearly. Another personification found in the song is “Only death will tear us apart to sacrifice a life for yours”.This line means the memories of his mother will never fade from his mind till his last breath.Futhermore,this line shows the eagerness to do whatever it takes to bring his mother back.A sense of hope is to meet his mother again is portrait in this stanza. As for the third stanza, line “The power to remake himself at the time of his darkest hour” is the hyperbole.The “darkest hour” refers to the sorrow and the loneliness that his going through.Thus,the pain he had when his mother past away taught him to be more courageous and dauntless person.Whereas,the line “From the wound a lovely flower grew” shows the irony.A flower which can grow from wound is beyond our imaginary but in this song the flower represents him and the wound indicates his mother.To me,he is a better person now and able to deal with any hurdles that comes along.He feels that nothing is more challenging than the fact of accepting his mother’s death. Futhermore,Sting also used imagery as in stanza five which refers to lines”Birds on the roof of my mother’s house” and I’ve no stones that chase them away”.’Roof”in this line represent his mother’s coffin.He does not like the the birds sitting on his mother’s coffin and he wants them away from his mother.It shows that he is a protective son towards his mother.

THE ROSE BY AMANDA MCBROOM The third song which i chose is the “The rose” by Amanda Mcbroom.The writer introduced her song by describing love in many perception by being metaphoric.In her first stanza, ‘Some say love, it is a razor” ,”Some say love,it is a river” and “Some say love, it is a hunger” are some of the metaphoric lines she used.It is because the writer compared love with razor,river and hunger. This line lead me to infer that everyone have their own perception of love through their life experiences or knowledge.It is up to them to think,analyze and make a decision on what love is to them. In stanza two,”It’s the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance” is the personification.According to this stanza,the line can be referring to someone who is not able to face love and overcome the obtacles that comes along.It might be a matter of fear of failing in love. On the other hand,there is another personification in the last stanza which is “When the night has been too lonely”.I would say it is a personification because human characteristic is given to the night. This line means that the person is feeling lonely and needs attention from someone.Morever,this person thinks that love can only be experienced by lucky and the strong ones.Probably,this person might had an inferiority complex about himself or herself. Despite all this,paradox is also used in the last stanza.The line “Lies the seed that with sun’s love”.I would say it is a paradox because the two unlike things are related together the ‘seed’ and ‘sun’s love’.To me,it means that although someone might seem to be mean ,inside there’s always a soul yearning to be loved just like anyone else.

CONCLUSION To put it in a nutshell,the writers of these three songs used different figurative languages such as similes,metaphors,personification,symbolism to convey their messages to the reader.The usage of these figurative languages in songs makes it more interesting to read and listen.