Music as Poetry

Heartbreak Warfare- John Mayer

Lightning Strikes
Inside my chest to keep me up at night
Dream of ways
To make you understand my pain

Clouds of sulfur in the air
Bombs are falling everywhere
It's heartbreak warfare
Once you want it to begin,
No one really ever wins
In heartbreak warfare

If you want more love
Why dont you say so?
If you want more love
Why dont you say so?

Drop his name
Push it in and twist the knife again
Watch my face
As I pretend to feel no pain

Clouds of sulfur in the air
Bombs are falling everywhere
Its heartbreak warfare
Once you want it to begin
No one every really w8ins
In heartbreak warfare

If you want more love
Why dont you say so?
If you want more love
Why dont you say so?

Just say so...

How come the only way to know how high you get me
is to see how far I fall
God only knows how much Id love you if you let me
but I cant break through at all

Its a heartbreak

I dont care if we dont sleep at all tonight
Lets just fix this whole thing now
I swear to God were gonna get it right
If you lay your weapon down
Reed wine and ambien
You're talking shit again, its heartbreak warfare
Good to know its all a game
Disappointment has a name, its heartbreak, heartbreak

Its heartbreak warfare
Its heartbreak warfare

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pukH72Z8Xe0


This song could be considered a "poetic" song for many reasons. To start off with the basics, it follows a simple rhythmic pattern-
Clouds of sulfur in the AIR, bombs are falling EVERYWHERE, its heartbreak WARFARE. This rhythm plays a big part in the song because it helps create flow. It also helps the lines that do not follow this pattern stand out--
Inside my chest to keep me up at NIGHT, dream of WAYS, to make you understand my PAIN. Night, Ways and Pain do not rhyme which is why they stand out in the song.

Another way it is considered poetic is by the basic title of the song - Heartbreak warfare. The song is comparing heartbreak to warfare, to total opposite ideas, that seem to have common ground. Going back to the line, Clouds of sulfur in the air, bombs are falling everywhere, demonstrates the parallel John Mayer is trying to make. Those two lines are a good description of warfare, but who would ever think of bombs in a heartbreak? Heartbreaks mean crying, tears, and sadness, which is the exact reason why these lines are a good parallel between heartbreak and warfare. Though nothing in the whole world can compare to fighting in a war, there is crying, people feel sadness, and they do shed tears, all common symptoms of heartbreak. Part of the chorus - If you want more love, why dont you say so? Also creates a strong parallel between heartbreak and warfare. One of the reasons for heartbreak is miscommunication, which could be something John Mayer was getting at in this song. This is also another common reason for warfare- miscommunication between countries.

While John Mayer may not have been writing for this purpose, I think the underlying poetic theme of this whole song is that both heartbreak and warfare are avoidable yet inevitable, I know-- that is basically an oxymoron. Heartbreak will happen, its part of being human, you give your whole to someone and you get shot down. The same goes with warfare, one misstep, one ship getting too close to the boarder, one country thinking of making an atomic bomb, war will happen. Yet these things can also be avoidable-- but is that the best solution? Is putting up a wall, not giving someone your whole self the right thing to do? How can you learn if you dont let yourself get hurt every once in awhile. Same with warfare- is never going past our limits the best option? Is patrolling our seas a bad thing? How can we learn as a country, from our mistakes, if we dont make them. That is why Heartbreak and warfare, two very different things, can become so similar.

Banksy

Who is Banksy

1.I think Banksy's pieces are very interesting. I thought the museum one was funny, and illustrated a good point. I was a little confused by the one on the Israeli Palestinian separation wall. I thought the dove one made the biggest statement out of all the ones posted, because a dove is a sign of peace, and here is a dove with an olive branch (another symbol of peace) with a target and bullet proof vest on its chest. I do not agree with what all of them are saying, but I am not against him posting them, or being creative. I disagree with the dove one; I understand there is a message he is trying to convey, but in times of hardship and struggle I think this is the wrong message to post.

2. Technically graffiti is art, it is a form of self expression, but there are times when graffiti is not art, its a weapon. There is a fine line between the two, that gets crossed too often. I think they use pen names for a few different reasons. The most obvious reason being, for art like this, graffiti or tagging art, they do not want to get caught. I think that putting down their name on their art is not as important to graffiti artists. Their pictures/message is not being shown in some fancy gallery, and they are not putting it up to display their art, they are posting it to display a message, so why the need for a name? Using a pen name can also help them create this "art". A lot of people have messages they want to get out, but are too afraid to do so, creating an alternate persona can help them break out of their shell and get their message across.

3. I think it is hard to tell to what extent it is important to post work in public. Everyone wants to get their opinions out, and they are free to do so. But I think that posting your opinion/work for the sole purpose of vandalism or hatred is wrong and should not be done. At that point, I believe that posting your work is not important and should not be in public.

First Picture

www.hendricksmn.com/ fall_winter_pictures.html

I really like the way the sun sticks out in the trees, and the snow. The author is trying to convey the beauty of Minnesota in the winter, a time where many minnesotans forget that snow is beautiful, as is nature. This picture is meaningful to me because I am a skiier, so I am outside in the snow everyday. While there are days that I HATE skiing, the nature, the serenity of the snow, and the peacefulness of the outside is what calms me and makes me enjoy skiing on the worst of days.