Glitter & Gold
Transcript: Defend Your Song: Glitter & Gold Why is this song a Poem? What Techniques are used? Rebecca Ferguson, the artist and writer of my song "Glitter & Gold", made it very evident that she was creating both a song and a poem, by using many poetic devices, including rhetorical questions, symbolism, hyperbole, irony and pathetic fallacy. Also, there is lots of repetition comparing concrete concepts to the abstract thought of "losing your soul" (18). In conclusion... Symbolism Rebecca Ferguson LIVE Rhetorical Questions Throughout the song, Rebecca Ferguson poses many rhetorical questions in which they address the loss of a friendship and how much it will take before they realize that they strayed from their path into a false sense of happiness. In the chorus of my song, Ferguson refers to "white horses" multiple times which is a universal symbol for royalty or purity, but paired with the line "you can't control" it tweaks your opinion to make you think of the power it has to consume you, getting lost in the search for wealth instead of the pursuit of happiness (10). Also, white horses can represent innocence so the line "riding white horses you can't control" may be addressing the way, that innocence can be controlled by not considering the possibility of being taken advantage of (10). Hyperbole Sadie Honderich Therefore, by using the techniques she did and having the lyrics really play on your heartstrings, Rebecca Ferguson did in fact make it a poem as well as a song. Irony Pathetic Fallacy pathetic fallacy (n.) The attribution of human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects or to nature. In lines such as, "you might need 'em when its cold outside" it is using pathetic fallacy as a tool to represent a moment of hardship or weakness where you truly need your friends to support you (21). Another example within this song is, "when the rain comes down and you're losing your mind" which could be the representation of the loss of your virtues that once grounded you, therefore washing away your past with no way to return (32). The irony in this song, like all of the devices really just alludes to the normality in the listener (reader). As stated in the second stanza, "And all those friends that were such a chore / You're gonna need them more than ever before" could be a situation in anyone's life (5/6). So even though you may not constantly see eye to eye it is no reason to give up on the relationship. ____ One of the many definitions of poetry is "an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response..."_ Mark Flanagan Throughout the song there is repetition of hyperbolic lines such as "losing yourself... / losing your soul..." (3,18). This really aids in the understanding of the depth of the situation and how the virtues that once defined her are no longer important. For example, "how good or bad, happy or sad / Does it have to get?" (Ferguson 1-2). Glitter & Gold