I Only Want to be With You- Hootie and the Blowfish

The American rock band, Hootie and the Blowfish, gained their popularity during the late 1900's while all the members were still in college. They started out playing gigs at local bars and frat parties. Their most popular album, Cracked Rear View, which has gone platinum sixteen times, was a result of 10 years of hard work.

There is an example of humor in the first line when he begins, "You like to laugh at me when I look at other girls." This is humorous because it is representative of a lover's quarrel. The song alludes to Bob Dylan quite frequently throughout itself. For example, when he says, "Put on a little Dylan" and "Ain't Bobby so cool." He also refers to two of Dylan's songs by (illegally) quoting the lyrics to "Idiot Wind," which Dylan later privately sues them for, and by saying "I'm tangled up in blue." There is ambiguity in the song when he sings "sitting on the fence" because he could either literary be siting on a fence or it could mean that he is undecided about something. This is also a cliche phrase. Finally there is irony in the last part of the song when he says "Sometimes I wonder if it will ever end." This is ironic because he says that he loves this girl and only wants to be with her but at the same time, he wonders if it will ever end.

Overall, this song scored relatively low on the song rating system, compared to the other songs analyzed. It was desperately lacking poetic devices and a deeper meaning.

The Sweetest Thing- U2

U2, originating in Ireland, formed in 1976 when all the members were still teenagers. Despite starting their musical career so young, they quickly became a world renowned rock/alternative band. Eventually they won 22 Grammy Awards, which is more than any other band. In 2005, as soon as they were eligible, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They ranked #22 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists." Aside from advancing in the musical world, members of the band also supported, and campaigned for, human rights and social justice causes.

The very first thing one notices about this song is the title. The title is ironic with respect to the meaning of the song. In the song, the lead singer sings about his "stormy kind of love" in which his lover doesn't treat him as she should, but in the title, and chorus, he calls her "the sweetest thing." This is ironic because the way he describes her in the song isn't sweet at all. The next poetic device resides in the first line of the song when he says, "My love she throws me like a rubber." This is an example of a simile because he is comparing himself to a rubber ball. There is ambiguity in the two lines, "she won't catch me or break my fall," and "I wanted to run but she made me crawl." These lines contain ambiguity because it is not clear whether the actions being described are literal actions or if they are meant to be figurative. There is an example of a paradox when he says, "I got black eyes but they burn so brightly," this is a paradox because the color black doesn't particularly burn brightly. Another example of ambiguity is in the last verse where it says, "you can sew it up but you still see the tear." He could be literally talking about sewing up fabric or he could be talking about an emotional tear or wound and how, even if you think it's healed or sewn up, you can still see the tear in the way it effects one's everyday behavior or personality.


This song has universal relevance because almost everyone can relate to loving someone who doesn't love them back the same way. This song scored average on the Student Song Rating System.

Just Like Heaven- The Cure

The Cure, an English rock band from the 1970's, was formed in Crawley, West Sussex. They have sold over 27 million albums and were one of the most popular alternative rock bands in the world. One of their hit songs, "Just Like Heaven," was rated as one of Billboard's Top 40 songs. "Just Like Heaven" scored extremely high on the Student Song Rating System with a score of 102. The song is unbelievably rich in symbolism, ambiguity, and especially simile, as depicted in the title.

To start off, the very first line in the second verse, where he says, "Spinning on that dizzy edge," is an example of symbolism. The "dizzy edge" could symbolize the bliss and confusion that accompanies love or the dream that he constantly relates her to. Ambiguity is used when the singer sings, "'Why are you so far away?' she said." It is not clear whether she is asking why he is physically so far away or why he is so far away emotionally or mentally. In the third verse, there are two examples of similes. There is one simile when he sings, "Strange as angels" and one when he sings, "You're just like a dream." These are similes because, in each one, he is comparing two unlike things to each other. When he sings, "Dancing in the deepest oceans, Twisting in the water," the listener really has a good mental picture of what he is singing about. This imagery could also possibly represent a dream because of the dream-like actions being portrayed. At the end of the song, the singer ironically sings, "[I] found myself alone alone." This is ironic because throughout the whole song he is talking about a girl he loves, leading the listener to believe that they will be together for a while. By saying that he is now alone, he is hinting that he is not with that girl anymore; what the listener expected to happen was the opposite of what really happened.

This song also contains quite a few attributes that apply to the whole song, which is relatively rare. The whole song could be thought of as a symbol. The girl that he is describing in the song symbolizes a dream. The way he sings about the girl and compares her to a dream proves that she is a symbol of his dream. The whole song is also an extended metaphor because throughout the song, he is constantly referring her, and their actions together, to a dream. For example, when he says "Spinning on that dizzy edge, I kissed her face and kissed her head, And dreamed of all the different ways I had, To make her glow." Besides stating that he is dreaming of ways to make her glow, the "dizzy edge" contributes to the dream-like factor and the fact that he is kissing her in the dreamy setting leads the listener to believe that he is comparing her and her love to a dream.

Mary Jane's Last Dance Lyrics

She grew up in an Indiana town,
Had a good-lookin' mama who never was around.
But she grew up tall and she grew up right
With them Indiana boys on them Indiana nights.

Well, she moved down here at the age of eighteen.
She blew the boys away, was more than they'd seen.
I was introduced and we both started groovin'.
I said, "I dig you baby, but I got to keep movin' on.
Keep movin' on."

Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain.
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again.

Well, I don't know, but I've been told,
You never slow down, you never grow old.
I'm tired of screwin' up, tired of going down,
Tired of myself, tired of this town.

Oh, my, my. Oh, hell, yes.
Honey, put on that party dress.
Buy me a drink, sing me a song.
Take me as I come 'cause I can't stay long.

Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain.
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again.

There's pigeons down on Market Square.
She's standin' in her underwear,
Lookin' down from a hotel room.
Nightfall will be comin' soon.

Oh, my, my. Oh, hell, yes.
You got to put on that party dress.
It was too cold to cry when I woke up alone.
I hit my last number and walked to the road.

Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain.
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again.

Last Dance with Mary Jane - Tom Petty

Tom Petty is a well-known southern singer-songwriter and guitarist in the rock genre of musical talent. Some of his most famous songs are "Free Falling" and "American Girl." Tom Petty cleverly mixes in various poetic devices into many of his songs. One of his songs, "Last Dance with Mary Jane," is about how he met a girl from Indiana and fell in with her, but he told her he couldn't stay long and had to "keep movin' on." This song is a great example of how Tom Petty utilizes poetic devices to demonstrate his songwriting abilities that enrich and enhance the quality of his songs.
“Last Dance with Mary Jane” contains many examples of poetic devices. It is an ambiguous song strewn with an example of imagery, flashback, conflict, euphemism, and ambiguity. The first two verses, when Tom Petty is talking about a girl who grew up in Indiana and how they met when she moved, is an example of a flashback because it is something that happened before the actual story that he is singing about. The fourth verse, demonstrates an internal conflict in himself that shows how “tired of this town” (15) and unhappy with himself he is. For example, he says, “I’m tired of screwin' up, tired of going down, Tired of myself, tired of this town” (15). Tom Petty utilizes descriptive words that let the reader visualize the scene, or imagery, in this song as well. Such imagery is present in the following lines: “There's pigeons down on Market Square. She's standin' in her underwear, Lookin' down from a hotel room. Nightfall will be comin' soon” (22-25). By reading and/or listening to these lines, one can really imagine the described scene in his or her mind. This song is ambiguous because no one can be positively sure if Tom Petty is singing about actually dancing with a girl named Mary Jane or if “Mary Jane” is a euphemism for something else. A euphemism is a mild phrase that substitutes for another considerably more inappropriate phrase. Since “Mary Jane” is a commonly known euphemism for marijuana, it is most likely that Tom Petty uses the phrase “Dancing with Mary Jane” as a euphemism for smoking weed. This makes sense because marijuana is known for temporarily easing pain and, in every verse where he says, “Last dance with Mary Jane,” he always follows it with “one more time to kill the pain.” The phrase "last dance with Mary Jane" is considered a double entendre; meaning that it can be understood in either of two ways.
Tom Petty expertly uses a euphemism to make his song mysteriously ambiguous. Euphemism and ambiguity are not the only poetic devices in his song; he also throws in a flashback and an inner conflict among some vivid examples of imagery. All these devices combined work to make this song enjoyable to listen to and challenging to decipher.

Varying Sentence Pattern Analysis

John Cougar Mellencamp
"Jack and Diane"

John Cougar Mellencamp is not only known for his rock and roll music but also as a remarkable song writer as well. He is a Grammy-winning American rock singer-songwriter. He also won the Classic Songwriter Award in 2008 at the London Q Awards. His lyrics contain familiar scenarios that people can relate to. In fact, when Billy Joel inducted Mellencamp into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame he told him, "[People] need to know that somewhere out there somebody feels the way that they do, in the small towns and in the big cities." (Mar 10, 2008) Aside from the meaning and poetic devices that are present in the actual lyrics of his songs, Mellencamp's songs also contain varying sentence structures. His use of various sentence patterns spice up the flow of his lyrics and make the song that much more enjoyable to listen to. His use of various sentence patterns is well demonstrated in his well-known song about young love, Jack and Diane.

The song Jack and Diane is about "two American kids growin' up in the heartland" (2). They are just two teenagers in love, with their whole lives ahead of them and the world at their fingertips. When Mellencamp sings, "Jackie gonna be a football star; Diane, debutante backseat of Jackie's car," he is using a compound sentence with elliptical construction to show that, at their young age, they think they are invincible. They've already begun planning their futures and nothing and no one can stop them. The next two lines (5-6) are an example of a gerund phrase. When he says "Suckin' on chili dogs outside the Tastee Freeze, Diane's sittin' on Jackie's lap", Mellencamp creates the feeling that these two young lovers live life without a care in the world, they do whatever they want whenever they want. Then Jackie starts getting reasonable about the rest of their lives. He knows that life won't always be as easy and carefree: "Oh yeah say life goes on, long after the thrill of livin is gone" (12-13). He says that they must love their life while they're still young and carefree because once they grow up, that luxury will no longer be an option. Jackie's thoughts are perfectly illustrated in lines 25-27: "Hold on to sixteen as long as you can. Changes come around real soon, make us women and men." He knows that once you grow up, have a job, and start a family, life won't be as new and exciting anymore; it will be dull and boring. The very last line of the song, lines 28-29, is the final example of varying sentence patterns. Mellencamp sings, "Little ditty about Jack and Diane, two American kids doin' the best they can." This is an appositive sentence because after stating who the "ditty" is about, Mellencamp then briefly describes them, "two American kids doin' the best they can", to give the listener an idea of who they are.

In the song, Mellencamp describes a relationship of young love. The characters that he is singing about are more mature than they appear. In the beginning of the song, Jack and Diane seem like naive lovers, innocent to life and how it changes people. Then, further into the song, Jackie reveals his true wisdom and tells Diane that they should have fun while they're still young because the older you get, the more the thrill of life fades away into nothing. This is wise, yet unexpected, of young Jackie to say because usually people realize all too late the life is too short to be miserable. Jackie realized this and accepted it while they still have plenty of time to enjoy their life and each other.

Jack and Diane Lyrics

Jack & Diane
John Cougar Mellencamp

Little ditty about Jack and Diane
Two American kids growin' up in the heartland
Jackie gonna be a football star
Diane debutante backseat of Jackie's car

Suckin' on chili dogs outside the tastee freeze
Diane's sittin' on Jackie's lap
He's got his hand between her kneesJackie say,
"Hey Diane let's run offBehind a shady tree
Dribble off those Bobby Brooks
Let me do what I please."
And Jackie say

Oh yeah life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin is gone
Oh yeah say life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin is gone, they walk on

Jackie sits back reflects his thoughts for the moment
Scratches his head and does his best James Dean.
Well you know Diane, we oughta run off to the city
Diane says "Baby, you ain't missin' nuth-in"
Jackie say-a

Chorus

Gonna let it rock
Let it roll
Let the Bible Belt come and
Save my soul

Hold on to sixteen as long as you can
Changes come around real soon
Make us women and men

Little ditty about Jack and Diane
Two American kids done the best they can