Jago opens this chapter on poetry reading with a reference to the fact that music/songs are very similar to poems. I love this! Close reading of a poetry can be practiced and compared to close reading of lyrics and close listening to of a song. Songs have many of the same elements as a poem: rhyme, rhythm, imagery, etc.; and close "reading" of a song can help a student understand and enjoy a difficult poem.
I decided to close read the song Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap to demonstrate how easy it is to practice for poetry reading. (I"ll put the lyrics down and then my interpretation next to or below them).
Where are we?
What the hell is going on?
--This confusion to me, represents confusion between two people, as in confusion over a relationship.
The dust has only just begun to fall - The relationship hasn't been over very long
crop circles in the carpet - Pacing
Sinking feeling
Spin me round again - The relationship has done a 360 from good to bad
And rub my eyes - It's over and like a child waking up and rubbing their eyes to see more clearly, this person is trying to clearly understand what's happening.
This can't be happening
When busy streets a mess with people - Could be referring to "this can't be happening" busy people in a street are always busy and going somewhere in hurry;
Would stop to hold their heads heavy - And to stop and hang their heads is silly and impossible..just like the end of the relationship.
Hide and Seek - One is hiding their emotions and the other is seeking them and understanding
Trains and sewing machines (Oh you can't catch me around here) - Trains are connected in our minds to movement and traveling/escape whereas sewing machines are for putting things together and keeping them that way and so trains and sewing machines over a contradiction.
(Blood, tears, hearts) - Blood and tears and always running and moving, and this person's heart is broken and needs to mended and sewn.
All those years
They were here first
Oily marks appear on walls
Where pleasure moments hung before the takeover - Oily marks are left where pictures of pleasurable moments the couple had used to hang before the breakup or "takeover".
The sweeping insensitivity of this still life - The still life is the frozen images of the pictures and the happy times and frozen images are indifferent and insensitive to the present situation and heart ache of the break up.
Mmmm, whatcha you say,
Mmm that you only meant well?
Well of course you did
Mmmm whatcha say,
Mmm that it's all for the best?
Of course it is
Mmmm whatcha say?
Mmm that it's just what we need (You decided this)
Whatcha say?
Mmmm what did you say?
All of these are common things to say in a break up: "I meant well", "this is for the best", "this is what we need to do", all of these are meant to make a person feel better, but really they just make you feel worse.
Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth - What's being held ransom? Perhaps the person saying all the above things is holding the other persons heart ransom.
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut outs - Newspapers are often very cold and emotionless stories, just reporting the facts; the words the one person is saying are cold and emotionless like a newspaper story.
Speak no feeling no I don't believe you
You don't care a bit
You don't care a bit
In a previous chapter Jago quotes form an article that says what end up in a students memory is what they were thinking of when the read/heard something. So if a student attaches a feeling, emotion, or memory with a song they can do the same thing with poetry, making it all the more manageable and memorable. This son means something specific and special to me and I interpreted it this way because I connect it to a certain event in my life. Poetry is the same way and by seeing how they can connect to a poem the same way they connect to a song, students can become more comfortable about poetry.
The literary devices found in this song are:
Rhyme: The beat of the song.
Imagery: The lyrics paint the picture of oily stands on the walls where picutres used to hang and this image is so sad and depressing. Ultimately the lyrics create a mood of sadness, loss, and confusion.
Symbol: "Crop circles in the carpet" and "ransom notes keep falling out your mouth" are obviously symbolizing something else because an alien is not drawing crop circles in the carpet and ransom notes most likely are not falling out of a persons mouth.
Theme: Where are we? What's going on? Are the songs base for a theme of confusion and disbelief.
Tone: Words like sinking feeling, whatcha say?, and hide and seek all convey a sense of sadness and confusion.
What's great about his song is that, like poetry, there are many different interpretations of it. A quick search on Youtube reveals that some people think it's about the Holocaust, animal abuse, or even the 9/11 attacks.
I realize Jago only mentioned the song poetry reference in the beginning of the chapter, but I just felt like it's such a wonderful tool and I really want to use it with my students. The whole chapter has great incites and I'll definitely come back to it when I need a reference or ideas in the future.
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