Writing That Moves You
I chose the lyrics to
the song “Just Fine” by Mary J. Bliege because it is one of my favorite songs.
This particular song is upbeat and cheerful. I personally feel that the lyrics
of this song can be considered uplifting and encouraging to certain women.
When this song comes on the radio, I automatically put a
huge smile on my face, start singing and begin dancing. Most importantly, I am
reminded by the lyrics that I am a wonderful woman regardless of what I may be
currently going through in my life.
In one verse of Mary’s song, she states “So I like what I
see when I’m looking at me; When I’m walking past the mirror; Don’t stress
through the night, at a time in my life; Ain’t worried about if you feel it;
Got my head on straight, I got my vibe right; I ain’t gonna let you kill it;
See I wouldn’t change my life, my life’s just fine.” The structure of this
verse is nowhere near grammatically correct but the message she gets across is
meaningful. She encourages women to still be happy and put a smile on their
face no matter how tough their situation may be. She also wants women to be happy
with their physical appearance regardless of what people may say about them.
This is a big issue, considering the fact that the media makes women believe
that they must have a model appearance to be beautiful. Most importantly, Mary
encourages women not to let other people change the way they may view their
life.
Mary J also lets women know that in order to move past a
particular low point in life, you must not lose yourself and you have to move
forward. She does this by saying “I’m a lady so I must stay classy; Gotta keep
it hot, keep it together if I want to get better” in one verse of her song. For
instance, if you find out that your boyfriend has cheated on you, do not go
bust the windows out of his car. I have no clue why the artist Jasmine Sullivan
even encouraged women to do that in her song or even thought that was okay. Especially
since, at the end of the day you made fool of yourself and your heart will
remain broken, just like his windows.
Throughout the lyrics, Mary uses different repetition
schemes to get her point across. These schemes include anaphora, and
epistrophe. The main phrase that she repeats is, “See I wouldn’t change my
life, my life’s just fine.” She either starts a clause or ends a clause with
this phrase. Therefore, by the end of the song you have the mindset that you
would not change your life and it is just fine. She also repeats the phrase,
“So I like what I see when I’m looking at me; When I’m walking past the mirror.”
In result, giving her listeners the idea of loving themselves for who they are
and not what people may want them to be.
Another
rhetorical term Mary uses is asyndeton. For example, she says “Can’t let nobody
take it away from you, from me, from we,” thus not adding a conjunction between
from you, from me, from we. By doing this she maintains the flow and simplicity
of the song.
Overall,
the structure of Mary J. Bliege’s song is wonderful and her lyrics are
uplifting. The simplicity of the song allows any woman to be able to easily relate
to it. Since it is easy for any women to relate to, it reaches out and
encourages more women than your average song.
Refleciton:
I chose to polish the writing that moves you piece because I
felt like I still was not done with it. The conclusion seemed a little too
short and dry. Therefore, I have attempted to add a little something to it. I
believe that this piece shows my personal interest in music, which gave me an
opportunity to put my personality into my writing. It fits the overall context
of the class because we have discussed plenty of times how we should have a
personal voice in our writing and it is not always about having perfect
grammar. It is about displaying your true voice and keeping your readers
attention.
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