This I Think

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 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 their selves 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. Its’ simplicity allows any woman to be able to easily relate to it.