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Tonal Analysis

Presenting the song The Great Escape with a coexistent ambiguous tone of losing faith and anticipating conviction, Patrick Watson uses second person point of view, hauntingly beautiful flashbacks and nostalgic symbolism to figure out the good qualities about himself in which to find his “great escape.”

Watson demonstrates himself in a different point of view almost separating him in two, one with good qualities and the other with flaws.  He does this to make himself be completely free by embracing the sadness when he is down and accepting that he can’t always make it out great and realizing there will be tough situations to power through, which provides one with comfort. Although paying more attention on the flaws, he feels almost as though he is hopeless in any situation he puts himself in because of the consequences he has to face. He pays too much attention on his flaws making him fall into a period of depression.  He watches himself go into “his car and drives away….looking for a way home” holding back tears by putting a smile on his face.  His dark thoughts chase him away from the peace he can make from little notable memories. The way he represents the song in the point of view of two different time periods of his life promotes though of the readers, leading them to understand that there is the faith of having a positive mind, you just have to distract the negativity. Patrick also puts himself in the perspective of child; he tries to find the good by remembering what has happened in the past. Although he tries to find those places of content, the other side of him full with imperfections immediately puts him down.

As Watson tries to allude to the past, he finds himself with a positive attitude. He displays himself as though he is talking to a child; telling them everything will be okay and you don’t always need to win to be a winner. He utilizes the child into the song to show that even as a kid whatever decision you make, make sure you are comfortable with it. Patrick uses the words “don’t let yourself fall down” to warn the child to make thoughtful decisions and not overwhelm themselves with impossible tasks. He reaches back to his inner child to escape and find comfort. He finds comfort by remembering when he was happy and didn't care about the flaws or mistakes he now has stuck in his head.

The symbolism in this song represents the contemplative moments of Patrick’s life. For instance, when he watches himself go into the car with a smile on his face, this symbolizes the positive moments trying to fight through the negative. Although the smile may just be to cover up the heavy tears inside, it shows that a little smile can change a mood. It’s the transition of realizing that paying attention to the negative gives him no room to feel good about the positive. The car also symbolizes the transition of moving from a negative memory to a good one. He looks for the great escape as “[he] drives” away to a place that makes him feel safe and happy to be alone for example, his home. His home symbolizes, in this case, a place of comfort and ease away from negativity that he puts on himself when exploring the world. When Watson uses the child to allude to his past, he remembers the good and realizes as a child he didn't have a care in the world so he shouldn't now. The great escape symbolizes a place of positivism all around. There is no negativity to put you down; the great escape is the happy place.

Watson finds ways to make himself feel good whether or not the flaws show. This shows the readers that the kind of person you are will indicate the feelings you impact on others; whether or not they like you, you should always be confident.

Binary Thesis

Ross Copperman

Ed Sheeran

Though Ed Sheeran's "Let it out" and Ross Copperman's "I Don't Wannna Let You Go" both conduct the speaker's longing for acquiring an efficient relationship, Ed displays his appreciation towards the one he adores through the simile "we're just like glue" without letting the relationship stumble into a different path, while Ross experienced his loss of love through attempting of going on his own and realizing she was the one that "led him home".


Greg Laswell "Three Flights From Alto Nido"

Greg Laswell is an alternative singer in the songwriting industry. Greg first started out his career in the band Shillglen with five other members. The band had moderate success when nominated for Best Alternative Album and Best Alternative Band at the San Diego Music Awards in 2000. The Band themselves decided to take a break from the musical industry in mid-2001. The band never regrouped and Greg Laswell later established himself as a solo artist. He has success in his own albums winning awards for his own work. He joined tours with other talented artist and found his songs featured in movies and TV shows including Grey's Anatomy. Today he released 5 studio albums, 3 extended plays, and 7 singles.

The third studio album is presented with the title Three Flights From Alto Nido. It was released in July of 2008 through Vanguard Records. There are 11 tracks on this particular album including a bonus track. All songs were written, recorded, and preformed by Greg Laswell himself. Greg preforms vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonium, bass, melotron, bells, and organ. The multi-instrumental Laswell continues the San Diego native's taste for exquisite, mature, pop music. All the songs on the album portray the elegiac, bitter, dreamy, and confident mood one conveys through life. Three Flights
From Alto Nido shows a lot of music displaying the predicament situations towards relationships and solitude. Including the song Days Go On and It's Been A Year Greg shows his problems with relationships and how he resolves with them in a way to make him feel better.

Although Greg's songs show a lot of concern with ones mind, listening to the music begin with soft and warm voice lyrics and instruments to a powerful and rock sound really show the meaning and how he feels toward different situations.

Song Analysis 1: The Enemy

Displaying the friendship of two humans in "The Enemy" , Andrew Belle utilizes soft alliteration, tenderness simile, and a trace of irony to depict the challenge of truth without being "misunderstood."

                Andrew Belle applies soft alliteration to the lyrics of his song to represent the emphasis in certain situations. Andrew wants to show his listeners the challenge through words when talking to a friend about what he has experienced or experiencing.  Listening to the song, I can start to feel that he chose a different life style dealing with drugs and champagne and doesn’t want his friend to join him. He wants to explain himself to his friend but he is “tongue tied.” He doesn’t know how to explain himself and he is scared that if he does, she will get the wrong impression. Andrew chooses the words “tongue tied” to show how the conversation between the two people is such a challenge for he is speechless and his words are locked.

                Throughout the song, Andrew also displays tenderness simile to feel the connection between the two people with compassion. Through what feels like a moment of conversation between the two people, his “heart gets lost like a message” feeling like she won’t understand the way he wants her to. As the words move from place to place, they start to leave meaning and leave purpose. He can’t leave the lifestyle he is in, yet he doesn’t want her to follow where his heart is. He can’t explain where he is, but he doesn’t want to show her because the message could be mistaken. His heart wasn’t very comforting while her “heart was warm like a brother’s should.”  He feels as though he has made the wrong choice and she had followed him without warning. He didn’t warn her because he was afraid of what words would come out and what she would do with them. She took it in a different way and shouldn’t have because she was so loved and felt like family to him.

                Finally, Andrew demonstrates his honesty through irony. He tells his friend about the lifestyle he chose but tells it to her in a way she won’t mirror it. He tells her almost as if he “held a banner/but its upside down.”  He doesn’t want to be misunderstood when he exposes his truth. He wants her to take the message he has declared but take it almost as though he never said it.

In “The Enemy”, Andrew Belle displays his message of obtaining drugs and alcohol to a girl without misinterpreting it with alliteration, simile, and irony.

Theme-Genre Declaration

The theme-genre combination I have chosen is Emotions in Male Singer/Songwriting.

I have chosen this because singer/songwriter is usually the type of music I enjoy listening to on any occasion. Although I listen to more female singer/songwriters than male, I have decided to try and explore the male side of the singer/songwriter incorporation. Since I have been listening to females more often, I know how they would express their feelings in a situation, such as relationships, family, and life so I want to learn how the men extinguish their feelings in the same situations.