Many of my students come across certain difficulties when they need to write about songs. They don’t necessarily have language-related problems like lack of vocabulary or uncertainty in grammar. What they normally struggle with is the problem of content: what to write? In the following article I’ll present three distinct compositions about the same song. They all vary in length and complexity: the first is a high-level student’s academic-level analysis, the second is and intermediate language learner’s set of views and the third is a beginner’s train of thought.
As for the song, I’ve selected a short, but dynamic piece of music performed by The White Stripes under the title 'Fell in Love with a Girl'. Although it is under two minutes in total play time, quite a bit happens. You can reach the song and the lyrics here. Also, I think it to be entertaining to have a look at the video: a beautiful piece of creative work!
Essay 1. A 300-word-criticism by Dean Metzger
The Girl That Has Been Fallen in Love With
Having heard the song as an audio track for an extreme skateboarding video footage, I haven’t paid much attention either to its poetical values nor to its musical features, though one aspect has been obvious from the beginning: this song is fast.
Fell in Love With a Girl is a song that one may find simple to categorize. There are a number of features, such as tempo, length and global volume that strictly bind the track to the genre of popular rock, or as modern music criticism calls it: ‘pop-rock’.
The array of instruments do not show any surprise (electric guitar riffs, drum sequences and a bass line), however the rider of the band is rather unlikely: the lead singer, Jack White plays the rhythm guitar, while his ex-wife Maggie White who provides a steady and punctuate percussion. Having no other band members, the character of the bass-player, essential to any rock-formation is non-existent. Though the bass is clearly present in the songs, the duo’s front man is the one who recorded the channel. As unorthodox this may seem, the listener doesn’t have a sense of missing anything.
The tempo of the song is one of the factors that help it become what it is. The White Stripe’s memorial to love is not simply fast; it pulses, beats, and roars like there will be no other opportunities to take a stand in a question mankind had been forever interested in.
The impact of the song on the listener is in all cases massive. Being as fast, loud and dynamic as it is, one cannot ignore it, although I believe Fell in Love With a Girl will not be the favorite tune of all. However, those who appreciate it display a good ear for fine, contemporary rock music. [W 306]
Essay 2. A 200-word-essay by Trewda Oleg
The White Stripes – Fell in Love With a Girl
This song is about love and memories. It is a rock song, but it is more than a rock song. I really enjoyed listening to it.
The first idea I have is that it is about a boy and a girl. I don’t think it is about a man and a woman because a man doesn’t say something like “sometimes these feelings can be so misleading…” A man is old enough and knows how to control his feelings. If I am correct the characters in the story are teenagers or young adults.
My second point is about the woman: this song is a criticism. It criticizes the woman, and not just one. I think every woman is in this one, like an essence. I think the writer of the song is a man and he has a very bad opinion of women because one broke his heart. Maybe the song is this fast because it wants to push the anger of the singer out.
In conclusion, I believe that this song is a new try to show that love isn’t always beautiful, it can be merciless too. [W 196]
Essay 3. A hundred-word-writing by Enverro Foertez
This song is good! I heard it in School, the English lesson. Our professor Mr. Hérnandez said that is for homework for next week but I think I wanted to listen as soon as possible. The song is similar a bit to my favorite song from Ska-P ‘Estampida’. It is in the same tempo, but it has different message. In Estampida the message is: don’t kill anyone. In The new song the message is I love a woman but she goes. I don’t know which song is better, but I like them both very much. [W 95]
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