"Honey Bee" by Blake Shelton SA1

honey bee

It seems that everyone in life has a crush, and needs a little boost in trying to pursue the other person. People need opposites, so that they attract.  In “Honey Bee,” Blake Shelton uses contradicting imagery, not subtle contrast, and question love as tone to try and envision a person who could make one happy and excited for the next day to come.

Blake helps the listener envision just about everything that happens in the song. One can really picture a man trying to “persuade” a woman to fall in love with him. One can picture the man to be shy and nonchalant by saying, “Girl, I been thinkin’ ‘bout us- And you know I ain’t good at this stuff”, and also that he usually doesn’t say this to just any girl. He really cares for her and wants her to realize it. Also he shows imagery in his chorus and gets the listener thinking about states, drinks, and a “Honey Bee”:

“If you’ll be my Louisiana

I’ll be your Mississippi

You’ll be my little Loretta

I’ll be your Conway Twitty

You’ll be my sugar baby

I’ll be your sweet iced tea

You’ll be my honeysuckle

I’ll be your honey bee”

This makes one think of many different things, such as maps when hearing Louisiana and Mississippi; bees, honey, and there combs; and a nice cold drink. Obviously they cannot actually be these things to each other, but it’s showing the relationship towards the two things. These images contradict themselves because although they are similar they are opposites of each other; which this chorus does well and shows the not so subtle contrast.

            This whole song is about opposites. As just about everyone says, opposites attracted, and that is exactly what Blake is trying to portray in this song. By saying “If you’ll be my soft and sweet- I’ll be your strong and steady”, which implies that if the girl is compassion it and caring, he will be her knight in shining armor. He shows that he wants her to be gentle and uplifting, and in contrast he would be hard and comforting:

            “You’ll be my glass of wine

            I’ll be your shot of whiskey

You’ll be my sunny day

I’ll be your shady tree”

This contrast would ultimately be equilibrium between the two, balancing each other out. It would be a perfect match.  This song is about finding love, which is the tone of the song.

            Blake is trying to convince this girl to fall in love with him, and the chorus is the main part in which he is trying to get the point across that the two of them would be a perfect match. He tries to show her this in the chorus but he also uses personification too. “But every word was right on the money”; referring to the chorus that was before it. This phrase gives words the ability to land on money, which is not possible. It simply means that everything he is saying is true and comes from the heart.  Another example would be “you kiss just said it all”; a kiss cannot say anything, but it is implying that it shows that she cares for him. It also has clichés such as, “I could of said I love you- Could of wrote you a line or two”, this is something that is said all the time, and is not original. It is cliché for someone to write a woman a love song. These examples show how this man is trying to have this girl fall in love with him.

            These three literary devices really make the song what it is. Although it is simple, it has meaning and an average country beat. Imagery, tone, contrast, personification, and cliché were all found throughout this song, and they all come together to make a song about a man trying to have a woman fall in love with him.

lyrics:

Girl, I been thinkin' 'bout us
And you know I ain't good at this stuff
These feelings pilin' up won't give me no rest
This might come out a little crazy
A little sideways, yeah maybe
I don't know how long it'll take me but I'll do my best

If you'll be my soft and sweet
I'll be your strong and steady
You'll be my glass of wine
I'll be your shot of whiskey
You'll be my sunny day
I'll be your shady tree
You'll be my honeysuckle
I'll be your honey bee

Yeah, that came out a little country
But every word was right on the money
And I got you smilin' honey right back at me
Now hold on cause I ain't done
There's more where that came from
Well you know I'm just havin' fun, but seriously

If you'll be my Louisiana
I'll be your Mississippi
You'll be my little Loretta
I'll be your Conway Twitty
You'll be my sugar baby
I'll be your sweet iced tea
You'll be my honeysuckle
I'll be your honey bee

Your kiss just said it all
I'm glad we had this talk
Nothing left to do but fall in each others arms
I coulda said I love you
Coulda wrote you a line or two
Baby, all I know to do is speak right from the heart

If you'll be my soft and sweet
I'll be your strong and steady
You'll be my glass of wine
I'll be your shot of whiskey
You'll be my sunny day
I'll be your shady tree
You'll be my honeysuckle
I'll be your honey bee

You'll be my Louisiana
I'll be your Mississippi
You'll be my little Loretta
I'll be your Conway Twitty
You'll be my sugar baby
I'll be your sweet iced tea
You'll be my honeysuckle
And I'll be your honey bee

I'll be your honey bee

" Burden in My Hand" by Soundgarden SA1(irony/kefor)



Album



            People can be shallow and superficial. They can only like a person for the fame and money, and would do anything, even affecting their health, for it. In “Burden in My Hand,” Soundgarden portrays abusive irony, blatant imagery, and intense understatement to show that some people will stay by you only because of your social status, even if they are getting abused, and will ultimately become a “Burden in My Hand.”

Soundgarden uses a lot of irony throughout this song to convey a message. It’s ironic how people who thought you were an outcast at some point come back into your life when you are successful. Now, I’m not saying that this was the case in this song, but to some aspect it is. A girl follows this man around because of his success, and he starts to lose his mind. The song starts off by having the man asking the girl to follow him “into the desert, as thirsty as you are”. It’s ironic because someone who is thirsty would normally not go into one of the hottest places where there is little to no water. This shows that the man has control over this woman because she is blinded by all of his success. He later goes on saying that the “truth is lying, beneath the riverbed” which conveys the message that whatever is down there, the truth will not be revealed. It also holds a pun with the meaning of lying being both the opposite in truth and where something stands. The man abuses the girl, “I lost my head again, would you lie for me”, and the girl acts like it is okay. She defends him when a source of authority, such as police, show up. The woman is too caught up in who he is and the money, that she is defending him for abusing her; which is pretty ironic. This girl is superficial and a burden to this man. With the Soundgarden writing with abusive irony, we are able to get a better sense with the imagery they portray through it.

The setting of this song is in a desert, where the man reveals how he feels about this girl; like he owns her:     
 “Follow me into the desert

  As thirsty as you are
  Crack a smile and cut your mouth

               And drown in alcohol
              Cause down below the truth is lying
              Beneath the riverbed”

This gives one the image of a desert, bare and hot, where a girl that is very thirsty has to go into. One also pictures a little water bed that is a ways down to get too. Her mouth is so dry that when she smiles her mouth cracks, and cuts form. The next line after that, although is imagery because one pictures someone drinking excessive amounts, it is also a hyperbole. One can take it literally and think someone is drowning is a big pool of alcohol. With the desert, one thinks of the being “Out in the sunshine” and here in the desert “the sun is mine”; where the sun is a symbol for the girl, and he owns the girl. With this imagery one can see that this man verbally and physically abused her, and she took this because she is superficial and he gets her everything. Soundgarden also uses intense understatement even though it is minimal. He is talking about how the woman will suffer with “just an anchor on my heart” and also “just a tumor in my head”.  Anchor will not actually be on his heart, but the weight of guilt will always be with you. Also “just a tumor in my head” will be her memory of him that will never go away and will eat at her for the rest of her life until she too is dead.

            Irony, imagery, and understatement are the main literary devices throughout this song, explaining that a man with a high social status abused a girl and got away with it because the girl was so caught up in the life of having superficial things. It talks about how the man basically owned her and could tell her to do anything and she would. She ultimately became a burden because she was always around, even when he didn’t want her. That is why he would lose his “head again”. “Burden in My Hand” had a message for people everywhere to not get caught up in the unimportant things in life, and to take charge of your own with full force, and to not let anyone degrade you.