Essay Example on Understanding the Attitudes of the Listeners of a Song

In the analysis of songs, it is important to note that the manner of presentation differs from one song to another. The presentation is an aspect that is defined by both the composer and the listener. The message of the composer of the song will determine the mode of presentation. On the other hand, the listener has the sole responsibility of taking keen interest on the song that he or she listens to. In this case, the observance of several aspects was taken into consideration during the choosing of the kind of song that would be useful for analysis. The arguably Bob Dylans One of Us Must Know Sooner or Later, is the song that will be used through this paper.

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The presentation of the song is the most important aspect in this paper. The audience that is targeted obviously portrays different kinds of reactions depending on their interpretation of the song. The piece of art is a love song, and therefore can fit different groups of people. The married, a couple which is dating as well as those that, are not yet ready to go into marriage, are good examples of the possible listeners of this song. Since different people react to the presentation of a song or songs differently, this song is no difference. The composer of the song uses different instruments and supporting cast. These contribute to the differences that are noted in presentation by different listeners. When listening to Bob Dylans song, it is evident that the use of the piano, the drums elicits emotions in the audience. The change of the tempo of the song shifts together with the message to be conveyed at a certain point. Every verse has a different message that regards the life of the two lovers that are being sung.

When Bob sings about the lovers, he personalizes the song; makes assumption that he is the man and there is a woman that he loves that he is addressing. Making it his own song enables him to bring the message out strongly. This is the reason why he succeeds in aligning the vocal changes in connection with the instruments that are used during this song. This is why people can say that is a song from the perspective of Dylan. However, the same thing is noticeable in the reactions of the listeners. When listening to this song, the listeners join in by repeating the words in the verses. By doing so, they become part of the song. It is believed that when one personalizes something despite the fact that it does not belong to him or her, it is obvious that the emotions that are evoked in him or her are similar to the owner of the song. Therefore, there is no big difference between the listeners of the song of Dylan; One of Us must Know Sooner or Later, and Dylan himself in terms of emotions.

However, it is significant to note that some of the listeners might opt to like the songwriter rather than the song. Therefore, there reaction to the song might be different as well. There interest lies in the manner in which Bob presents the song rather than the message of the song. The vigour, the change in voices and lastly, the way the piano, guitar, and the drums are played governs their reactions of the targeted listeners. A section of the audience usually assumes that music or songs that are composed by different songwriters are meant for solely entertainment. Therefore, decoding the message in the words sang by the artist is the least of their worries; they only want to be entertained.

The words used in the song communicate a lot. As observed by listeners, the use of the phrases, I didnt mean to make you sad, triggers emotions of pity for the person being addressed. Bob is addressing the woman that he tried to court in this case. The phrase acts like an apology to her. This means that the actions of Bob as the man in the song made this woman sad. Therefore, some of the female listeners will be sad due to the actions of Bob and might even decide to condemn men that treat women in that manner. This is one of the verses that have an impact the audience. Some of the people in the audience will obviously feel sad and have pity for the woman in Bobs song while others would derive pleasure from the tone, drumming and the playing of the piano. Those that seek to be entertained have no business understanding the message being conveyed in the song.

The reactions of the audience, in this case, the listeners of the song might be influenced as well by the album to which the song belongs. However, the song belongs to the singles category because of the time in which it was produced, single songs were most common. With the justifications about the actions of the man in the song, it makes it difficult for women to love it. However, the aspect that an audience that has women would like in this song is the apology that the man gives to the woman despite all that he did to her. The main acquaintances with this song also influence the reaction of the listeners. It is evident that, this song has been used severally in other productions such as in films. In this case, some of the persons that have heard it in movies, depending on whether they like the move or not, there is no doubt that the song will be his or her favorite. Memories of the movie can be triggered by just listening to the song; the audience becomes happy in turn out of imagining about the events that occurred in the movie. The listener will be happy when he or she listens to the song because; it reminds him or her of his favorite movie.

If it happens that the listeners of this song are currently dating, they would be affected by the song in that they would develop strong emotional attachment in order to avoid ending up the same way that Bob and the woman he was dating ended their relationship. As he says in the song, I couldnt see when it started snowing, means that the courting couple would have learnt to be cautious in case of any signs that might indicate that their relationship is in strains. This means that the couple would develop a liking for this song because it acts as a cautionary to them. The couple would not want to end their relationship, therefore, reminding themselves about their roles in their relationship.

Another aspect that defines a song is considered to be the fact that the song can be performed in different times and have different impacts on the audience. If it was performed in the early 19th century, it would not elicit much emotion because, at that time, cases of couples leaving each other were not common. Additionally, it was prohibited in society to court a woman that you would not live forever with. However, in the 21st century, there are many cases of divorce or people that are dating and breaking up their relationships prematurely. Therefore, the kinds of relationships that are being targeted by Bob are those that exist in the 21st century.

The steering will for any song is the manner in which the artist changes the tone, the use of musical instruments and the voices of the supporting cast. This change in the tone, vocals, and the use of the playing instruments also indicates the change of mood in the relationship or the message in the song. When he mentions about what they used to do happily together in comparison with the regrets and apologies that he gives, Bob sounds different. This helps the interpretation of the song to be brought out clearly without strain. A listener who has engaged in a relationship before and has been educated in regards to love relationships will find it easy to decode the message in the song. Therefore, it means a lot when one is referred to as a listener because; he or she should have the autonomy and knowledge of understanding a song.