Sunday, October 5, 2014
The Beach Boys' Style
The Beach Boys' style in their song "Don't Go Near the Water" makes the message of this song very obvious. They used phrases like "poisons floating" and "bubble bath" to describe the effect of human impact on oceans, rivers, and lakes. This imaginative, yet negative diction creates an eerily truthful style that when compared with the equally spooky sound, forces the audience to realize how much harm we are causing nature's waters. The Beach Boys sing in low, soft voices while describing the detrimental damage we are doing to the waters. This eerie style peaks when the band sings "Don't go near the water" like a warning. This warning could be interpreted as a warning to stay away from the water because it is filthy and unhealthy, but I believe it is The Beach Boys' way of telling people to stay away from the water because they will cause the water harm because of their tone. The tone of the song is portrayed through a combination of the diction and sound they used. At the end of the song, however, the tone switched to more hopeful and encouraging because The Beach Boys were trying to get their audience to realize that taking action to try to save the health of the waters would have a real impact, unlike Death Cab for Cutie, who were very cynical throughout the entire song.
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The phrase "bubble bath" has a positive connotation. The imagery it creates is what is negative. Also, "Don't go near the water" is assumed to be a warning, so I think it is redundant to say they sang it as a warning. Try rephrasing sings to warns. Other than that I see no other problems.
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a good job analyzing the lyrics and tone. I like how you went into depth about what some of the more powerful lyrics meant. I thought you could of talked a little bit more about the song as a whole, but otherwise it was a good analysis.
ReplyDeleteGood job analyzing the style of the Beach Boys. Specifically, it was helpful how you identified how their low pitched, soft voices created an eerie vibe to the song. However, when you said, "The tone of the song is portrayed through a combination of the diction and sound they used," I think it could have been helpful to elaborate by adding an example. I also liked how you provided to analyses for the lyrics "Don't go near the water." Originally, I thought it was a warning, but then you changed my perspective once you identified an alternative meaning.
ReplyDelete-Mary