Choose any song lyric (with a printed length under two pages) either from the texts on the course syllabus or from your own listening, and offer a close reading of that lyric. You must have a clear, focused argument for your reading: what is the central point of your interpretation? How do you read this text, and why is that reading significant? What idea(s) about song or its cultural value do you want to convey? Remember to examine directly the relationship(s) between form and meaning. How do the style and structure of the lyric you've chosen contribute to what it articulates? How do words and music interrelate? What is a key concept put at issue in this text? How? Why? You may also wish to think about the various contexts for the song you've chosen: Who sings it? Who listens to it? How does its performance -- live or recorded -- affect what it comes to mean for people? What is the song used for, socially or culturally?
Your essay ahould be no more than 1500 words (four to five typed double-spaced pages). Please follow the current MLA style for format and documentation. If you choose to write on a lyric not from the course texts, please submit a copy of the lyrics with your paper.
Due in class on Friday, February 1, 2014.