Close Reading

     For some time now in ELA, we have been studying "close reading". This is where you closely read a song, book, painting, movie, ect. In my close reading study, I decided that I would like to look closely at music. I think that every artist writes a song for a reason. I mostly focused on the musicians, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. In almost all of their songs, I was able to pick up a specific message that they are trying to send to their listeners.

     The first life message that I noticed was in the song "Same Love" (by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis). One of the things that I learned in class was that what you notice at first isn't always the most important. I used this information in my thinking by first thinking that the song was just about LGBT marriage,  although I then looked even closer. Even though, this song is about the freedom to marry and love anyone you want, I think that it is also about loving yourself. One thing that Macklemore says is "And I can't change. Even if I tried, Even if wanted to." To me this means that you can't change yourself even if you want to be someone else. He is saying that you have to love and believe in yourself because you can't change who you are.

     One other thing that I noticed about Macklemore is that he can also speak to you with his facial expressions. I watched many of his music videos and live performances online and saw myself being drawn towards the emotion in his facial expressions and body movements. The spark in his eye when he sings really makes me feel connected with him and the story he is telling. This method of singing really enables you to understand the lyrics and message. It's really important to understand the meaning of what he is saying because, like I said earlier, every musician writes their music for a reason and to enlighten their listeners about a certain issue. This is why I am amazed at how Macklemore sends a message across to his fans so that they can learn about something important from him just by how he acts while he performs his songs!