Henry Shields
English 101
November 1, 2007
Adam Weinstein
“Convictions”
“Love me if you can” by Toby Keith is the song I chose for our topic of “politically charged songs”. Toby Keith is hailed as one of the best country song artists of his generation and this particular song is currently number one on the country billboard charts. Unlike the stereotype of the “new fashioned” country, Toby Keith is adored by his fans for speaking his mind and being a very opinionated artist. His songs are easy to relate to and are mostly “hot” topics that are delivered through emotion and personal experience. “Love me if you can”, in particular, covers political point of views; a topic that everyone can relate to. According to the Rhetorical Triangle, Toby Keith uses ethos and pathos to get his message across: his message being the idea that everyone is stuck to the political beliefs of one certain party, but he is a man of his “convictions”.
Keith shows remarkable irony in the presentation of his message. He uses “politically charged” lines such as “my right to speak freely” and “you sure know where I stand” to deliver the point that he does not agree with “politically charged” messages, but rather his own beliefs. Keith may deliver somewhat of an ironic message, but it is in the way he delivers it that makes it believable and understandable. He uses lines and words that appeal to many people. He delivers his message with a personal story that strikes emotion in his listeners. Keith states, “I’m a man of my convictions, call me wrong, call me right”. A man’s “convictions” will always override his political stance on an issue whether it is contradicting with his political party or not. Not everyone in a certain party believes all the values of that party. In stating the fact that he is a man of his convictions, Keith relates to his audience through both ethos and pathos. He relates through ethos, because he uses his personal feelings and opinions to discuss his message. Keith speaks about is father, son, and free rights. By discussing his personal feeling he relates to the audience in another way, pathos. He relates through pathos because his personal feeling are common feelings that a wide range of people can relate to. If people can relate to a strong belief, it strikes emotion.
In this song, I believe Toby Keith is speaking to a huge audience. Whether you are running for president or just an “average Joe” on the street, you have political opinions that contradict with others’. Keith uses this truth in an ingenious way, enabling him to relate to everyone. He states that he “prays for peace on earth” but also thinks “war is necessary”. He is presenting himself as an average man with average beliefs. Keith delivers his message with a “don’t give a damn” persona. By doing so, he shows he truly believes in what he is saying. Toby Keith is so well renowned for his music because people believe he is the persona in the song, he doesn’t just make one up. This makes his point more believable than if he were cautious about what people thought. Overall, Keith’s message is delivered to a wide range of people in a manner that is trustworthy and full of pride. Everyone can relate to his message and he is proud to hold strong to his firm beliefs and share his opinion.
I feel that Toby Keith is delivering a great message, but determining whether it portrays a positive or negative theme is completely up to the listener. In my opinion, Keith incorporates a choice for the listener. The main chorus is, “I’m a man of my conviction”. As a man of my conviction I feel that the lyrics and delivery of the content is an extremely positive message. Keith tells us to believe what means most to you, don’t be a follower. I feel that the lyrics are delivered well and the overall message is great, but I question the motives for delivering this moral message. While I have expressed my opinion of the positive aspects such as content and delivery of his message, in the grand scheme of things, this song gives me a negative vibe. In reality, there is no such thing as a great, “from the heart” song. I feel that Toby Keith has sold himself just as much as he has sold his music. A true man with morals does not deliver his message of “conviction” through a multi platinum recording company so he can make millions of dollars. I do not mean to contradict myself on the fact that Toby Keith is a good singer that is not in it for the fame and fortune, but that doesn’t keep me from questioning the truth behind his “convictions”. Yes, he has written many songs that were based on real life events, but I feel he has caught on to the fact that these kinds of songs are “the ones that sell” and now he is just selling himself. Not to sound like my grandfather, but the sad reality is that songs these days are written to sell, not written from someone’s true “convictions”.
Lastly; goals. WHAT GOALS? Toby Keith does not express for any goal to be met, he just blabbers on in his monotone voice about how he is a man of his “conviction”; the “conviction” that was placed so deep in his heart by corporate executives looking to make an extra dollar. This song is a complete mockery of country music and after analyzing it for its “political conflict”; I have come to the conclusion that this whole song is just “politics”. In lemans terms politics is people selling themselves with bullshit words so they can make money.
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5 comments:
In this essay, the two things that stuck out most to me were the strong points made and the organization. The word choice made the argument very clear against Toby Keith's song. I liked the points made about the delivery of Toby Keith's message and his goals of the song. The only weakness in the paper is a few run-on sentences and comma splices. Overall it is a very well written paper and it is obvious a lot of hard work and thought was put into it.
I think this essay did a good job at analyzing the topic. If I was organizing this paper I would have incorporated your thoughts about toby keith earlier in the paper so you could relate in each paragraph to them. There are a few grammar errors that need to be fixed but it looked like a good paper.
Good paper. The first paragraph does a great job introducing the essay. You also make strong points and support them throughout your paper with examples. My only suggestion is to work on incorporating your opinion throughout the paper and not letting just the very last paragraph express your dislike of his intent for the song. It comes off a little too strong that way. Other than that it's a great paper.
This is a well-written and worded essay. Your views about the song are made very clear. You also use phrases from the song lyrics to support your view. However, you should indicate the line number in parentheses as a citation of where you found the lyrics in the song.
It's good that you give two sides of the story: the positive side of Keith's song and his negative reasons for writing. These two views could be better organized though. I would start a new paragraph when you change your view.
The introduction is well-written and thesis is effective and well-supported. You should try to improve your conclusion to reflect how strong your introduction is. Try to make the two more connected and relate the conclusion more to your thesis.
Also, change your wording in the conclusion to keep it from being so emotional. Other than that, your word choice is effective and works well with the quotes you use form the song.
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