Thursday, October 16, 2008

I'm So Tired. The Beatles

To be able to view the complete lyrics of the song please follow the link,
http://music.yahoo.com/The-Beatles/Im-So-Tired/lyrics/2024381

The song I'm So Tired was released by The Beatles in 1968 in their album "The Beatles: The White Album." In this song the singer, Paul McCartney, is telling someone or something that he is really tired. Even though in the song it might seem as if he were speaking to either a lady or a man, it can be interpreted in many ways. My own personal believe is that he is not speaking to a human but instead to the drugs he has been consuming. I believe this because The Beatles are not only known for consuming drugs but also for their songs about drugs. In an interview by a British magazine, Uncut, McCartney admitted this and said that many of their songs had
subtle hints of their use of narcotics. In the song it seems like McCartney is speaking to the drugs and telling them that they are causing harm to him and that he needs to stop using them.

In the song there are many obvious and not so obvious examples of rhetoric. Some methods of rhetoric used by the writer include personification, rhyme, alliteration, hyperbole, and triads and anaphora. In the whole song the methods that stood out to me the most were triads and anaphora. The song initiates with the phrase, "I'm so tired..." and that phrase is repeated throughout the song several times. The reason why the author used this method is to convey how tired he is. He not only uses the words, "I'm so tired..." but also the words after that.
After, "I'm so tired..." he always shows how tired he is by saying how he feels and what he would want to do.

The other method of rhetoric used by McCartney in the song is the use of triads. In the last verse of the song the phrase, "...give you everything I've got, for a little piece of mind..." is repeated three times. Even though he could have repeated the verse more or less times he knew that three times would be just the right amount of repetition. To the human ear it sounds awkward hearing a song where things are repeated more than three times consecutively. Next time you hear a song where there is a lot of repetition pay attention to the words and you will notice that you subconsciously know that things will get repeated three times.

10 comments:

Chicken Little said...

Hello Gary,

It is very true that the Beatles centric theme in their songs is drugs. I have read many articles about them and it is not a coincidence that idea of drugs is used in this song. As i was reading your blog I did see that you made connections between the rhetoric devices we learned in class to the song. As you may know, most of the song are in fact composed of many rhetorical devices. Most of rap music is made by rhymes and hyperboles. Many of the cases cliches are also seen everywhere. Needless to say, I feel that you really understand rhetoric devices and were able to find them in the song "I'm So Tired" by the Beatles

I do not know waht type of music you are going to analyze, but I do hope that you can cover everything form country to cumbia. Nah I don't think cumbia woud be a choice huh.

edwin garcia said...

Gary
Nice job, I would have never really considered that McCartney was singing to drugs. The rhetoric strategies you said where there, where there. Your blog was just so well done that I can't say much about it, except that it was accurate at pointing out the rhetoric and even who it's possible it was being sang to.

- Edwin Garcia

Vincent/Chente said...

Gary,

What a song to pick huh! Well yes it is very true that The Beatles are known to be consumer of drugs. Another song I know that has been recorded under the influence of drugs by The Beatles is Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, In which John Lennon is drugged while playing the beginning portion of the song in the piano.

Have you ever known any other songs that have been sung by artists while being under the influence of drugs? either case if The Beatles took drugs or not for me it still does not change the status of The Beatles being the greatest band the world has ever seen. Either way nice blog and I hope you do listen to the song I recommended you a while back.

Hernan_1992 said...

Hey Gary.

I would like to begin by saying that your blog was exceptionally good. The blog conveyed all the necesary elements needed in order to be qualified by Ms.Vernon. Your blog summarized the beatles and who they were. You gave good details on how there songs were influenced. What i enjoyed the most is how you broke down the song into the form of rhetoric you saw.
Good Job
Keep up that good work
Hernan.

radio_nessa said...

I believe that the Beatles are one the most known bands that use repitition a lot and that's how they get their meaning heard.
I've heard of the song before and reading how you analyze it has now changed the way I will hear the song.
I always though that this song was saying that the members of the band wanted a change of venue. They wanted to be free of the pressures they were facing and that they wanted that one thing that offers them that freedom.

Now that I've read your blog, it all makes sense. Maybe that one thing that offers their freedom really is drugs.

Did you notice the reference to Sir Walter Raleigh? That also taught me something about the song.

jenn said...

Gary,
Unlike everyone else I dont believe The Beatles centric their songs on drugs. If you listen to The Beatles their first albums wre very much on love and then after Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band things started changing very much. On the other hand back to the song I think you did a very well job in showing how they used it.

James/J.R. said...

Dear Gary,
I read your blog and liked the way you broken down the song and pointed out the rhetorical strategies used in the song. You were also very detailed about the devices that was applied to the song and you gave specific examples about them. i think that you did a really good job breaking the song down.

M.M. said...

Dear Gary,

Your title caught my attention. I've never heard of this song before, honestly because I haven’t really listen to music for the past months. Who knew that drugs would take the Beatles to fame, even though it's not the best way or situation anybody could be in. I fell that many alcoholics or drug attics could relate to this song. I see many people who have or been in this situation and there’s thoughts have been mainly that they have been tired of their habit that they can’t seem to get out of. I'm one of the person's who might have interpret this song as him speaking to a lady, and thanks for pointing it out in a different way, other than the common opinion. I would like to know what these lyrics made you feel?
P.S. Nice job on bringing up your logos =-)

Sincerely,
Masyeli M.

Jennifer Rosales said...

Gary,
I actually think you did an outsatnding job in your new blog. You were one of the few students who actually refered your blog to a link.
I really enjoyed your blog and the way you refered to the song and rhetoric created or used in it. I agree with many of my peers that you have really mastered your topic ver well which helps the audience understand the rhetoric in music even further.
In my opinion you did a great job in breaking up the song.
I hope that you will be able to cover many generes of music to help me learn more about it.
Keep up the good work!

steviesaur1105 said...

I never really liked the beatles unique sound, but i would say that drug influence was very strong back in their days. The beatles songs seem very deep and meaningful, but that really depends on how a person conveys it as. I would classify it as trip music. They were tripped out and like an epiphany, it came to them and played. The rhetorical devices that are used in most of they're songs are metaphors and hyperboles. Of course in songs, hyperbole is very attractive and common. The band I would chosen for this topic would have been the Dave Mathews Band. They use a lot of pathos and hyperboles, but they're clean sound makes them sound amazing.