A Close Reading of 'Looking for America,' Part 2
2023-07-21
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1In today's Everyday Grammar, we finish our discussion of the 2019 song, Looking for America, by singer Lana Del Rey.
2By making a close reading of the song's words, we will understand more about its sounds and structure.
3A close reading is a deep reading of a story.
4Works of literature such as poems are often the object of close readings.
5These can include the words to songs.
6The aim is to understand the writer's intentions by looking closely at the details.
7Last time, we considered the grammar and cultural elements of the song.
8This time we will talk about the poetic devices and the syllable structure of a few lines.
9Del Rey uses many poetic devices to strengthen what may be thought of as a simple song. Let's take a look.
10I flew back to New York City
11Missed that Hudson River line
12Took a train up to Lake Placid
13That's another place and time, where
14I used to go to drive-ins and listen to the blues
15So many things that I think twice about before I do, no
16I'm still looking for my own version of America
17One without the gun, where the flag can freely fly
18No bombs in the sky, only fireworks when you and I collide
19It's just a dream I had in mind
20In lines one and three, Del Rey uses the same number of syllables, eight in total.
21I flew back to New York City
22Took a train up to Lake Placid
23Then in lines two and four, she uses seven syllables.
24Missed that Hudson River line
25That's another place and time, (where)
26The relative pronoun "where" ends the fourth line as it is written.
27This extra syllable does match the structure, but as Lana sings, she adds the word "where" to the beginning of the next line, so we can count it with line five.
28Now with the added word of "where," lines five and six have fourteen syllables each.
29Line six just has an added word of "no."
30This addition might have been Del Rey ad-libbing or speaking spontaneously without planning.
31(Where) I used to go to drive-ins and listen to the blues
32So many things that I think twice about before I do, (no)
33Let's move onto other poetic devices.
34Rhymes are made with two or more words that end in the same sound.
35Lines two and four share a similar vowel sound, /ai/, with the words "line" and "time."
36Although they do not end in the same consonant sound, they still rhyme.
37This rhyming of similar vowel sounds is called assonance.
38Missed that Hudson River line...
39That's another place and time...
40We see in lines five and six two other rhymes created by using the vowel sound /u/ with the words "blues" and "do."
41I used to go to drive-ins and listen to the blues
42So many things that I think twice about before I do...
43Lastly, in lines eight, nine and ten, Del Rey uses other poetic devices.
44One without the gun, where the flag can freely fly
45No bombs in the sky, only fireworks when you and I collide
46It's just a dream I had in mind
47In line 8, we see another form of rhyme with the words "one" and "gun."
48This is internal rhyme. It is when a writer includes rhyming words within the same line, rather than at the end.
49We also see in line 8 repeating "f" sounds with the words "...flag can freely fly."
50This is an example of alliteration, repetition of the first consonant sounds in words that are close together.
51In line 9, we have more assonance with the /ai/ vowel with the words "sky," "fireworks," and "collide."
52In all three lines, the repetition of the /ai/ vowel is seen throughout with "fly," "collide," and "mind," mirroring the sounds in the beginning with "line" and "time."
53In today's Everyday Grammar, we found more details in Lana Del Rey's song Looking for America.
54We considered syllable structure and learned about several poetic devices such as assonance, internal rhyme and alliteration.
55I'm Faith Pirlo.
1In today's Everyday Grammar, we finish our discussion of the 2019 song, Looking for America, by singer Lana Del Rey. By making a close reading of the song's words, we will understand more about its sounds and structure. 2What is a close reading? 3A close reading is a deep reading of a story. Works of literature such as poems are often the object of close readings. These can include the words to songs. The aim is to understand the writer's intentions by looking closely at the details. Last time, we considered the grammar and cultural elements of the song. This time we will talk about the poetic devices and the syllable structure of a few lines. 4Del Rey uses many poetic devices to strengthen what may be thought of as a simple song. Let's take a look. 5Looking for America 6I flew back to New York City 7Missed that Hudson River line 8Took a train up to Lake Placid 9That's another place and time, where 10I used to go to drive-ins and listen to the blues 11So many things that I think twice about before I do, no 12I'm still looking for my own version of America 13One without the gun, where the flag can freely fly 14No bombs in the sky, only fireworks when you and I collide 15It's just a dream I had in mind 16Syllable Structure 17In lines one and three, Del Rey uses the same number of syllables, eight in total. 18I flew back to New York City 19Took a train up to Lake Placid 20Then in lines two and four, she uses seven syllables. 21Missed that Hudson River line 22That's another place and time, (where) 23The relative pronoun "where" ends the fourth line as it is written. This extra syllable does match the structure, but as Lana sings, she adds the word "where" to the beginning of the next line, so we can count it with line five. 24Now with the added word of "where," lines five and six have fourteen syllables each. Line six just has an added word of "no." This addition might have been Del Rey ad-libbing or speaking spontaneously without planning. 25(Where) I used to go to drive-ins and listen to the blues 26So many things that I think twice about before I do, (no) 27Let's move onto other poetic devices. 28Rhymes and alliteration 29Rhymes are made with two or more words that end in the same sound. Lines two and four share a similar vowel sound, /ai/, with the words "line" and "time." Although they do not end in the same consonant sound, they still rhyme. This rhyming of similar vowel sounds is called assonance. 30Missed that Hudson River line... 31That's another place and time... 32We see in lines five and six two other rhymes created by using the vowel sound /u/ with the words "blues" and "do." 33I used to go to drive-ins and listen to the blues 34So many things that I think twice about before I do... 35Lastly, in lines eight, nine and ten, Del Rey uses other poetic devices. 36One without the gun, where the flag can freely fly 37No bombs in the sky, only fireworks when you and I collide 38It's just a dream I had in mind 39In line 8, we see another form of rhyme with the words "one" and "gun." This is internal rhyme. It is when a writer includes rhyming words within the same line, rather than at the end. 40We also see in line 8 repeating "f" sounds with the words "...flag can freely fly." This is an example of alliteration, repetition of the first consonant sounds in words that are close together. 41In line 9, we have more assonance with the /ai/ vowel with the words "sky," "fireworks," and "collide." In all three lines, the repetition of the /ai/ vowel is seen throughout with "fly," "collide," and "mind," mirroring the sounds in the beginning with "line" and "time." 42Final Thoughts 43In today's Everyday Grammar, we found more details in Lana Del Rey's song Looking for America. We considered syllable structure and learned about several poetic devices such as assonance, internal rhyme and alliteration. 44I'm Faith Pirlo. 45Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 46______________________________ 47Words in This Story 48intention - n. the thing that you plan to do or achieve 49drive-ins - n. places where people watch movies in their cars 50blues - n. musical form created by African Americans in the Southern United States 51collide - v. the action of two (or more) objects crashing into each other 52spontaneously - adv. done or said in a natural and often sudden way and without a lot of thought or planning 53rhyme - n. two or more words that end in the same sound 54vowel - n. a speech sound made with your mouth open and your tongue in the middle of your mouth not touching your teeth, lips 55consonants - n. a speech sound (such as /p/, /d/, or /s/) that is made by partly or completely stopping the flow of air breathed out from the mouth 56internal - adj. existing or taking place inside something 57repetition - n. the action of repeating something 58mirroring - n. the act of being very similar to something