The Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG2zyeVRcbs
The Climb - by Miley Cyrus
The Lyrics :
I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"
Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking
But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side's the climb
The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going
And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on
'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side's the climb, yeah!
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Some body's gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side's the climb, yeah!
Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa
The Analysis relating a "mirror" of myself and the song's lyrics :
OK, first of all, I chose this song as I realised that it reflected many aspects about myself, and some of those aspects were not known by me before listening to the song even when its myself! Let's get to the analysis:
The first "stanza" begins with the singer dreaming about a goal in her head. Irony is used here as while her "sight" shows her the dream, her "hearing" tells her that it's impossible. The voice is also personified as it takes on a inner being inside the singer and discourages her to do something she desires. This definitely describes how I motivate myself. I know that this is amusing but, whenever I have a difficult task ahead, I tend to tell myself I can't make it. Yeah, it sounds depressing but soon after, I will somehow get motivated greatly by my thoughts and start to work harder, eventually yielding better results. Strange, huh?
The subsequent "stanza" describes the singer's feelings as she takes a step towards that goal she desires, however, she finds herself lost, and her "faith shaking" instead of the will to go on. A small repetition is used here : The first and second lines have "Every" which emphasise the movements she made every time into two separate actions to "weighten" the feel of the song. Well, how this relates to me is that, before I get motivated, I tend to get discouraged like her sometimes after making a step towards that feat. Failures occurs and disrupts my faith sometimes, too.
The third "stanza" is a rather short one, though it reveals a great insight of the singer's attitude and well, my attitude. The singer doesn't give up despite all those bickering and keeps her "head held high" to fend off the negative thoughts growing inside of her. Again, repetition is seen here as the word "gotta" is repeated twice to emphasis the effort she is putting in to this cause. Well, I also "gotta" say that I am quite a persevering person and only occasionally would I give up even though complications are seen.
In the fourth "stanza" the singer comments and admits that no matter how hard she tries, there is always going to be another obstacle, and she would always wanted to be able to "move" it, as in overcome the difficulty. She also freely admits that sometimes, if all odds are against her, she has to give up for her own good, but every difficulty will be at "war" with her first before any results are out. Symbolism is seen here as "mountains" are used as a reference to giant obstacles. She also mentions that the whole overcoming is not about how fast we overcome it, nor is it about what's waiting for you as success. It is the overcoming process that matters most. Repetition is used here in "Ain't about" to show greater emphasis on the disagreeing of the two points mentioned. She also tells us that the "chances" she is taking and her "struggles" might overpower her, but she is not gonna lose hope and break down. A rhyme is seen here as the last word of the last four and three stanzas end with "facing" and "taking" which supposedly rhymes. In my daily life, I too, have many great obstacles and yes, its true that I might fall sometimes, but I am not going to give up and lose hope. This "stanza" has described my perseverance perfectly.
In the next "stanza" the singer implants some firm thoughts in her mind: "Just keep pushing on" to let her never forget that she must not give up. The next few lines are repeated as alliteration to further strengthen her view of overcoming obstacles and remind listeners of this fact. I too instill some firm inspirational thoughts in mind, to always remind myself of the crucial level of "pushing on, never give up,". The next and the last "stanzas" is another form of alliteration, repeating the real reason we must we aware of while we are fighting with difficulties.
Response in poem form:
A Gift
When all the world is looming dark
And things seem not so clear,
When shadows seem to hover 'round
Lord, may I persevere.
When it seems everything's been tried
And there's no way to go,
Just let me keep remembering
Sometimes the journey's slow.
I may just need to stop and rest
Along the path I trod,
A time to try to understand
And have my talk with God.
As I gain new strength to carry on
Without a doubt or fear,
Somehow I know things will be right,
And so, I persevere.
