Both sides of me by Jodi Mitchell

Through the use of dual perspectives, Jodi Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" shifts from naivete and happiness about life to the realization of how life really is, to the experience of love from good to bad.

In the first verse, the speaker is gazing at the clouds as a child seeing how amazing the clouds are. " Bows and flows of angel hair, And  ice cream castles in the air" The person is a child and is creative. The clouds are life in a way, when you were little you had the time of your life. you played with your friends in the summer, didn't have a care about anything. The only thing you had worry about was what you were going to do the next day. This connects to the speaker in the poem because they are kids and have no care. They are just staring at the clouds imagining them as these objects that fascinate them. Then there is a shift and the speaker starts talking about how the clouds ruin things. That the clouds block the sun and cause rain. This could be seen as the child growing up and seeing life isn't all fun in games anymore. There is school, work and the worry of money. All theses stressful things could hide the creativity and the fun. " But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone" The stress "blocks" the creativity and fun. In the beginning the speaker is naive but later on when she grows up  she notices what really is there and has a different look on life hence the term "Both sides"


In the third verse, the speaker is talking about being at a festival and dancing around with a boy. How love is and that she is so overjoyed and couldn't be any happier. " Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels, The dizzy dancing way you feel, When every fairy tale comes real" She is on top of the world, but then she is dumped and has a heart break. She feels like an idiot for falling for the person. She describes it as people laughing at her. "But now its just another show, You leave 'em laughin' when you go." I know how the speaker feels, they believe they are doing the right thing and having the time of their life. Then your brought back to reality and then you find out everything you thought you were doing right comes tumbling down. When ever I believe I'm right about something like someone asked you a question and you answered it. You know its right, but then this person comes up to you and tells the real answer to the question showing proof to back it up. you feel so stupid because you believed your right but then you feel embarrassed you were wrong and was pointed out in front of everyone. The this is what the speaker feels.

In the fifth verse, The speaker is talking about dreams about life. The fears she had  about her dreams also the fact that she describes life as a circus, all crazy and busy." Dreams and schemes and circus crowds" the person is scared about life. sometimes life you have do some risks but the speaker is scared to. " Tears and fears and feeling proud, To say, 'I love you' right out loud".  Then it shifts showing us the speaker is different and her friends don't approve of it. " But now old friends are acting strange, They shake their heads, they say I've changed."The person has changed she isn't that teenager before who cried and was embarrassed nor was she the little kid who stared at clouds. She has grown up and have learned from her mistakes. The speaker has seen both sides of everything she has seen in her life. Throughout the song the overall meaning was about the different point of views the person had over the years of growing up and learning their mistakes.

Book of john by tim mcgraw (song analysis 1)

                                                 Song Analysis


                                                   Book Of John by Tim mcgraw

    We were sittin' round the supper table and the buzz of the frigidaire A Was the only sound 'til momma laid down, a book she found upstairs  A
    It was covered in dust in the back of the closet,  B
          Goodwill box we almost tossed it out C
           We could have lost all those memories D

           There was a picture of mama in the pouring rain  E
            Ticket stubs to a Braves game  F
            Silver star and a baggage claim from Hanoi, Vietnam F
              There was a picture of him callin' on grandpa G
               Leather skin from a baseball H
               We laughed and cried, told stories all night long I
                                 From the book of John I

          Now the pot of coffee's almost gone, as we turn another page  J
   We're climbing on him like a Jungle Jim, watching his hair turn gray K
                All the Polaroids are just reminders,L
                  You can't hold life in a three ring binder L
                   We flipped on, through 'em anyway K

                     There's a picture at his sister taken in July  M
                       On the steps of the church pulling out his tie  M
             Hair's still wet from gettin' baptized, the brand new blue suit on I
                          An old set of keys to his Chevrolet N
                           A crumpled up receipt for a wedding ring O
                            We watched ourselves grow up there in his arms P
                                             In the book of John I

                        That sun came up, we were wide awake Q
                           Head to toe in black and gray K
                            Long black Lincoln waiting down the drive R
                             He was father, son, husband and friend S
                              I still flip through it every now and then T
                              When I need just a few words of advice T
                                It's almost like he's not really gone I
                                  And I know one day I'll be passin' on  I
                                                 The book of John I

Alliteration-          Repetition - 
 Internal Rhyme-   imagery-
simile-                    Figurative language-
Rhyme scheme-   Allusion-


 Tim Mcgraw's , Book Of John uses  discriptive imagery, playful figurative language and expressive allusions to show the meaning of the feeling of  saddness watching someone age and then pass away.

     Throughout the song mcgraw discriptive imagery is everywhere. The author displays imagery to help us reader to connect to the song and be able to picture whats going on in the song. It also helps us simpathize what the author was trying to potray. " We're climbing on him like a Jungle Jim,watching his hair turn gray." The imagery helps us imagine kids playing with the man and over the years see how he is growing old.In the song, the imagery expresses the pictures in the "Book Of John." Without the imagery it wouldn't help the readers be able to picture the meaning of the song.

        Another device that is used in this song is figurative language. " You can't hold life in a three ring binder" The speaker is trying to express how life is too huge to be able to put every thing in life in one three ring binder. Even though that book of john has pictures and helps you recall how it was when the person was alive. It doesn't hold everything though and it still makes you sad that the person in the book is gone. "We watched ourselves grow up there in his arms," the speaker doesn't really mean that literally that they grew up in his arms but more like over the years they grew up with his love and support just like him holding them. The person was a main focal point in their lives and when he passed away it wasn't the same. Figurative language helps show us the happiness the family had when that person was around.

        There are many allusions in this song. These allusions help portray how things in our time was in this song. "Long black Lincoln," " Chevrolet."These are both different type of cars. The allusions in this song help represent aspects of life is in this song, that this song is more narrative with the things they use (the allusions) throughout the song. The overall meaning of the book of john by tim mcgraw is the sadness of watching someone grow old and pass on but also how after someone passes away you still have things to remember the person. Those things dont have everything about the life with the person but its enough to enjoy going through time after time.