Problem
Part I
Choose a song, any song (should probably be under 8 minutes) from any genre or time period of popular music, that you will analyze in different ways throughout the four parts of this assignment. Describe what situations you are most likely to listen to the song in, how closely you listen to the song, and what sort of activity you think the song's general audience uses it for. Then, outline as best you can what the song means to you, using both what is contained in the lyrics, and describing as best you can how the music affects that meaning.
Part II
Listen to your chosen song; focus on the first thirty seconds. First, describe the music as it happens: what instruments enter and when, what the instruments are playing, dynamics, tempo, characteristics of the beat and melody (if it has appeared), and characteristics of the voice and lyrics (if they have appeared). After this, describe the same 30 seconds again, but in a non-linear way: describe the overall feel and style of the excerpt as best you can use the elements you've described in part one. What kind of atmosphere does this set up for the rest of the song?
Part III
Select any excerpt of your song. Analyze this excerpt as thoroughly as possible without repeating yourself or being redundant. Push yourself to come up with as many original ideas as you can about the rhythm, melody, vocal style, form, history, and everything else. Remember, it is not enough to describe what is happening; use your discernment of social and cultural elements to develop an argument about how each element coheres into a perceptual effect of the music that affects how the lyrics are understood and/or heard in society.