Week 7--Song Lyrics

A song I feel has a strong emotional appeal is "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride. It is the story of a girl who dies as a result of child abuse, while "the teacher wonders but she doesn't ask" (l 5), and "the neighbors hear but they turn out the light" (l 15). The use of these two phrases appeal to the intended listeners--those who perhaps didn't ask the right questions or ignored a possible problem--and causes them to feel a sense of responsibility and increased motivation to save children from the fate described in the song.

A second tool used by the songwriter is a use of precise diction. The fact that the girl's name is never mentioned, along with words and phrases such as "holding back" "hiding" "mask" and "secret storm" combined with the last line of the final verse: "a broken heart that the world forgot" indicates to the listeners that this girl is an unknown. She hides her troubles from the world, and the people around her wonder but don't ask, overlooking her until she is completely forgotten. Again, this tool appeals to the listeners' sense of responsibility, but also to a sense of guilt. It causes them to ask themselves how many times they have perhaps allowed "broken heart" to be forgotten, and to see the possible ramifications of their neglect.

This song is a call to remember this girl and those like her for whom there is still time. Martina McBride effectively employs descriptions of "character" (for lack of a better term) actions and specific diction to evoke emotions of responsibility and guilt in the listeners, causing them to have an increased motivation to protect their community and avoid the creation of any more "concrete angels."

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CONCRETE ANGEL -Martina McBride

She walks to school with the lunch she packed
Nobody knows what she's holding back
Wearing the same dress she wore yesterday
She hides the bruises with the linen and lace, oh

The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask
Bearing the burden of a secret storm
Sometimes she wishes she was never born

Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place
Where she's loved concrete angel

Somebody cries in the middle of the night
The neighbors hear but they turn out the light
A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate
When morning comes it will be too late

Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place
Where she's loved concrete angel

A statue stands in a shaded place
An angel girl with an upturned face
A name is written on a polished rock
A broken heart that the world forgot

Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place
Where she's loved concrete angel