Mrs. B - #2 - Poetry Critique

1. LULLABY by Shawn Mullins
lay your weary head down
dry those tired eyes
lay you weary head down
and Rock-a-bye
she grew up with
the children of the stars
in the hollywood hills and the boulevard
her parents threw big parties
everyone was there
they hung out with folks like
dennis hopper, bob seger, sonny and cher
now, she feels safe
in this bar on fairfax
and from the stage I can tell that
she can't let go and she can't relax
and just before
she hangs her head to cry
I sing to her a lullaby, I sing
everything's gonna be all right
rockabye, rockabye
everything's gonna be all right
rockabye, rockabye
rockabye
she still lives with her mom
outside the city
down that street about a half a mile
and all her friends tell her
she's so pretty
but she'd be a whole lot prettier
if she smiled once in a while
`cause even her smile
looks like a frown
she's seen her share of devils
in this angel town
But, everything's gonna be all right
rockabye, rockabye
everything's gonna be all right
rockabye, rockabye

2. I chose this song because it is a really good song. I always listen to it when I am in a bad mood or I am mad about something. It sends a really good message, too. It is saying that even the richest people in the world aren't always happy. He is singing this song to a girl who he is in love with and he just wants her to be happy. He's telling her that in the end, everything is going to be alright.

3. The title's purpose is to show that this song is a lullaby for all ages. People sing lullaby's to their children when they're young, when really, lullaby's can be sung for all ages. The chorus kind of reminds me of a lullaby that my mom would sing to me when I was little. I forgot the name, but I used to love it. She would always end it with "everything is alright". Whenever I listen to this song it makes me happy and it reminds me of my mom. I know when I'm in a bad mood that "everything is going to be all right".

4. "She's seen her share of devils in this angel town..."
This is a metaphor. It is using "devils" to represent bad people that she has encountered during her life. And the town is called "angel town" because the girl he is in love with lives there. Shawn Mullins creates an emphasis on the word "devil" and "angel" because he is comparing two different groups. When I hear this line I always picture an all white town with little red dots in it. The red dots would represent all of the "devils" in the town. The feeling that is created is a confident one. It is saying that the girl has overcome a lot of obstacles in her lifetime.
"She's so pretty, but she'd be a whole lot prettier if she smiled once in a while, cause even her smile looks like a frown..."
These couple of lines in the song create imagery for me. I can picture a girl who is gorgeous but she always has a sad, worried look on her face. When she smiles, whoever is looking at her can tell that something is wrong. It doesn't literally mean that her smile looks like a frown, it means that he can tell when she is smiling to cover up her sadness. There is an emphasis on the smile aspect of this quote. The feeling is kind of depressing. It is sad that a girl has to smile to make others feel like she is happy when inside, she isn't happy at all.

5. The tone is kind of depressing, but the way Shawn Mullins sings is makes it a more relaxed feeling song. The writer succeeded in writing his tone because he's writing about a young woman who has everything she wants, but she still isn't happy. The chorus is sung louder than the rest of the song. When the chorus is done, the background music gets softer.