my only sunshine
~Oliver Hood
Thinking about songs with similes, metaphors, and other figurative language this week! But first, a thought for the day:
Baby, you're a song. You're my kryptonite, you're a cat. 5, and you rock me like the rock of ages. Welcome to the jungle!
Not sure how to divide this up, so I just put them in alphabetical order (of performer, not songwriter) and added spaces for readability. Do you have any favorites or other suggestions? I know, more songs have them than don't, so maybe I should have made a list of songs with no figurative language. Thanks go to Pop and Latanya for their additions!
Before we get to the list, here's a song with a metaphorical train. This version by the late Eva Cassidy knocks my socks off:
Set Fire to the Rain, Adele
While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Beatles
Love is a Battlefield, Pat Benatar
Heart of Glass, Blondie
The Dance, Garth Brooks
People Get Ready, Eva Cassidy
The Scientist, Josie Charlwood (cover of Coldplay song)
Tearing Us Apart, Eric Clapton with Tina Turner
I Fall to Pieces, Patsy Cline
Life Is a Highway, Tom Cochrane
Butterfly, Crazy Town
Every Day is a Winding Road, Sheryl Crow
Cowboy Take Me Away, The Dixie Chicks
She Blinded Me with Science, Thomas Dolby
A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall, Bob Dylan
Born to Fly, Sara Evans
I'm Like a Bird, Nelly Furtado
The Chain, Fleetwood Mac
Cruise, Florida Georgia Line
Earth Angel, The Four Quarters (originally by The Penguins)
Shadowfeet, Brooke Fraser
Killing Me Softly, The Fugees (originally performed by Roberta Flack)
In Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel
Welcome to the Jungle, Guns N Roses
Stereo Hearts, Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine
Storm Warning, Hunter Hayes
The Wind Cries Mary, Jimi Hendrix
Piece of My Heart, Janis Joplin
Walking on Broken Glass, Annie Lennox
Can't Hold Us, Macklemore & Lewis
Get Up, Stand Up, Bob Marley
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, George Michael
The Remedy, Jason Mraz
Let It Rain, David Niall
Leather and Lace, Stevie Nicks and Don Henley
One Thing by One Direction
Loves Me like a Rock, The O'Jays (originally Paul Simon)
Firework, Katy Perry
Under the Falling Sky, Bonnie Raitt
Diamonds, Rihanna
Love Is The Drug, Roxy Music
I Hope You Dance, Lee Womack
One is the Magic Number, Jill Scott (also Golden and Hate on Me)
Key to the Highway, Big Bill Broonzy
Like a Rock, Bob Seeger
The A-Team, Ed Sheeran
Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen
Reeling in the Years, Steely Dan
Stuck Like Glue, Sugarland
Our Song, Taylor Swift
Say Hello to Heaven, Temple of the Dog
Mirrors, Justin Timberlake
Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone, Bill Withers
Heart of Gold, Neil Young
Colder Weather, The Zac Brown Band
Stairway to Heaven: Examining Metaphor in Popular Music (lesson plan)
Using Similes and Metaphors to Enrich Our Writing
2 comments:
Fascinating topic, Tab...and a wonderful title.
An amazing amount of work finding and linking all those songs!
Thoroughly enjoyed Eva Cassidy's version of People Get Ready. It's a great song and she really does a great rendition.
Thanks!
Tabatha, I did a lesson on figurative language in songs a few weeks ago at an elementary school! I wish I'd had your blog post to reference then. This is wonderful, and I will send your blog link to the teachers!
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