My favorite song is “Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd. The first time I heard that song was on SNL when he was the musical guest with another artist named Nicki Minaj and I thought it was a love song. Little did I know the deeper meaning about the song and that it was about drugs. It was October 10, 2015 and I was in my living room eating popcorn. I remember hearing his songs and thinking he was very talented and that I wanted to hear more of his songs. Ever since that first time, I’ve loved his songs, especially “Can’t Feel My Face.” Whenever I hear that song I can faintly smell and taste popcorn because the first time I heard it I was eating popcorn. Abęl Makkonen Tesfaye, better known by his artist name, The Weeknd, is 26 years old born in Toronto, Canada, on February 16, 1990. He was an only child growing up in Scarborough. His fame began in 2010 when he started uploading his songs to YouTube. The first album he released was called Trilogy and it was Gold Certified. He has also won a Juno award for being breakthrough artist of the year along with many other awards. “Can’t Feel My Face” was in his latest album, Beauty Behind the Madness, and was released August 28, 2015. It came third place for album of the year. In this song Abęl conveys the theme through rhyme and verbal irony that no matter how many times you fail, you shouldn’t stop trying.
Rhyme is one of the techniques he uses to show the theme, as previously mentioned, that no matter how many times you fail, you shouldn’t give up. In the pre-chorus he talks about drugs and refers to cocaine as “she” and “girl.” Abęl uses rhyme when his lyrics say, “She told me, don’t worry about it,” ("Can't" 5) and then, “We both know we can’t go without it.” ("Can't" 7) The first line refers to him telling himself to not worry about getting caught. And the second line is saying that he is an addict and that he cannot go without it. This reveals the theme that no matter how many times you fail, you shouldn’t stop trying by saying that the drugs are killing him but he continues to persevere through his addiction.
Verbal irony is another technique he uses to show the theme. In the chorus he describes the sensation of being under the influence of cocaine. He uses verbal irony when his lyrics say, “I can’t feel my face when I’m with you,” ("Can't" 9) This is verbal irony because he is saying “you” as if he is talking about someone, but he actually refers to cocaine as “you” and his face is numb because he is under the influence of cocaine. This reveals the theme just like before that you should never stop trying, no matter how many times you fail by saying that the drugs are killing him but he continues to persevere through his addiction.
A particular strength of the song is the music video because it supports the theme. An example of this is when the crowd doesn’t like his songs or dance moves and is booing and throwing things at him but he doesn't give up and he keeps singing. This strengthens the message by demonstrating that it is a life lesson to never stop trying because for him, he didn’t give up and it payed off because by the end of the video everybody was dancing, cheering, and enjoying his music.
In conclusion, “Can’t Feel My Face” conveys the theme that no matter how many times you fail, you shouldn’t stop trying. The topic of grit and perseverance is critical because people in the world are lacking it. This song inspires me, among many other people, to persevere through tough times. I recommend that you listen to this song and think about how you can show more perseverance and grit. This is one of my favorite songs and I hope you enjoy it as well.
You did a good job on explaining verbal irony.
ReplyDeleteYou also did a good job on your anecdote.
You could work on how it strengthens and weakens the song.
You did a good job on making the personal analysis.
ReplyDeleteNext time, you could work on choosing a more school appropriate song. ;)