RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

By: Ashley Newsome

CARRIE UNDERWOODS
BACKGROUND
http://theodysseyonline.c
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stmas-list/233125

Carrie Underwood is famously known for launching her career off

the hit television show American Idol. This small town country girl
always dreamed of making it to Hollywood and her dream came
true when she won season 4 of American Idol in 2004 (Whitaker).
With more than 28 million sales ofnearly two dozen Number One
singles, Carrie Underwood has become the top-selling country
artist in the digital world (Leahey, 2015).
The news arrives on the heels of two new feats: the five-times
platinum certification of "Before He Cheats," whose ongoing
success makes Underwood one of five country artists to sell five
million digital copies of a single song . . . . (Leahey, 2015).

CARRIE UNDERWOODS
BACKGROUND

The song Before He Cheats was written by Chris

Tompkins and Josh Kear. It was presented on her album
Some Hearts in 2005. This album moved Underwood
from a shy, small-town country girl to a pop-country
legend (Betts et al., 2015).
Her 2005 debut album, Some Hearts, was a massive hit,
and she has gone on to a decade of runaway success that
includes seven Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music
Awards, 11 Academy of Country Music Awards and eight
American Music Awards, along with a Golden Globe
nomination for Best Original Song. She is the best-selling
American Idol alum in U.S. sales, and has scored more
than a dozen No. 1 hits (Whitaker).

LOU REEDS BACKGROUND

ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYEC4TZsy-Y

Lou Reed was born in New York on March 2, 1942. He

originally made his debut in the band Velvet
Underground in 1964 (Olding, 2016).
Just two years later, track seven of The Velvet
Underground's debut album was Heroin, a seven-minute
hypnotic frenzy about Lou Reed's burgeoning drug habit
(Geoghegan, 2013).
Unfortunately, the band was short-lived and Reed left the
group in 1970 (Olding, 2016).
In 1972, Lou Reed released his famous album
Transformer, which included the song Perfect Day. This
album incorporated the elements of glam: sex, drugs and
identity crisis, which is everything that Reed was
(Olding, 2016).

LOU REEDS BACKGROUND

When you first hear the song Perfect Day, it sounds like
Reed is reminiscing on a perfect day with a past lover.
However, the song is much more than that. It represented
his addiction to heroin (Geoghegan, 2013).
The drug claims undoubtedly inspired Danny Boyle's
1996 film Trainspotting, where it was used during a
scene in which the lead character Renton, played by
Ewan McGregor, overdoses on heroin (Geoghegan,
2013).

THESIS

My goal is to compare and contrast the Ethos, Pathos

and Logos of Carrie Underwoods song Before He Cheats
and Lou Reeds song Perfect Day. I will accomplish this
goal by analyzing the songs lyrics, the vocals and
instrumentation and a video of the song.

ETHOS BEFORE HE
CHEATS

Carrie Underwood is an authority on the subject of

being cheated on because of her use of I throughout the
song. In her music video, she represents herself as an
outraged, strong, independent woman who does not need a
man in her life. Throughout Before He Cheats Carrie is
the main focus, however, they do show little tidbits of a man
with a woman, representing him cheating on Carrie with
another woman. The entire song she has an abundance of
attitude, walks with her head held high and seems capable
of accomplishing anything portraying her as independent.
At the end, she is seen walking in the street with her arms
lifted in the air while windows are shattering, sparks are
flying and the wind is whirling showing her power and
strength.

PATHOS BEFORE HE
CHEATS

Carrie Underwood appeals to my emotions because

shes enraged that she was cheated on and is vengeful
toward whomever did it. I can only imagine the pain and
agony she felt at first, but now shes madder than ever. It
actually makes me really sad when I hear someone has
cheated because I think back to my parents and theyve
been happily married for 33 years and thats unfortunately
very rare nowadays. It also angers me that someone could
hurt someone they love and have no respect for whomever
is being cheated on. No one should have to go through that.
Her tone is hostile and livid toward toward this man which
she has every right to feel because he betrayed her.

PATHOS BEFORE HE
CHEATS

The vocals and instrumentation add a tremendous value

to this song. Just reading the lyrics, you can tell in the
chorus how angry she is by That I dug my key into the
side/Of his pretty little souped-up four-wheel drive,/Carved
my name into his leather seats.../I took a Louisville slugger
to both headlights,/Slashed a hole in all four tires.../Maybe
next time he'll think before he cheats (CARRIE
UNDERWOOD LYRICS). With the vocals and
instrumentation, her voice and and the background music
add suspense as to what will she do next. These both
emphasize her independence, strength and outrage.

LOGOS BEFORE HE
CHEATS

The musician has a clear claim that she will not let him
cheat on her again. This is supported when she says, I
might've saved a little trouble for the next girl,/'Cause the
next time that he cheats.../Oh, you know it won't be on
me!/No... not on me (CARRIE UNDERWOOD LYRICS). She
has learned her lesson and wants him to learn his too. She
also claims that she did damage to his car in the chorus of
the song and the video helps back the claim up because she
has a Louisville slugger and is shown smashing his car.

ETHOS PERFECT DAY

Lou Reed is credible on the subject of heroin because in

class we learned of his previous heroin addiction (Olding,
2016). This makes him credible as well because he knows
personally what it is like to do heroin.
He builds a bridge to the audience by allowing us to
interpret his message of the song. I originally interpreted it
as him reminiscing on memories with a lover. However,
someone else may interpret this song very differently. For
Reed, his perfect day involves heroin.
Back in Reeds day, there were very limited music videos
created and unfortunately there was not one made for this
song. Therefore, I cannot interpret how he represents
himself visually for his song Perfect Day.

PATHOS PERFECT DAY

The vocals and instrumentation add meaning to the song

because the tune is very sorrowful and quiet, but at the
chorus, the piano and his vocals increase in volume each
time the chorus is sung. At this point when his volume
increases, this may represent his high from his heroin
usage. His voice sounds like hes yearning for this perfect
day and for Reed that might entail heroin.
This song appeals to your emotions by painting a picture
of a perfect day. When I first heard this song, I instantly
thought of what I would consider my perfect day.

LOGOS PERFECT DAY

The song Perfect Day is logical because of the organization of the

song. It follows the structure of verse then chorus. Also, the song is
logical because of the repetition of the ending versus, Youre going to
reap just what you sow (Google Play). There is also repetition of the
emphasize of Reed having this perfect day, which represents his
addiction. Furthermore emphasizing repetition, the melody is repeated
most of the song on the piano, except during the piano and violin solo
toward the end of the song. The repetition of the piano helps emphasize
the chorus. At the first chorus the violin comes in with a background
melody which portrays the true meaning of the song, which represents
that the song is not what you would think it is about. Since that moment
in the song, the violin becomes an important part and increases volume as
the song goes on.
In addition, Lou Reed makes the claim that doing heroin is his
definition of a perfect day, however, he does not assume we agree with
him. He is just stating what his perfect day would consist of.

COMPARING ETHOS,
PATHOS, LOGOS
Both Lou Reed and Carrie Underwoods songs consist of Ethos,
Pathos, and Logos. One way these songs are similar is because the
songs appeal to my emotions, even if it is in different ways. Even
though both songs have Ethos, Pathos and Logos, they do not have the
same meanings under each of these categories.
I stated earlier that both songs appeal to my emotions. However,
this is done in different ways. Carrie Underwoods song appeals to my
emotions because of the anger she has, which evokes anger and
sadness in me. Lou Reeds song appeals to my emotions because he
paints the picture of his perfect day, provoking me to think of what
mine would be.
In addition, both songs make a clear claim, however, they consist of
very different aspects. Underwoods claim is that she will never let him
cheat on her again and that she has done major damage to his car.
Reeds claim is that his perfect day consists of heroin.

COMPARING ETHOS,
PATHOS, LOGOS

Another aspect both Underwoods and Reeds songs

have in common is that both vocals and instrumentation add
meaning to the songs. In Underwoods song, vocals and
instrumentation add meaning because it supports that she is
angry not only visually, but in the sound as well. Reeds
song is given more meaning with vocals and
instrumentation because hes very melancholy, and his voice
depicts this. Also, when the volume increases, this
represents Reeds high from heroin usage. In addition, they
are both authorities on the subjects they sing about. Carrie
Underwood is credible because of her use of I throughout
the song, which refers to her being cheated on. Lou Reed is
credible because of his known drug addiction.

CONTRASTING ETHOS,
PATHOS, LOGOS

Even though both songs have Ethos, Pathos and Logos,

they do not have the same meanings under each of these
categories. One way in which they are different is in the
visual representation. Back in Lou Reeds era of music, very
few videos were created, whereas nowadays, almost every
song has a video that allows the audience to see a visual
representation. Because Reed did not have a video, it
lacked visual representation, whereas Underwood did have
one which emphasized her anger and power.
Another way these songs are different is how Lou Reed
builds a bridge to his audience and allows us to interpret
his song however we wish, whereas Carrie Underwoods is
a very straight forward meaning that can basically only be
interpreted in one way.

CONTRASTING ETHOS,
PATHOS, LOGOS

Another aspect of Lou Reeds song Perfect Day that

was different from Carrie Underwoods song Before He
Cheats was his use of repetition. Carrie Underwoods song
mainly only repeated the chorus, whereas Lou Reeds is
repetitive in the melody, ending versus, and emphasis of the
perfect day.

CONCLUSION

Though both artists come from different walks of life,

their music still inspires others, its just done in various
ways. Both of their songs contain ethos, pathos and logos,
however, they are represented differently. I have examined
all aspects of the songs including visuals, lyrics, vocals and
instrumentation to get to these conclusions. I have
compared and contrasted the ethos, pathos and logos and
in doing so, this has shown me that these two very unalike
genres are actually similar in these three aspects, yet still
have their own differences. My goal was to connect these
two songs and the audience to see the similarities and
differences using ethos, pathos and logos.

REFERENCE PAGE

""Before He Cheats" Lyrics." CARRIE UNDERWOOD LYRICS. N.p., 2016.

Web. 06 Apr. 2016.
Betts, Stephen L., Melinda Newman, Marissa R. Moss, Adam Gold, Erin
Manning, Beville
Dunkerley, Joseph Hudak, and Andrew Leahey. "Booting
Ass and Taking Names:
Country's 20 Best Revenge Songs." Rolling Stone.
N.p., 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Geoghegan, Kev. "Lou Reed: In His Own Words - BBC News." BBC News.
N.p., 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Leahey, Andrew. "Carrie Underwood Named Country Music's Best-Selling
Digital Artist." Rolling Stone. N.p., 12 Aug. 2015. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Olding, Christine. Lecture. Kent State University. Feb. 2016.
Perfect Day Lou Reed. - Google Play Music. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 April 2016.
Whitaker, Sterling. "Remember Carrie Underwood's 'American Idol'
Audition?" Taste of Country. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.