Poetry Assignment Oisn OReilly I should probably mention this before I even begin attempting to analyse this song

g and what it means to me, and its effect on society as a whole; I consider myself a complete and utter audiophile, that is to say I have a great passion for music. Listening to it, reproducing it on my Steinhoven mini-grand piano, and simply appreciating it. A quic glance at my I!od would not suggest this trait, as I currently have only "#$ songs; tiny when you consider it has space for thousands upon thousands of songs. %he one thing I can assure you is that every single song has been listened to, and thoroughly appreciated; a te&tboo e&ample of 'quality over quantity(. )hat I(m trying to ma e clear is that I had quite a few songs to choose from for this assignment, but in the end there was one that truly stood out and I *ust had to write about it. %he song that I have chosen is '+ra,y( by -narls .ar ley, a musical collaboration between /anger 0ouse and +ee Lo -reen. %he song was released as a part of their debut album 'St. 1lsewhere( in 2##3, and it was an instant hit, reaching the number one spot throughout 1urope, 4orth America, and Australia. It received massive airplay on almost all radio stations, where I undoubtedly heard it first. It *ust so happened that my father too interest in the song, and decided to buy the album featuring the song. 5ust li e me, my father also has a habit of ta ing an ama,ing song, and repeating it until we hate it. As the rest of the album happened to be terrible, 6as most one-hit albums are7 it was '+ra,y( that my dad put on repeat in the stereo of his car. If I were to analyse *ust why this song affects me the way it does, I would say that it may have something to do with the period of my life I was in when I heard it first, and the way that the lyrics resonate with me. %his was 2##3, so I was about 88 years old. I wasn(t having such a great time in school, and I was feeling increasingly isolated. I guess I felt li e I was going a bit 'cra,y( myself, and maybe this song represented that time of my life. All I now for certain is that when I heard it again, this year, I burst into tears for no conceivable reason. 0y favourite part of this song is at the second line of the first verse, where -reen sings9 I remember when I lost my mind. There was something so pleasant about that place. I find the image that this line creates quite interesting. :n the surface, the singer is reflecting on once being insane, the way an older person might remember their youth. %hey remar that there was 'something so pleasant( about being in an altered state of mind as such, that they en*oyed it or found some peace there. ;owever, the e&perience is a thing of the past, a phase if you will, that should not be revisited. %he idea of reminiscing about an immature, but blissful phase of madness carries to the third verse where the spea er appears to give advice to someone in his position, possibly a younger person e&periencing what he has e&perienced9 And I hope that you are Having the time of your life But think twice That s my only advice I find this image interesting because it will almost always be relevant to young people li e me. )e try to find peace in e&perimenting with new things, new ways of thin ing, attempting to brea the mould; but what is usually overloo ed is that we are merely repeating what has been done by countless generations that have come before us, as I believe -narls .ar ley show in this song. '+ra,y( held the 4o. 8 chart position in the <= for nine wee s, after which the band and their record company made the curious and famous decision to remove the single from

.ritish stores so that people would >remember the song fondly and not get sic of it?. %he company itself, /owntown @ecords, signed the single after a single listen calling it >so important on so many levels?. I chose this song for my poetry assignment because of its profound importance to me, and its impact on culture as a whole. !aybe we re cra"y #robably