Gravity John Mayer

Gravity

Is working against me

And Gravity

Wants to bring me down

Oh, I'll never know

What makes this man, with all the love that his heart can stand

Dream of ways to throw it all away

Woah, woah

Gravity is working against me

And gravity wants to bring me down

Oh, twice as much ain't twice as good

And can't sustain like one half could

It's wanting more that's gonna send me to my knees

[Guitar Solo] – Sidenote: One of his most iconic

Oh, twice as much ain't twice as good

And can't sustain like one half could

It's wanting more that's gonna send me to my knees

Woah, woah

Gravity, stay the hell away from me

Woah, woah

Gravity has taken better men than me

Now, how can that be?

Just keep me where the light is

Just keep me where the light is

Just keep me where the light is

Come on, keep me where the light is

Come on, keep me where the light is

Come on, keep me where the light is, now, keep me where the light is
 Paper 1 Response

The text is an example of a song lyric. By its design, the purpose of songwriting and
the medium itself provides an outlet for musical individuals to emotionally articulate
themselves. Each song has its own individual meaning and emotions attached to it;
connecting this to the wider world, it demonstrates that despite the music industry and
songs as a medium is becoming digitalized and commercialized, where most of the
world has access to an array of songs, each song has its target audience in which it
emotionally appeals to in order to maximize its success, whether it being intentional
or unintentional of the author. In Mayer’s song “Gravity”, he confronts the
ramifications of his past doings, speaking towards an audience with similar
experiences, almost acting as a mode of expression for his audiences. Presumably,
the target audience of this text are not only restricted to Mayer’s fans, but also
individuals who are in a similar situation that the song depicts. Linking this to the
wider world, it is also appropriate to say that the song is also made for a general
audience, due to the digitalized and highly accessible nature of music as of today.

“Gravity” opens with a range of language techniques, used by design to evoke a sense
of emotional resonance with the audience and articulation on Mayer’s part. The
opening lines of "Gravity” depicts Mayer’s career and personal life up until the song’s
creation, the metaphor and sustained repetition of the phrase “Gravity” is a common
theme throughout the text as suggested by its title. As for its metaphoric qualities,
“Gravity” symbolizes an array of meanings. In nature and science, “Gravity” is
something is constant, constantly exerting its forces onto us in order to keep
everything in its place. Through utilizing the phrase “Gravity”, Mayer addresses the
situation in which he finds himself in will constantly reside with him for the rest of his
life, just as how gravity is constantly keeping us in our place. Linking this to the
authorial context, Mayer is also suggesting through the phrase “Gravity” that he is in
need for an element or a person to constantly keep him in place and to make sure that
he doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary. Mayer has been accused of many wrong
doings on his part, and he uses this metaphor in order to communicate to himself that
he now has to think before acting, using “Gravity” as a reminder, which is constant.
The opening sections of the song is then followed up with the line “is working against
me” and “wants to bring me down”. In these lines of the song, Mayer juxtaposes the
idea of gravity exerting a positive influence of keeping things in order and the
negative connotations of it “bring him down” and “working against him”. This
creates pathos with the reader, as readers of the texts will likely sympathize with
Mayer being unable to identify the good from bad at this point of his life.
Furthermore, the lines can be seen as a testament to the hardships of life. “Gravity”,
in the end, is what keeps us in our place. Hence, gravity “working against” Mayer
describes an inner conflict/issue; one of personal struggle, a struggle of trying to keep
things from falling apart. This reinforces the pathos that is associated with the text as
readers may have their own hardships that they have to deal with, which helps in
better resonating with the text.

As we move down towards to the verse section of the text, we find that the
confrontational tonality associated with the text is sustained. The phrase “this man”
refers to Mayer himself, focalizing on how he desperately tries to always get more, so
much so to the point that he neglects the “love” that is already there and “throws it all
away”

Man, this song was harder to analyze than I thought, if you could tell me if I heading
in the right track it would be greatly appreciated :)