Song Analysis One Writing

          Southern music, mainly speaking in blues and rock, can be embodied with the image of a creature such as that of a blue devil. Characterized by saddness and melancholy, the blue devil brings about the fears and emotions of horrible, heartbreaking happenings, just as loss of love. A depressed mood surrounds this blue devil. Using creative storytelling and figuratve language, artists within this straightforward genre focus on strongly appealing to their audience's emotions. They paint pictures of heartbreak, sad stories, and deep feelings of despondence and meaning. The Allman Brothers Band sing lyrics that mean exactly as they appear. They have no underlying theme or tone; it is evident from the beginning what they intend to indugle in. But, they uniquely use poetic articulation to emphasize their diction and syntax. A particular song of theirs tells a story of a man who has been played by a woman whom he loved; she tore him down, made him feel so horrible he felt like he was being tied up and whipped. In the song “Whipping Post”, the Allman Brothers Band incorporates the use of a strong, metaphorical simile as the situational narrative's backbone and embellish it with evocative hyperboles and apostrophe to evoke the emotional and empathetic feelings behind unrequited love.

          The Allman Brothers Band writes songs that tell their audience a story. Their point in song writing is not to delve into the poetic aspect of music, but to get their audience to listen to a message or tale; it is all situational. But, the band's songwriting technique involves using particular devices to build a song around and give it more depth. The entirety of the song “Whipping Post” is a very straightforward, exemplary example of this such technique. This man, the narrator of the song, has been publicly humiliated by a woman, who has scrutinized, belittled, and cheated on him. The foundation of this song lies around the chorus of the song: “Sometimes I feel, sometimes I feel/Like I been tied to the whipping post,/tied to the whipping,/tied to the whipping post,/Good Lord I feel like I'm dyin'.” (Stanza 2/Lines 6-10) This metaphoric simile ties into the title of the song. The whole idea is that this man feels as though he has been publicly humiliated and torn apart, as if he were on a whipping post which was used back in time as town punishment, similar to a guilotine. These lines are alluding to and insinuating intense emotions, which give the song depth and a concrete expression of abstract feelings and ideas. The use of comparison is more of an artistic likening and is done for a particular effect and emphasis on a particular desired point, which is exactly how it is utilized in this song. The similes are simple; he explains he feels like he's dying and tied to a whipping post; again, very straightforward. The metaphor is much more subtle, but it is still present. The whipping post, in the narrator's mind, represents somethings deeper than just a post; it is a compiled group of emotions that he is feeling right now and they are all tearing him apart with nothing more than pain. Although the point of the song is to focus on the story and the cascading emotions and not the poetic merit, the metaphoric simile by which the song is built is a powerful component to this song's making.

          With the use of hyperboles and apostrophe, the songwriters were able to embellish their song and tie the story together. Hyperboles deliberately exaggerate conditions for emphasis or effect, and in this case they represent both. It is carefully restricted, but has enough range to evoke emotion and to stick with the audience in order to build a message. To explain his feelings, the narrator says “drown myself in sorrow.” (Stanza3/Line13) He is so full of emotion and cannot get away from it; the only way out that he sees is to drown in despondency. While ejecting how the bad times stay the same he says “I can't run.” (Stanze 3/Line15) He wants to get away, he wants to move on and find happiness, but nothing for him is changing. Time is frozen and although he does not literally mean his legs do not properly work for him to run, he can not seem to get time to continue in order to refind something worth living and loving for. Apostrophe directly addresses a person or personified thing, either present or absent. The main purpose here is to give vent to and display intense emotion, which can no longer be held back. It gives the narrator's story more than just the words. In Stanze 3, the narator directly addresses his love, by calling her “baby” (Stanze3/Line 12) and saying “what you've done.” (Stanza3/Line13) He can not hold what he feels back anymore. He looks like a fool and by addressing this woman, it gives him some relief from his pain by telling her this is what she has done. It lets her know he knows what is going on and he is not letting her get away with it. But, on the flip side, he talks God when he says “Good lord, I feel like I'm dying” (Chorus/Line 5) The narrator is crying out in pain and he utilizes this phrase in two ways. One way, it is a phrase in which he expresses the level of his pain and at this point, he's at his peak. The second way is in which he calls out to God for help of some sort; he is letting God know he is coming, but is not ready and is looking for a light, anything now, to help bring him back.

          The Allman Brothers Band achieved an intense challenge with writing “Whipping Post.” They are notable for their situational narratives throughout their music and focus on evoking certain emotions in their audience. They structure their idea around one or two, maybe, poetic tools and decorate it with a few others. Also, creatively, the songwriters wrote this song in a very unique manner. Each stanza is exactly five lines long, no more and no less. Whether this has something to do with the story is a mystery. But, it does add an effect of awe and perplexity to the song. This song is about an unreturned love and its profound emotions that follow. Styllistically, the music that coexists with these lyrics also tells the story. There is a specific use of repetition and chord changes to create the mood depending on the part of the song that is being sung; it is quite different for each stanza. It has a pounding beat that pushes the emotions to a higher level of existence. And the dueling guitars are fighting with each other, metaphoric for a quarreling couple; however, there is never a winner, just a never-ending and exhausting push and shove dissension.The lyrics in correspondence with the musical aspect of the song create something worth remembering and leaves the audience with a lasting impression.