FINAL ESSAY SONG PORTFOLIO

Owen Maguire

5/25/15

G Period

Godmintz

SMELLS LIKE TEENAGERS WASTELAND

The theme chosen was teenagers and teenage life. The songs of this theme are, Teenagers- My Chemical romance, Smells like teen spirit- Nirvana, and Teenage Wasteland- The Who. The most interesting aspect of these three songs is the common mood of negative emotion, violence, fear, and pain. Yet, all three songs are considered anthems to their respected generation. All three songs have similar moods, but are all also from different time periods.  

            What poetic devices can be found in each song? First off, the song “Smells like teen spirit has rhyme and repetition. “Hello, Hello, Hello, How low.” Is repeated numerous time throughout the song showing the songs alliteration while the lines “With the Lights out it's less dangerous , Here we are now entertain us, I feel stupid and contagious” are examples of Rhyme. There are many possible instances in the song where metaphor could possibly be found but the line, A mullato an albino, A mosquito my libido,” is the most powerful, really showing that the message is that teenagers really just feel like a “fly on the wall” or in other words, just pests to everyone else. Comparing his libido to a mosquito and an albino created a strong image and uses metaphor to help describe a negative feeling that the teenage people felt.

            Poetic devices in the song Teenagers are harder to find but are still visible. A lot like the song “Teenage Wasteland”, there are various metaphors and images portrayed. Such as “Just another cog in the murder machine” and “They’re gonna rip up your heads, your aspirations to shreds.” Lastly, this song uses some foreshadowing to help support the negative theme of anger that teenagers are feeling. They say “But if you’re troubled and hurt, what you got under your shirt will make them pay for the things that they did.”

            Within the lines of the third song “Teenage Wasteland” are more examples of how the teenage culture felt unwanted and just wanted another place to go. This song portrays adult’s dismissive attitudes towards teens and how sick and tired of it they are. The line “They’re all wasted” is a good example of the feeling of complete anger and exhaust teens have of being treated the way they are. Though the line is a large exaggeration, it still created an image saying that they are all in this teenage wasteland.  Another powerful line in this song is “And don't look past my shoulder, The exodus is here.” This line is a metaphor, comparing the exodus stories to the fear the teenage culture had of the end of what they knew.”

            There are evidentially many very common themes to these tracks, anger, fear, and exhaust. Each song came from different time periods, and even from different countries, but for some reason, they are all almost identical in the point they were trying to make about how the teenagers felt at the time. The feeling of over control and dismissiveness that adults were displaying to teens was angering teens and these songs were ways to express these feelings.  In conclusion, no matter what country, what year, or what genre you are a part of, all teens share a common anger and fear towards what adults are doing to us. The lines within these songs are evidence to support this fact.