Preston Joiner

-Billie Holiday “Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees” An early cry for civil rights, possibly the start of the Civil Rights Movement

-Tupac Shakur “I see no changes. All I see is racist faces. Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races we under. I wonder what it takes to make this one better place... let's erase the wasted. Take the evil out the people, they'll be acting right.” Tupac is trying to express the idea that changes need to be made in our everyday lives.

-Beyonce “There was a time I thought, that you did everything right No lies, no wrong Boy I must've been out of my mind So when I think of the time that I almost loved you You showed you’re a** and I, I saw the real you” A failed relationship that she has had in the past. There are emotional shifts that are evident between each verse. Starting at caring and eventually evolving to hatred and scorn.

-Jordin Sparks “But how do you expect me To live alone with just me? 'Cause my world revolves around you It's so hard for me to breathe” Jordin uses air as a symbol for love They need each other and the love that the other provides

-Ed Sheeran “I'm gonna pick up the pieces and build a Lego house If things go wrong we can knock it down My three words have two meanings but there's one thing on my mind It's all for you”” "(It's) about a break-up and it was me using the metaphor of Lego”

-Ed Sheeran “White lips, pale face Breathing in snowflakes Burnt lungs, sour taste Light's gone, day's end Struggling to pay rent Long nights, strange men” She was a heroin addict and she took up prostitution to support her addiction.

-Bruno Mars “My pride, my ego, my needs, and my selfish ways Caused a good strong woman like you to walk out my life Now I never, never get to clean up the mess I made, ohh… And it haunts me every time I close my eyes” The song is actually about a breakup that he went through. The shifts that are embedded in the song represent the moods he experienced during that time.

-Madonna “When I was very young Nothing really mattered to me But making myself happy I was the only one Now that I am grown Everything's changed I'll never be the same Because of you” The process of motherhood made her realize that everything that she thought did not matter, actually did.

-Mariah Carey “Spread your wings and prepare to fly For you have become a butterfly Fly abandonedly into the sun If you should return to me We truly were meant to be So spread your wings and fly Butterfly” Wishes he would understand that they had to part ways in order to do what they each needed to do

-The Police “Every breath you take Every move you make Every bond you break Every step you take I'll be watching you” Inspired by the desire for surveillance and control he was feeling during his divorce