“Beautiful Day” Performed by U2 Interpreted by Mrs. George
The heart is a bloom Shoots up through the stony ground There's no room No space to rent in this town metaphor end rhyme
You're out of luck And the reason that you had to care The traffic is stuck And you're not moving anywhere end rhyme symbolism? “stuck” in life?
You thought you'd found a friend To take you out of this place Someone you could lend a hand In return for grace alliteration
It's a beautiful day Sky falls, you feel like It's a beautiful day Don't let it get away alliteration refrain
You're on the road But you've got no destination You're in the mud In the maze of her imagination alliteration
You love this town Even if that doesn't ring true You've been all over And it's been all over you hyperbole
It's a beautiful day Don't let it get away It's a beautiful day refrain
Touch me Take me to that other place Teach me I know I'm not a hopeless case metaphor? (for heaven or just a happy feeling?)
See the world in green and blue See China right in front of you See the canyons broken by cloud See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out repetition imagery
See the Bedouin fires at night See the oil fields at first light And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth After the flood all the colors came out Biblical allusion
It was a beautiful day Don't let it get away Beautiful day Touch me Take me to that other place Reach me I know I'm not a hopeless case refrain (whole stanza from the previous verse) allusion (changed tense – talking about the day that they knew the flood was over)
What you don't have you don't need it now What you don't know, you can feel it somehow What you don't have you don't need it now Don't need it now Was a beautiful day
Devices in “Beautiful Day” rhyme scheme meterrepetitionrefrain symbolismmetaphorimageryallusion alliterationhyperbole
Tone and Mood in “Beautiful Day” Tone The speaker’s tone is one of passionate pleading (for the listener to recognize the beauty or for God to show him the beauty) and of pleasant discovery (that the world is indeed beautiful). Mood The mood of the song is upbeat and hopeful. It makes the listener feel like any day can be a beautiful one.
How “Beautiful Day” speaks to me… It says that no matter where you are, it can be o.k. Things aren’t always nice on the surface, but we can still find beauty in them It sounds like he is talking to God, asking Him to help him see the beauty and not to give up on him. Just stop and enjoy life. Look around. It’s a beautiful day
Now it’s your turn. Think of a song in which the lyrics “speak” to you.Find on Internet (or write down) the lyrics. Identify figurative language and sound devices. Write a few sentences about how it speaks to you.
Present your song “lesson” to the class. Play the song. Display a copy of the lyrics with sound devices and figures of speech labeled. Tell the class how it speaks to you