TA is a type of qualitative research that uses inductive reasoning.

It allows for the data to tell its

own story. It may or may not have a hypothesis that is tested, which is a form of deductive
reasoning.

Allen Stone-
Thematic Analysis

Column 1 Place lyrics (text) Column 2: (Analyze each line of text,

your unit of analysis) using a one-to-
Step 1 three word phrase. It answers the
question, “What is going on in this line
of text?

[Verse 1] Escaping Mental Challenges

I took a plane over the stars
It didn't get me very far
Cause all my problems, they follow me
I flew to the moon
But it wasn't far enough away from you
Cause all our problems, they follow me
“I took a plane over the stars, it didn’t get
me very far...
Taking Vacations escape/get-away
…Cause all my problems, they follow
me...
Worries of life
thoughts, depression, worries of life
remain inside of the mind.

[Chorus 1] Sleeping it Off

And every night, I close my eyes Every time we go to sleep, we can relax
And all my troubles fade and detach ourselves from the worries of
And every morning when I rise life. However, the next day always
I'm just sleeping in this bed I made creates new challenges to face.

Stories of my Life…
“I’m just sleeping in this bed I made”
“This bed” would be consider his life.
 [Verse 2] Constant Nagging Thoughts

One million times inside of my mind
I have justified, baby but all my problems still
follow me
And I discovered a way to cleverly avoid the
blame
But all my problems still follow me
[Chorus 2]
Everyday time we are alive, we have a
million thoughts running through our
mind telling us what decisions to make.
No Complaining
But, finding a way to cope is a better way
to handle life mental stress.

[Verse 3] Facing Everyday Demons

I can't outrun the pain,
Oh, should have faced these demons as they came,
yeah
And what I wouldn't trade to make some room in
this bed I made
Problems will try to affect us, and
sometime anxiety come. But, we should
remain to have self-control and hold on
to the little dignity that we must move
forward in life.

“oh, should have faced these demons as

they came…”

Don’t Kill my Vibe

The pain comes, but we should continue

to ignore them.
 Step 2: Put like codes together in like boxes
Facing Everyday Demons
Escaping Mental Sleeping it Off Worries of life
Challenges Taking Vacations escape No Complaining
Constant Nagging Don’t Kill my Vibe Stories of my Life…
Thoughts

Step 3: Come up with a one-three-word phrase that summarizes the codes in each box.
That word or phrase becomes your theme for each box.
Theme #1: Mental Health
Theme #2: A Get Way
Theme #3: Slaying Demons
Writeup Section:

Title: The Bed That You Make Is a Life Story

Abstract

I conducted a thematic analysis on the lyrics of the song, “Bed I Made” by Allen Stone from his

album released in 2015, titled “Radius.”

The three themes resulted from the analysis is the reasons on how the pressures of society can

take a toll in our lives.

Mental Health reflected every day emotional and psychological events that happens in the brain.

A Get Way reflected times to when vacations are ideally used to “get away” from life. Slaying

Demons reflected how certain pressures can result to fear if not handled carefully.

The themes are discussed through the viewpoints of hypermasculity and the spiral of silence

based on a comparison on why men who release emotion in songs for instance Bruno Mars

“When I was Your Man” are considered “soft.” In society, men are known to have hide their

feeling, but Allen Stone lyrics explains why it is it okay. To listen to “Bed I Made,” copy and

paste this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bONGyKi_5sc

Introduction/Background

It all began in Chewelah, Washington for Allen Stone where singing at his father’s church at the

age of three changed his life. His musical influences are mostly by R&B and Soul artist like

Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway. At the age of 14, he later leads the worship

band and which lead to him learning how to play guitar. “Bed I Made” lyrics was produced when

his first major album deluxe edition added seven tracks to his original album, “Radius” on March

25, 2016. As the seventh track on the album, the song set the vibe from his acoustic guitar along

with his lyrics telling truth of his battles with depression. Stone has not released a new album;

however, he remains performing on tour.

Methodology

The lyrics were analyzed by using qualitative data research technique called thematic analysis

based from a template developed by Brain and Clarke (2006). Thematic Analysis (TA) allows

the data to tell the story without the assumptions of a hypothesis. The question: “what do the

themes that emerge from this song tell you about the lyric's deeper meanings?” help to narrow

the understanding of lyrics by interpreting each verse and chorus individually. Afterward, each

lyric was given a one-to-three phrase describing the meaning, and later placed in boxes as liked

code phrases resulting to one-to-three word themes.

Results

Theme 1 is Mental Health.

The codes grouped were: escaping mental challenges and constant nagging thoughts.

The lyrics that explain these results:

“I took a plane over the stars, it didn’t get me very far...”

“One million times inside of my mind, I have justified, baby but all my problems still follow
me…”

Theme 2 is A Get Away

The codes grouped were: sleeping it off, taking vacations escape, don’t kill my vibe.

The lyrics that explain these results:

“And every night, I close my eyes, and all my troubles fade, and every morning when I rise…”
“I flew to the moon, but it wasn't far enough away from you…”
“And what I wouldn't trade to make some room in this bed I made.”

Theme 3 is Slaying Demons

The codes grouped were: facing everyday demons, worries of life, no complaining, stories of my
life.

The lyrics that explain these results:

“I can't outrun the pain, oh, should have faced these demons as they came…”
“Cause all our problems, they follow me…”
“And I discovered a way to cleverly avoid the blame…”
“I’m just sleeping in this bed I made”

Discussion

“The Bed I Made” is a song created to get anyone to reflect on their life events that affects them

negatively. Usually an opportunity to better oneself is given to try some things to be different.

One verse that repeats explains how life is determined by how we act upon our situations.

“And every night, I close my eyes, all my troubles fade, and every morning when I rise, I’m just

sleeping in this bed I made.”

Stone had a chance to tell his story of how he battles with depression. As part of a hyper-

masculine culture that we live today, typically the male is supposed to hide his feelings and

never let anyone know. The spiral silence explains from this TA that behind such of a stereotype

the minority voice is usually the loudest, but the majority will always have the final say. Those

men who are a part of the bandwagon should get the help that they need. If they have someone to

talk to then the bed that made the next day will get better again.

Bruno Mars song, “When I Was Your Man,” is a song where he has the chance to be emotional

and express his feelings of not getting a proper opportunity with his ex the first time. Men who

felt like they have done wrong would like to know the reason why and would like to have a

second chance. For instance, I can relate to this song, because for months I tried to get back with

my ex, but it was too late. However, I find that discussing different options on how to cope with

my friends, close ones and psychotherapist help me to express emotions and properly analyze

what I can do differently now.

Based from the themes, it is important that I make the time to go on vacations, stick to different

ways to cope with stress and the other factors that make life not so great. But, with “Bed I

Made”, it helps to hear that is okay to not be okay, and that the battles can be conquered. More

musicians and media public figures should be able to voice their feelings without the ridicule of

being called a “punk” or “effeminate”.