English 10 Final Project

I Believe I Can Fly Get Rhythm

By: R. Kelly By: Johnny Cash

By: Shane Vest

Period 6
https://youtu.be/GIQn8pab8Vc https://youtu.be/ODjCufSt6_I
Theme
● Throughout the songs “Get Rhythm” by Johnny Cash and “I Believe I Can
Fly” by R. Kelly, both of these very motivating singers share a common
theme that hope and faith is a way to change one’s perspective of the world.
Get Rhythm - Anaphora
Chorus:
“Hey, get rhythm when you get the
blues. C’mon get rhythm when you get
the blues. Get a rock and roll feeling in
your bones. Get taps on your toes and
get gone. Get rhythm when you get the
blues” (Cash 1-5).
● In the song “Get Rhythm”, the
word “get” is used repeatedly
throughout the chorus to create the
statement that worrying too much
is only going to make things worse.
Verse:
“He grinned as he raised his little head.
He popped his shoeshine rag and then he
said” (Cash 12-13).
● After two sentences, the word “he”
is repeated in this verb to indicate
the visual and happy appearance
the shoeshine boy had towards the
singer.
I Believe I Can Fly - Anaphora
Chorus: Verse:
“I believe
“I believe II can
can fly.
fly. II believe
believe II can
can touch
touch the “If I can see it hoo, then I can be it. If I
sky.sky.
the I think about
I think it every
about night
it every andand
night day” just believe it, there’s nothing to it”
(Kelly(Kelly
day” 3). 3). (Kelly 4).
● In
● In the
the chorus
chorus of
of the
the song
song “I
“I Believe
Believe II
Can Fly”,
Fly”, R.
they repeatedly usedused
the the ● From what R. Kelly believes, acting
Can Kelly repeatedly on personal beliefs and achieving
word “I”
word “I” to
to convey
convey the
the importance
theme that it’s
of
important to have courage. what feels right is vital to a
courage. successful life. The author repeated
the phrase “if I” as a way to inspire
the audience to see the good in the
world and to never give up.
How These Uses of Anaphora Are Relatable
● Through the use of phrases such as, “Get a rock and roll feeling in your bones. Get
taps on your toes and get gone. Get rhythm when you get the blues” (Cash 1-5) and
“I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky. I think about it every night and
day” (Kelly 3), both of these songs express a common message.
● The point of these two phrases and the use of anaphora is to suggest to the audience
that self-belief is crucial for a successful life.
Get Rhythm - Imagery
Chorus:
“Hey get rhythm when you get the blues.
C’mon get rhythm when you get the blues.
Get a rock and roll feeling in your bones.
Get taps on your toes and get gone” (Cash
1-5).
● To express the happy and jumpy
feeling this song is meant to tell, the
author used the phrase “Get a rock and
roll feeling in your bones” to
emphasize a sensory example of
feeling good and happy.
Verse:
“A little shoeshine boy he never gets
lowdown. But he’s got the dirtiest job in
town. Bending low at the people’s feet on a
windy corner of a dirty street” (Cash 6-9).
● Although the shoeshine boy found his
ways to be happy, he still has a job that
is described to be very unclean and
unpleasant to most people through the
use of imagery and phrases such as
“bending low at the people’s feet”.
I Believe I Can Fly - Imagery
Chorus: Verse:
“I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the “I believe I can soar. I see me running
sky. I think about it every night and day. through that open door” (Kelly 6).
Spread my wings and fly away” (Kelly 3).
● R. Kelly used a visual example of freedom
● As R. Kelly gets to the main chorus of the when he sung “I see me running through
song, he used imagery as an example of the that open door” to indicate that he’s a
main theme of the song by using lyrics such winner and is free to be happy.
as “I believe I can fly” and “Spread my
wings and fly away.” The writer knows that
he can’t really fly but he used those phrases
as a visual representation of his beliefs.
How These Uses of Imagery Share A Common Message
● Although both of the phrases “Bending low at the people’s feet on a windy corner of a
dirty street” (Cash 6-9) and “I believe I can soar. I see me running through that open
door” (Kelly 6) represent different ideas, they both correlate to a similar fact.
● In the song “Get Rhythm”, the writer describes the shoe boy’s job as “the dirtiest job
in town” but the matter of fact is that happiness does not always come from a
high-paying job.
● In the other song “I Believe I Can Fly”, the writer of this song used a visual example
of “[him] running through that open door” to represent the true motivation in his life.
● The common idea of these two examples of imagery is that success comes from
motivation and not always from high-paying jobs.
Get Rhythm - Diction
Chorus:
“Get a rock and roll feelin’ in your bones”
(Cash 7-8).
● Through the use of the phrase “rock
and roll”, the author expresses an
up-beat feeling of happiness that the
whole song is about.
Verse:
“A little shoeshine boy he never gets
lowdown” (Cash 6).
● The author used diction by using the
word “lowdown” in a more joyful
way as a replacer for the word “sad”.
The use of diction in this scenario is
meant to express a catchy rhythm
about happiness. After all, the song
is called “Get Rhythm”.
I Believe I Can Fly- Diction
Chorus:
“I think about it every night and day (Night
and day). Spread my wings and fly away”
(Kelly 3).
● The author used the phrase “spread my
wings and fly away” to resemble the
fact that he moved on from his doubts
and worries. He did not literally fly
away.
Verse:
“And life was nothing but an awful song”
(Kelly 1).
● Instead of the author only using the
word “awful”, he decided to say “an
awful song” to indicate the
relationship between life and awful
songs.
The Relationship Between the Use of Diction
● From the uses of diction such as “Get a rock and roll feelin’ in your bones” (Cash 7-8)
and “I think about it every night and day (Night and day). Spread my wings and fly
away” (Kelly 3), the authors used different ways of wording their songs to give out a
glimpse of their tone and message.
● For example, R. Kelly used the phrase “spread my wings and fly away” as an
example of him escaping all the doubts and troubles that plagued his mind.
● Another example of diction is when Johnny Cash sang “get a rock and roll feeling in
your bones” as a resemblance of being joyful and learning to relax.
Conclusion
● Through the hardships both R. Kelly and Johnny Cash have had to face, they have
learned that life contains a great amount of happiness as well.
● From the use of literary devices such as anaphora and imagery, both of these
inspirational singers have conveyed the theme that dwelling on all the negativity in
life is never the answer.
● Although both of these songs have a drastic difference in tone, they still share a
common message.