Article about the rapper “Common”
Common uses singer, John Legend and his chorus people in the song as musical artistry. He uses the voice and harmony between John Legend and his chorus people as their voice expresses the hope and the goal of the people that are applied in the song about their future. He also uses himself in the song as musical artistry from his rap parts. In the beginning of the song “Glory” by Common and John Legend, John sings and the lyrics are “One day when the glory comes It will be ours, it will be ours Oh one day when the war is won We will be sure, we will be sure Oh glory (Glory, glory) Oh (Glory, glory).” The music supports this lyric and the message from the lyrics because the voice from john , the chorus guys sing and music playing in the back at the same time as the singer and it shows their hope and the goal about the future and the life will be great whenever the war ends, so then the glory will come to them and everyone will be happy in their life again. The music also shows their dedications to the protest and what is their final goal together. The rap part from Common, “Hands to the Heavens, no man, no weapon. Formed against, yes glory is destined. Every day women and men become legends. Sins that go against our skin become blessings. The movement is a rhythm to us. Freedom is like religion to us. Justice is juxtapositionin’ us. Justice for all just ain’t. specific enough. One son died, his spirit is revisitin’ us. Truant livin’ livin’ in us, resistance is us. That’s why Rosa sat on the bus. That’s why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up. When it go down we woman and man up. They say, “Stay down”, and we stand up. Shots, we on the ground, the camera panned up. King pointed to the mountain top and we ran up .” Common starts the rap with calmed voice and he builds up the momentum and the voice goes up as the note gets higher. it creates the intensity in the song and it also shows the protester’s willingness about why they are protesting and he also try to express how the protester minds about the protest from his word to word in his rap and every line from his rap has the part where he speaks loud and strong where he wants the audience to focus and understands what he is trying to express. For one of the parts, where he says “stay down and we stand up”, the rap from Common and the high notes expresses that whenever they get force to give up which is getting down while protesting but they will always get back up because they are strong as mentality because they do know their goal and what they have to fight for in order to achieve their goal of the lives.
Common uses his rhyme and allusion in his song as lyrical artistry as strategies of resistance. He makes an allusion towards Rosa Park in the song. Common uses his song “Glory” as textual artistry as resistance from the rhymes he used. In the beginning rap part from Common, he uses the identical rhyme which were “to us” or “us”. “The movement is a rhythm to us. Freedom is like religion to us. Justice is juxtapositionin’ us.” These lyrics helps to express the meaning of the song because it is saying how they were feeling strong of the civil rights movement to change the view from the society and getting respect and rights from others. So, everyone who was protesting were strong mentally and physically because they do not give up easily to earn their rights, even they might get hurt from it. They want justice and the freedom in their society. “One son died, his spirit is revisitin’ us. Truant livin’ livin’ in us, resistance is us. That’s why Rosa sat on the bus.” It express how they stay strong emotionally because they could have been like having a weak mind and wants to give up on the protest, but one of the guys died during protesting for their rights and it gave them a power to stay strong and fight for their rights and for the guy who had died so that the death will not be a waste. He uses another identical rhyme and allusion towards Rosa Park which was “up” “That’s why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up. When it go down we woman and man up. They say, “Stay down”, and we stand up. Shots, we on the ground, the camera panned up. King pointed to the mountain top and we ran up.” It shows the situations during the protest and we could tell from the lyrics that the situations were in horrible condition. However, they did not give up and keep doing what they were doing. “up” express the will from them and that they will not give up easily. The allusion with Rosa Park was that she was protesting by herself in the bus by sitting in the spot where they normally would not be allow to sit because there was inequality in the bus between white and black people at that time. During her protest, she was scared but she did not give up easily because she knew that it will impact others later on, which it did in a positive way for the protesters because after that, protesters become more strong mentality and learn from what Park did form them and understands why she did it from the people. He uses single end rhyme which were “victory and glory” “Welcome to the story we call victory. The comin’ of the Lord, my eyes have seen the glory.” It enriches the meaning of the song because they are saying victory will be theirs when the glory comes to them. The glory will give them justice, freedom, and their rights.
Works Cited
Common. “Glory.” Selma(Music from the Motion Picture), John Legend, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Def Jam Recordings, ARTium Recordings, Columbia Records, and G.O.O.D. Music, December 11, 2014, Genius, genius.com/Common-glory-lyrics.
