Thursday 9 June 2011

Caught in the Crowd Analysis.

"Caught in the Crowd" By Kate Miller Heidke
There was a guy at my school when I was in high school
We'd ride side by side in the morning on our bicycles
Never even spoken or faced each other
But on the last hill we'd race each other

When we reached the racks, we'd each go our own way
I wasn't in his classes, I didn't know his name
When we finally got to speak, he just stared at his feet
And mumbled a sentence that ended with James

I was young and caught in the crowd
I didn't know then what I know now
I was dumb and I was proud and I'm sorry

If I could go back, do it again
I'd be someone you could call friend
Please, please believe that I'm sorry

Well, he was quite a big guy, kinda shy and quiet
When the kids called him weird, he didn't try to deny it
Every lunchtime he'd spend walking by himself
'Round the boundary of the grounds 'til he heard the bell

Well, one day I found him, joined him on his walk
We were silent for a while until we started to talk
I told him my family were fighting in court
He said his step-dad and him always fought

[. From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/k/kate-miller,,Heidke-lyrics/caught-in-the-crowd-lyrics.html .]
We talked about music, he was into punk
Told me all the bands that I liked were junk
I said I'd never heard the songs the Sex Pistols sang
I laughed back at him and then the bell rang

I was young and caught in the crowd
I didn't know then what I know now
I was dumb and I was proud and I'm sorry

If I could go back, do it again
I'd be someone you could call friend
Please, please believe that I'm sorry

It was after school in the afternoon
The corridors were crowded as we came out of the rooms
Three guys I knew pushed him into the cement
Threw away his bag and said he had no friends

He yelled that he did and he looked around
Tried getting up but they pushed him on down
That's when he saw me, called out my name
And I turned my back and just walked away
Yeah, I turned my back and just walked away

I was young and caught in the crowd
I didn't know then what I know now
I was dumb and I was proud and I'm sorry

If I could go back, do it again
I'd be someone you could call friend
Please, please believe that I'm sorry
Please, please believe that I'm sorry

The title of this Poem is "Caught In The Crowd" by Kate Miller Heidke and the form is a Ballad.
It is about being a type of person everyone likes and becoming so much like that, that you betray your friends. 
The message is that you should never try to fit in so much that you betray your friends because that is what everyone thinks is cool.
The tone of the poem is guilt and regret because she feels guilty for what she did and she also regrets it
The language techniques that the composer uses are repetition, because she repeats a verse in the song 3 times, this is called the chorus, also she used a metaphor "I was young I was caught in the crowd", that is the metaphor and it means trying to fit in and be like everyone else.
My personal Opinion of the poem is that it is a good and entertaining, it creates a good story in you head and she explains the situation and why she is sorry in great detail.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks, this really helped me with my project for English. I had to analyse this song and write up and essay for it and I couldn't work out the language features. Thanks again.

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