”Caged Bird” by Alicia Keys

The song that I chose is Caged Bird by Alicia Keys. Alicia Keys is singing about how she feels in reference to a caged bird. The purpose of this song is to express her feelings as a person who feels that they are caged with out a key. This song is a lyric poem because; it expresses an emotion and conveys an idea of how she feels inside. When you listen to this song it seems to put you in a sympathetic mood. I think that this song portrays Keys and her record label and how she feels towards her fans as a new artist. I chose this song because I feel that everyone at a certain point and time feels like a caged bird.

The lyrics start out as “Right now I feel like a bird, caged with out a key”, the use of the symbolism of a caged bird with out a key helps to create the feeling of being trapped with no way out. The second line talks about how everyone comes to see her and is joyful but they can not see the sorrow and pain through her smile. These lines portray the tone of this song and show how she really feels about the outsiders in her life. Everyone can relate to the feeling of deception from the outside in and how we don’t always see what all is there. The next line talks about the people in her life that hold her back from following through with her dreams and her sense of uniqueness. Alicia isn’t just speaking about herself, any teenager can relate to not being able to do what you want and having a since of individuality.

In relation to poetic devices, the biggest poetic device in this song personification, when Alicia sings the next line about having wings and the damage being done from her being unable to fly. Alicia then comes to the chorus where she sings about knowing why the caged bird sings and how only joy comes from song. This is an expression of the joy that music and song brings to peoples lives in some way. The way that music brings joy to our lives portrays the verisimilitude of how important it is to see how two elements can come together and create such a glorious outcome in our lives in our time of need. The next line in the chorus talks about her being rare and beautiful to everyone else and why can’t they just set her free. This is an excellent example of hyperbole, in the sense that she portrays herself as very rare and very beautiful to others. At the end of the song Alicia expresses her need to fly and spread her beauty and song for the whole world to see.

The stream of consciousness that this song has helps listeners to really feel the unspoken thoughts and feelings that the artist has. The words create a sense of feeling caged and helplessness. The language used in this song flows together and helps to create the mood. The diction of this song seems to be more poetic than informal or formal in the sense that she uses a bird and cage and have poetic qualities to them. Lastly, repetition is the last poetic device used to emphasize the need of her feeling like a bird that wants to fly away.

In conclusion, the theme of this song can be relate to everyone in some way and can also come off as a different meaning depending on personal circumstances. I picked this poem because I like when you feel like the artist is speaking to you about your own life and your current circumstances. My reaction to this poem is very sympathetic and reminds me of the times in my life that I felt there was no where to run to