Mid-term Project

Poetry Elements

1. Words

• Theme and Subject

    According to The Sun (2018), Jess Glynne is one of the most successful British Female artists of all time. But, behind her success story, insecurities are creeping in. She was plagued by low self-esteem, exhausted from a relentless schedule, and at one point, on the verge of quitting when doubts flared up about her own ability. Furthermore, she said in an interview about her personal crisis for the first time. The instant fame exacerbated insecurities she already had. Her song, ‘Insecurities’, was also released in 2018, so it can be assumed that the song represents her feelings and thoughts about insecurities she had.

    In the song, she wrote ‘I’ve stretched myself too thin, tried to be everything’. It shows that Jess tried to do many things at the same time and cannot give enough time or attention to any of them. Her insecurities are depicted throughout the lyric of the song, for example ‘I care way too much’, ‘I’m free but I’m fragile’, ‘I’m happy but I’m worried’, and ‘I’m set up but I’m so afraid’.

    Insecurity is defined as a feeling of lacking confidence and not being sure of your own abilities or whether people like us (Cambridge Dictionary). There are myriad types of insecurities such as relationship insecurity, job insecurity, body image insecurity, and social insecurity or anxiety. Everybody deals with insecurity from time to time and can creep in because people experience unpredictable upsets in daily life. The signs of insecurity are low or superficial self-esteem, perfectionism, depression or anxiety, and self-isolation.

    All the signs of insecurity can be found in the lyric of the song. ‘I care way too much’ is a sign of low self-esteem, ‘I get pins and needles’ is a sign of anxiety, ‘I’ve stretched myself too this, tried to be everything’ is a sign of perfectionism, ‘Wish I could open up is a sign of self-isolation. It can be concluded that the song is about Jess Glynne’s insecurities with her life. She even said in the interview that she constantly judging her appearance. Hence, the theme and subject of the song are her own insecurities.

• Imagery

• "I've stretched myself too thin, tried to be everything"

    In this lyric, Jess wants to invite the listener to feel what she feels through the description formed by the senses of hearing as well as feeling, this lyric describes how the singer has tried her best to fight her insecurities, this lyric show how she has struggled with all his might, using these words as a sense builder.

• “I need a thicker skin, to let nobody in”

    Even in these lyrics the singer wants to describe and build through the senses of taste, "i need a thicker skin", thick skin is a common idiom to say that someone is not easily upset or offended by criticism. From the lyric she wants to improve her ability to ignore all verbal attacks as well as criticism that she gets, all of which can grow her insecurities.

• “Dark nights, the silence eats me up”

    The singer wants to describe and convey through the senses of taste in the piece of the lyric "the silence eats me up" what the singer wants to convey through the lyrics is the behavior shown by the singer "the silence" can "eats me".

• “ I get pins and needles, when I think about it”

    In this case, the lyrics describe "pins and needles" is a pressure as well as demands and criticism received by the singer.

• “ I’ve got scars on my soul that i’m scared to show”

    In this piece of lyrics, the singer wants to describe even she is really hurt, her soul is hurt but she can't show to everyone.

• “I tried to raise my voice, Air crowded by the noise”

    Here the singer tries to describe he has voiced many times, and told people about her insecurities but all of them don't care as if they are covered by noise.

• “Tripped up more than twice, Those fools taught me right”

    "Those fools taught me right", here the singer wants to portray "those fools" are people who underestimate her, people who don't consider her insecurities, singers want to convey that portrayal through the senses of taste.

• "I bared my naked soul, All on my painful flaws”

    The singer wants to describe her wounded soul, she is not okay through "I bared my naked soul", then she tries to release all the wounds that are inside her.

• “ Every freckle on my skin has a reason, Every scar that I have was worth bleeding, Every curl on my head is a treasure ”

    Through these lyrics, the singer wants to describe what he feels, the pain, every wound that is on her, has a reason why she is so hurt and fragile.

• Figurative Language

• Hyperbole (Hyperbole is an exaggeration that is created to emphasize a point)
• I've stretched myself too thin (‘Stretched someone too thin’ is an exaggerating way to say that something is unbearable or uncomfortable. It is used to say that someone tries to do many things at the same time and cannot give enough time or attention to any of them).
• I've got scars on my soul that I'm scared to show (‘Got scars on my soul’ is an exaggerating statement to express that someone is deeply hurt).
• Idiom (Idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning)
• I need a thicker skin (Has a thick skin is a common idiom to say that someone is not easily upset or offended by criticism. Need a thicker skin means that someone need to improve her ability to ignore verbal attacks or criticism from others).
• Personification (the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-living)
• Dark nights, the silence eats me up, but (‘The silence’ is an abstract object, a non-living one. ‘Eats’ is an attribution of human. But in the lyric, ‘the silence’ acts as if a human that can eat ‘me’).
• Day comes and everything's enough (‘Day’ is a non-living object. It acts as if a human that comes).
• I get pins and needles. When I think about it, it catches me every day (‘It’ in the sentence refers to ‘getting pins and needles’ that is written before and ‘it’ indicates a non-living object. ‘Catches’ is an attribution of human. In the lyric, it is used to describe the action of a non-living object).
• I tried to raise my voice. Get clouded by the noise (‘The noise’ is a non-living object but it gets ‘me’ drown).
• I bared my naked soul (‘Soul’ is a non-living object, but it is attributed with an attribution of human characteristic which is ‘naked’).
• Paradox (A paradox is a statement that appears to contradict itself)
• Oh, I'm free but I'm fragile. I'm happy but I'm worried. I'm set up but I'm so afraid (A paradox is a statement that appears to contradict itself. The contradiction can be found in the words ‘free but fragile’, ‘happy but worried’, ‘set up but afraid’. They are all contradictive).
• Symbolism (Symbolism is the idea that things represent other things)
• I get pins and needles (‘Pins and needles’ in the lyric is a symbolism of a prickling tingling sensation in a limb growing numb or recovering from numbness).

(When two or more words that start with the same sound are used repeatedly in a phrase or a sentence.)

(The repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants.) 

(Repetition of similar sounds in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words.)

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Opinion, Analysis, and Background of the Song

    For me, I really like this song, this song describes how everyone basically has insecurities, so that everyone needs their own handling in dealing with the insecurities that exist, this song also indirectly teaches us to care more about around us, in fact not many people can talk their insecurities clearly, sometimes their voices are covered by the amount of noise that exists. this song also shows that we shouldn't fall too deep into the insecurities that exist within us, we must dealing and accept our insecurities. Everyone through so many dark times and it’s all starting to get better. Slowly, but surely. We are here because we are loved by the greatest force (universe).

    “Insecurities” is an balad song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter Jess Glynne. In this song, Glynne is assuring someone going through a difficult time facing the insecurities. The song was inspired by the difficult times Glynne had gone through and how she handling her insecurities. Speaking with the voice, Glynne had a pretty tough problem with her insecurities, she went through a lot of pressure, demands and criticism from various parties, she tried to tell her problem to her manager, until finally how at one point she overcame her insecurities by letting everything be and accepting everything. 

3. Background

    In a YouTube video on Jacaranda FM channel, Jess Glynne explained that when she wrote this song, she was fighting with herself, trying to understand why she was so insecure, why she had been left and was hurting so badly, why she felt like she had lost something that she would never have again and why she felt like it was all her fault. She felt like she was never going to be happy again. Then she signed her record deal and her dreams were coming true, but the person she loved wasn't there and it didn't hide the fact that her soul was unbalanced. She wrote this song when she was angry and nothing felt right. She didn't know how to get past the emptiness that she was feeling.

    Once she wrote it, she put it to bed and didn't listen to it for months and months and she slowly started to take on her life with a different perspective. Her friend said to her "give yourself space and time", and it's true, that's all she needed. She was reminded of who she was as a person by someone who cared so much and wouldn't let her break. Then she was given an opportunity to make an album and have a career in doing what her love, which is something he had worked so hard for so many years, and she wasn't going to let a broken heart defeat her.

    Hope through heartbreak was her new perspective on life. She re-visited this song and edited it. She changed it from one about her feeling sorry for herself and a person who didn't even deserve that much from her, to one about the person who caught her before she hit the ground and made her believe in herself again. This song was written to the person who helped save her from drowning in something that wasn't worth drowning in, not to the person who broke her in so many ways.

    This song is now about being grateful and taking advice from the people who care and who are there for us when we are in need.

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