Rascal Flatts: Skin(Sarabeth)

Rascal Flatts is known as one of the best American Country bands of it’s time. They have released six albums, and five of these albums have gone Multi-Platinum. Rascal Flatts is known for their pleasing harmony, Grammy-winning song craft and slick-sounding singles. Throughout Rascal Flatts’ song “Skin(Sarabeth)” shows their many uses of poetic devices. One of the many poetic devices used was consonance.

Consonance is a stylistic device characterized by the repetition of the same consonant two or more times in short succession. An example of consonance used in the song “Skin (Sarabeth)” is the line, “Sarabeth is scared to death”. This is an example of consonance because the use of Sarabeth and death. Another example of a consonance is “And she dreams shes dancin' around and around”. This is another example of a consonance because of the usage of the words dreams she dancing. The last example of consonant is “She hasn't been well, Since the day that she fell”. This is a consonant because of the words well and fell.

Throughout Rascal Flatts’ song, “Skin (Sarabeth)”, they show a use of consonance multiple times. They showed this use within almost every line of the song. This just shows the capability of Rascal Flatts’ songwriting. The song is also emotionally evocative and shows Rascal Flatts’ expansive range. Overall I think this is one of Rascal Flatts’ best songs written.



SaraBeth is scared to death

To hear what the doctor will say
She hasn't been well
Since the day that she fell
And the bruise it just wont go away

So she sits and she waits with her mother and dad
And flips through an old magazine
'Til the nurse with a smile stands at the door
And says "Will you please come with me?"

SaraBeth is scared to death
Cause the doctor just told her the news
Between the red cells and white
Something's not right
But we're gonna take care of you

Six chances in ten it wont come back again
With the therapy we're gonna try
It's just been approved it's the strongest there is
I think we caught it in timeSaraBeth closes her eyes
And she dreams she dancin' around and around
Without any cares
And her very first love
Is holding her close
And the soft wind is blowing her hair

SaraBeth is scared to death as she sits holding her mom
cause It would be a mistake
For someone to take
A girl with no hair to the prom

For just this morning right there on her pillow
Was the cruelest of any surprise
Yet She cried when she gathered it all in her hands
The proof that she couldn't deny
SaraBeth closes her eyes

And she dreams she dancin' around and around
With out any cares
And her very first love
Was holding her close
And the soft wind was blowing her hair

It's quarter to seven that boy's at the door
Her daddy ushers him inAnd when he takes off his cap they all start to cry
Cause this morning where his hair had been
Softly she touches just skin

They go dancin' around and around
Without any cares
And her very first true loveIs holding her close
And for a moment she isn't scared
Ohhhhhh.

The Heartbreakers

Tom Petty

• Known as Thomas Earl Petty, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.


• Born and raised in Gainesville, Florida.


• Had a difficult relationship with his father, who couldn't accept him. He verbally and physically abused him on a regular basis.


• Petty was very close with his mother and his brother Bruce.


• Became interested in Rock and Roll when he met Elvis Presley. Before becoming a star.


• Petty worked briefly on the grounds crew for the University of Florida, but never attended as a student.


• Early bands he was a part of where The Sundowners, The Epics, and Mudcrutch.


• First album, titled Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, gained quick popularity among the American audiences, but had more success in Britain.


• In 2007, a four-hour film titled Runnin' down a Dream was released, documenting the career of Tom Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers.


• Petty has been married four times and from these four marriages, he has had two daughters.

Timeline:
October 20, 1950: Thomas Earl Petty was born.

1970: Tom Petty forms Mudcrutch in Gainesville, Florida. Guitarist Mike Campbell joins the same year and keyboardist Benmont Tench signs on in 1973.

1974: Mudcrutch is signed to Shelter Records and records a single, “Depot Street.”

November 22, 1976: The self-titled debut album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is released. It contains “Breakdown”, their first Top Forty hit.

May 9, 1978: ‘You’re Gonna Get It!,’ Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ second album, is released.

May 28, 1979: Tom Petty files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
February 27, 1982: ‘Damn the Torpedoes’ is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ first album to be certified platinum.

November 2, 1982: ‘Long After Dark,’ by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, is released. It spawns the hits “You Got Lucky” and “Change of Heart”.

April 30, 1985: ‘Southern Accents,’ Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers sixth album. The #13 hit “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”

January 5, 1986: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers back up Bob Dylan on the first date of a world tour. The successful pairing will continue into the next year.

April 20, 1987: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ ‘Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough)’ is released. It includes “Jammin’ Me”.

April 24, 1989: ‘Full Moon Fever,’ Tom Petty’s first solo album, is released. It sells 3 million copies and yields the hit singles “I Won’t Back Down” , “Runnin’ Down a Dream”, “Free Fallin’” and “A Face in the Crowd”.

February 28, 1996: Tom Petty wins the “Best Male Rock Vocal Performance” Grammy for “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” from ‘Wildflowers.’

October 5, 2000: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ ‘Greatest Hits’ album receives its ninth platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), signifying sales of nine million copies.

March 18, 2002: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the seventeenth annual induction dinner. Bob Dylan is their presenter.
February 24, 2003: Howie Epstein of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers passes away.

Song Analysis:

Tom Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Petty was not on his own, he and his band the Heartbreakers, had great fame and success.
One song the put Petty at the top was “Free Fallin”. Tom Petty’s song, “Free Fallin”, contains many poetic devices showing Petty’s spectacular songwriting abilities.
One of the more prominent poetic devices that are used is the hyperbole. An example of the hyperbole used in the song is, “I wanna free fall out into nothin', Gonna leave this world for awhile”. This is an example of a hyperbole because Petty is making an exaggeration about what he is going to do now that he broke up with someone he really loved, and has now moved on. Another poetic device used through out the song is alliteration. An example of this is, “Free Fallin”, “She’s a good girl”, and “I’m a bad boy”. These are examples of alliteration because they are words in the same line that has repeating of the same consonant sound.
For more than 30 years, singer-songwriter Tom Petty has been one of the most known artists in classic rock. He has released significant albums throughout all four decades. He is one of the only artists of his time who has gone to various limits to achieve greatness. Throughout Tom Petty”s well-known song, “Free Fallin”, he shows his strong writing abilities.


Contributions:

Tom Petty has made various contributions to classic rock. He is one of the few musician accepted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Petty set the standards for other musician, like John Mayor. Tom Petty has had nine albums go platinum and has sold millions of albums in his life time. Tom Petty will always be a legend in the rock world