Arianna Stancari Essays - Pop Ballads, British Musicians, Music

Arianna Stancari Ms. Wedemeyer ENG 101.922 26 June 2018 "Praying for Time": A Plea for Awareness George Michael released "Praying for Time" in 1990 off of his album Listen Without Prejudice. After almost a decade of teeny bop hits and a happy-go-lucky image, the content of this album was a surprise to many of Michael's fans; the album consisted entirely of deeply personal and reflective songs. One of the most remembered and referenced songs is "Praying for Time" because of its important message about society's failure to recognize and adjust its wrongdoings towards the unwealthy. When listening to the song, it is clear that George Michael put a lot of thought into the details: he uses many musical, recording, and lyrical techniques to get his message across. The song opens with the muffled sound of guitars "crashing" into their parts. This immediately gives the song a scared and desperate feeling. The slow tempo that the song maintains throughout allows the listener to really pay attention to the lyrics. Musically, it seems that George Michael didn't want to incorporate anything too extravagant in fear that it would distract from the song's message. The timbre of the song is also generally low; this adds to the song's somber and melancholy quality, evoking in the listener a feeling of sadness or hopelessness. Even in these first few seconds of the song, in which George Michael has not even begun to sing the words, the overall emotion of the song is clear. When Michael does begin to sing, he used recording technologies to make his voice sound as if it were coming out of a radio. I thought that this was a really clever and effective tactic. The song serves as a warning that society has lost compassion, and the idea of these words comi ng out of a radio further drives the image of this song being meant as a warning. Another quality of George Michael's vocals in the song is the way he often whisper-sings during the verses. This helps convey an ominous and melancholy atmosphere. During the choruses, as the words become angrier and more passionate, his vocals grow from those soft whispers to loud, desperate singing. Many who have listened to this song say that this vocal performance seems to "echo the fuzzed vocal texture of John Lennon's Imagine'" (Holden 1990). Its similarities to the vocal and musical styles of late-1960s singers help establish "Praying for Time" as a form of protest and social commentary. George Michael's poetic and powerful lyrics are the main tool used to convey his message. The song is not targeted at a specific group; Michael is commenting on the fact that all of society has lost its sense of compassion towards those who are less fortunate. This means that he is targeting anyone who will listen. In the first verse, Michael speaks directly to the listener: "Look around now," he says. With these words, he calls us to pay attention to our environment and be aware of our actions. Michael also wants to bring to the light the severe separation between rich and poor that has increasingly solidified over time. He says, "The rich declare themselves poor, and most of us are not sure if we have too much." In these lines, he is showing that, when the rich are only surrounded by the rich as a result of this separation, they begin to forget their blessings and compare themselves to each other. This comparison leads to a false idea of what being poor means. The wealthy t hen tend to be unaware of the pain and suffering of the poor; to show that most of society has acquired an "it's every man for himself" mentality, George Michael uses the lines: "So you scream from behind your door Say, What's mine is mine and not yours' I may have too much but I'll take my chances 'Cause God's stopped keeping score" He shows that many of us are so focused on our own successes that we are oblivious to the successes and failures of others. Michael states in his lyrics that God "turned his back, and all God's children crept out the back door." This line is one