Sir Mix-A-Lot's Baby Got Back

Music and Poetry are first cousins. Poetry is mostly private, quieter, and all around more reserved, while Music is the popular relative who strives to be heard by everyone and anyone. However, the intentions of both are identical; to invoke a certain feeling in the listener. A chorus and a stanza are one in the same, they both capture moments of the writer’s life or their emotions during a situation. Emily Dickinson, a 19th century poet, privately wrote almost 2,000 poems, all of which reflect the aspects of her continuous emotional struggles. While today’s music can be extremely superficial with lyrics venerating wealth, partying, and even large posteriors (a la Sir Mix-a-Lot’s 1992 one hit wonder “Baby Got Back”), there are plenty of artists who still use a poetic approach in their songs, such as Jesse Lacey, lyricist and vocalist of the …show more content…
Lacey and Dickinson, though they were born about a century and a half apart, both include similar themes in their works, which mainly center on their attitudes towards religion, relationships, and death. Religion is often a subject in which many people either revel in or struggle with. Finding faith, or harder yet keeping it, can be very difficult for those who are having conflict in their life. Questioning God’s methods and doubting Him when things go awry normally complements a lack of inner peace. Dickinson mentions religion in poem 1551 “Those—dying then”, her words here enhancing her negative feelings. Dickinson writes: “Those—dying then/ Knew where they went—/They went to God’s Right Hand—/That Hand is amputated now/And God cannot be found—“. Similarly, Jesse Lacey includes the lyrics in his song “Millstone”, “I used to pray when God was listening/ I used to make my parents proud”. Both Dickinson and Lacey have felt a sense of abandonment by their Lord, which is something that can seriously put a toll on one’s belief in a higher power.