Rhetorical Analysis - Feb. 21

"The Eagle and The Hawk" by John Denver

I'm not really sure how to analyze a song. Most songs, as far as I know, don't present an "argument". Some may, but not the music I listen to. After all, why would you risk writing a song that people won't listen to because they don't agree with you? I immediately change the station when I hear a song whose theme I don't agree with or can't identify with. So, I guess I'll just do the best I can. In the song "The Eagle and The Hawk" by John Denver, the idea is really that nature can help you become who you really are.

"I am the eagle, I live in high country
In rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky.
I am the hawk and there's blood on my feathers,
But time is still turning - they soon will be dry.
And all of those who see me, all who believe in me
Share in the freedom I feel when I fly.
Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops,
Sail o'er the canyons and up to the stars,
And reach for the heavens and hope for the future
And all that we can be and not what we are."

As cheesy as the words sometimes seem, Denver (or Dutchendorf, if you're an aficionado like me) is trying to say that the freedom of nature is a way to get out of the rut you're in. The song is very typical for the style he sings. It is more musical than beat-based, with crescendos and scale runs as a backdrop for a melody that tries to represent the flight of a bird: high, floating, and rhythmic. Even the choices of rhythms try to portray the pattern of wings flapping by raising quickly and dropping slowly.
Songs like this have a hard time being truly persuasive. If you don't like folky/country music, the words will never help you. Often, melodies and styles do more convincing than words. However, if you can put aside your bias against country and folk-style music, this song does the job. If you listen to this song with the volume up all the way and still don't feel like you have control over your life (or at least want to go for a day-long hike), then my personal opinion is that you weren't really listening.
I suppose the audience is people that feel like their life is getting away from them, but know that there is a way to get back in the driver's seat. At least for me, this song always makes me feel like I'm actually looking up at a hawk flying above me, and it reminds of the feeling we all get when we see flight: limitless possibilities. No one thinks of flight and equates it with constraint or borders. If you think of flight, and imagine that YOU are the hawk in the sky, you will never feel trapped. I think that was what my good friend Johnny was going for. He was trying to make you think of flying, trying to make you realize that you are part of NATURE, not just this bustlingly metallic world. Anyway, this is my best shot at analyzing a song.