Interpretive Essay on "You're my better half"
The song “Your my better half” by Keith Urban is an excellent example of many literary elements. For example, you can see a loving atmosphere, a climax, a conflict, a point of view, and symbol. All these elements help prove that he has had the experience of loving this girl to understand that her love helps him get through the tough times.
Overall, this song is about Keith’s feelings towards this girl. It talks about how even when he has “a long day at work… (He still sees her) standing there” (lines 1 – 4) to comfort him. Also how her love helps him believe he “can make it through anything” (line 11).
The first element is the loving atmosphere that the song shows. Atmosphere is defined as “the mood or feel of the work” (Probst 1189). You can see the loveliness of the song in the words and the uplifting music played as he sings this song. For example; in line 6-9 when he says “and give me that come-here-baby smile, it’s all gunna be alright, you take my hand and pull me close and you hold me tight” just puts a smile on your face when you honestly listen to the words and how he’s singing it. Also, the music playing is so uplifting in this song.
You can hear this on how the beat is at a higher tempo and could be classified as a “happy country song” in my opinion. Another element I saw in this song was a climax. You can hear this climax in the song when he’s singing a slow part of the song first, but then reaches the climax with a bang when the band gives their full force on their instalments (critterchicker 3:08). Keith sings in this part in line 36; “Oh baby, it’s the sweet love that you give to me.” The definition of a climax is the “point of greatest emotion” (Probst 1191). This song is a great example of a climax according to literary elements in my English book.
Third, there is a conflict to the song. You can see this on how he is showing his frustration from his day at work that day. For example, you can in-vision his frustration and stress level and how he feels maxed out; “Car door slams, it’s been a long day at work.” (KEITH line 1) You can also see how he is questioning if the life he is living is worth the stress and frustration; “I’m out on the freeway and I’m wondering if it’s all worth the price that I pay, sometimes it doesn’t seem fair” (KEITH line 2-3). Conflict, defined by my English book, is “Emotional struggle or clash” (Probst 1192).
I would say that this song would definitely display a great example of conflic according to elements of literature. My forth element is the point of view. The point of veiw in this song is seen through Keith Urban. Defined by Probst, my english book, point of veiw is “the vantage point from which a writer tells the story” (1199). In my opinion, this song is written in first-person because he is the writer and he is singing the story and song itself.
There is an example of this in the song when Keith sings “I just feel like giving in” (KEITH line 20). The proof that he is singing this in first-person is how he say “I” and “me” in the song. I believe that the song “Your my better half” is a great example of the literary element of the Point of view. Symbol is also an element of literature that can be seen in this song. Symbol, defined in my English book this year in British Literature, is “a person, place, or thing that stands both for itself and for something beyond itself.
For example, in this song, you can see in the lyrics when he sings “You pull me close and you hold me tight.” It literally means that she is pulling him in for a hug, but it could also mean that she is comforting him with her love, kindness, support and understanding. This could be not the only interpretation on what that line means besides it’s literal meaning; it’s just my interpretation of the song. so there’s the proof of there being symbol in this song according to the literary elements. “You my better half” by Keith Urban would be most definitely one of my favorite songs. The reason for this is because it is a positive, uplifting song, it has a clear point of view through Keith’s eyes, it has a great climax to the song, a conflict he has to deal with, and symbol of love and kindness when he’s feeling stressed and topped to the max.
These are all also great examples of literary elements and can be seen in this song. This is a great song to teach you to look on the bright side everyday even if you have a bad day at work or are struggling. Just get back up and enjoy your life that’s ahead of you.
