Choose some lyrics by that you'd like to research. Provide contextual analysis of them. Your analysis is much more important than research here; however, please use at least one secondary source as research in addition to your primary source of lyrics. Use APA or MLA style documentation. Choose ONE suggested topic:

1. Many lyrics and videos, such as "Tropico" by Lana del Rey, include samples from past artists, making use of them in interesting ways. Discuss this type of palimpsest in lyrics of your choice. A "palimpsest" is a term to describe this concept of tracing, as in the below definition:

- a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain; something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form.

2. How does David Bowie's Diamond Dogsalbum make use of George Orwell's 1984?

3. Analyze the lyrics of a songwriter to demonstrate how the lyrics work as poetry.

4. Analyze a blend of lyrics and music to explain how music gives power to the lyrics. (You may want to make use ofthe seven elements of music: rhythm, melody, harmony, dynamics, timbre, arrangement, texture.)

5. Explain how the lyrics of an artist reveal cultural context.

6. Analyze how an artist of your choice makes use of past lyrical forms.

7. Examine the interplay between innovation and tradition in the songs of an artist.

8. Of all the artists you know, make a case for the one with the most amazing synthesis of previous lyrics and sounds. Who's the best synthesizer in the creation of something new?

9. Critique the least original rip-off artist's work you can think of.

10. Who's the best songwriter today and why? (You may want to contextualize this in a genre.)

11. Research a publication of music or poetic journalism, and analyze its critical biases. (You could look at a whole magazine, website, or perhaps just one critic. Criticize or praise the critic, website or magazine.) You will need to keep your focus narrow here to avoid generalizations.

12. Research and analyze a genre of music or artist's work that is unfamiliar to you.

13. Explain how an artist changes a lyrical song by transforming it into a different musical genre.