Analysis of Lyrics: "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera

Essay by swtlips2006College, UndergraduateB+, January 2007

download word file, 8 pages 4.0

Double Standards: Don't Look at Me

Don't look at me is the first line of Christina Aguilera's song "Beautiful." This instant whisper from the voice of Aguilera creates an ashamed vibe for the song. It is spoken quietly and without any musical instrumentation. As the music softly and brilliantly builds up to the first verse listener's already have a misinterpretation of the lyrics. The audience presumes that the song will be about depression or shame and disgrace because one would associate not wanting people to look at you with shame. However, once they read more into the lyrics they notice that the meaning of the song is much deeper than shame and actually has an opposite message. When the audience hears the title of the song they could also make the assumption that the song is about beauty and the images of pop stars, although it is about finding beauty in everyone.

Beautiful is something or someone that is 'pleasing to the senses.' We all have inner beauties that define us as individuals.

Christina Aguilera is a pop artist. Her music and image has won the hearts of many females averaging from ages 12 to 25. Many females of this age will browse through the latest magazines, look at pictures and read interviews about the pop icon. She has become a phenomenon for this generation. She started with a young target audience and as she has matured, her music has as well. She went from songs like "Reflection" and "I'm a Genie in a Bottle" to "Beautiful" and most recently, "Hurt." This developed approach has broadened her target audience. Her music can be perceived as pop, but at the same time her new style has shown more significance to her social audience. She went from singing...