University:
Jackson College
Course:
ENG-131 | Writing Experience I
Academic year:

2024
Views:

329

Pages:

1
Author:

Isaias Hernandez

Song Analysis of “In My Blood” by Shawn Mendes Shawn Mendes is a Canadian singer and songwriter born in Toronto, Ontario. His song, “In My Blood,” was released March 22, 2018. This song was inspired by Shawn’s experiences with the anxiety he has felt since being in the public eye. The song uses multiple literary techniques to strengthen his emotions and lyrics. The words used are abstract as they imply different meanings than the denotative meanings. The song does not contain any clichés. There is some end rhyme as nothing and something rhyme and anxious and this have similar ending sounds. The tone is serious as he opens up about his struggles with anxiety. Words such as caving, overwhelmed, anxious and alone set the tone of unease. The first literary technique used was simile, “Help me its like the walls are caving in” (Line 1). Simile is when you are saying something is like something else. The line shows how he feels overwhelmed and everything is slowly surrounding him. This line can also be a hyperbole as it is exaggerated to say walls are caving in. Alliteration is the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of words, “It isn’t in my blood,” in this line the letter, ‘I’ is repeated three times. Imagery is used to express the mood, “Laying on the bathroom floor, feeling nothing” (Line 5). A symbol is when an object is given a meaning greater than the its denotative meaning, “Just have a drink and you’ll feel better” (Line 8). Having a drink can be perceived as a coping mechanism instead of medicine. The song, “In My Blood,” is very important as Shawn Mendes has a young audience and him opening up about anxiety shows his fans another side of him that isn’t usually publicized. The song also helps normalize anxiety as mental health can still be a sensitive topic.