Analysis of lyrics Sunshine – Lupe Fiasco

Uh, Fresh to def she isFrom her steps to the set she isSo "death" might not let me liveYa digFresh uh huh, yes she isHad a feeling that it would be a day like this

Theme of Love

The introduction of the song is Lupe describing the girl which portrays how much she means to him and how he finds her very special.

The orchestra in my mind don't play like this (naw),But I'm prepared for itGot a lil rare for itBrushed off my airsEven cut my hair for it'Cause normally I don't care for it

Theme of Love This paragraph shows how Lupe is so in love that he has a orchestra playing in his mind. This makes it more romantic and emphasises his love.

Here Lupe is talking about how he cleaned up his look and cut his hair for her which he usually doesn’t care to do for anyone else. This emphasises how much he loves her as he is making so much of an effort to impress her.

Yea right over there so I prepare the poetLil scared my stair loweredMomma said have no fearPlus I'm already outta my chair

Gathered up my airs on my square from here forwardIt's nothing right? so here go itWhisper in her ear "it's kinda crowded in here"Would she care to blow it she said "yea"

Lupe is talking about how he prepared the poet which is his love song for her displaying his love

These lines show how in love he is with her. By ‘lil scared my stair lowered’ it shows how he feels intimidated and scared as he loves her so much and is afraid to reveal it. His mother advised him to have no fear plus there's no turning back now.

This shows how Lupe gains courage and faces his fair by taking a deep breath and convincing himself ‘its nothing right’Then he talks to the girl and is still shy and afraid because he likes her a lot that he asks to go out alone away from everyone else.

[chorus]You're my sunshine (you're my sunshine),You're my moonlight (you're my moonlight),You're the starry skies above me won't you please come down and hug me,Think I found love in this club tonight (Wowowowo)

Here he is using a metaphor to refer to the girl as his ‘sunshine’, ‘moonlight’, and ‘starry skies’ it portrays how special he finds her and how much he loves her

Here he says it clearly using no metaphors, similes etc. That he found love in the club.

Never met her beforeBut I think I like her like a metaphorIt's hard to get

He is using a simile here to compare her to a metaphor explaining how difficult it is to explain and understand how much he loves her

I compliment her on the common senseI'm calmA lil more confident

This sentence shows how the female character is not your everyday stereotypical pretty girl. Even though she is pretty she is also intelligent unlike typical ‘dumb pretty’ girls. Also it shows the more he gets to know her the more he becomes confident showing there connection and how he feels comfortable with her.

I told her "fire breathing dragon he bet not harm me" or he be sorry when he meets my one man armyAnd thou has come to rescue meMy knight in shining armor yes you be

This paragraph shows how much he loves her as it has reference to typical fairytale love stories with ‘fire breathing dragons’ and ‘knight in shining armour’ this displays how meaningful his love for her is as its not typical in the hip hop genre for artists to rap/sing about love comparing it to fairytales.

Relationship is just 30 minutes longIt's kinda heavy maybe a lil strongGonna take much more than onceCan't trust what each of us say at least for a monthOr two before I bid you a dueDo this one thing for me outta the trillions of numbers that's in the worldJust leave me a few that lead to youWon't be longing I see you in the morning

The song ends with this paragraph which is basically Lupe describing how relationships usually don’t last long just 30 minutes long and how there so difficult with trust issues. Although Lupe is stating how he doesn’t want there relationship to be like that, she means more and he wants more. It ends with him saying ‘I see you in the morning’ show how dedicated he is to her that he’ll be there when she wakes up in the morning.

The genre of hip hop is displayed throughout this song in many ways. Firstly Lupe Fiasco uses a wide variety of slang for the whole song which displays the hip hop genre

Uh, Fresh to def she isFrom her steps to the set she isSo "death" might not let me liveYa dig

Genre: Hip Hop

Woken up by the horn of an SUVThe declaring of this brand portrays money and

power as its an expensive car which fits in with the genre as hip hop artists are seen to have the wealthy living and glamorous lifestyle as they are able to afford many designer clothes, expensive cars and big houses.

The mention of an SUV is also an example of intertexuality. An SUV car is a popular brand, moreover it is an expensive car which mostly wealthy people are seen driving it. This suits the genre as hip hop artists live the glamorous lifestyle and able to afford designer clothes, expensive cars and big houses.

INTERTEXUALITY

Lupe challenges conventions by portraying a different star image to the typical hip hop artist. He does this by revealing his true feelings and not being afraid to put himself out there to show the girl he loves how much she means to him. Usually typical hip hop artists talk about many different girls rather than one special girl, drugs and sex, Also a lot of voyeurism is used in hip hop songs. Whereas Lupe only talks about one special girl, and talks about how beautiful and special she is without using voyeurism or sexual references. Also fiasco uses many language techniques such as personification, metaphors and similes to express his feelings which shows he is very intelligent and unique compared to other hip hop artists.

CHALLENGING CONVENTIONS

Although Lupe shows his uniqueness and intelligence compared to other artists by expressing his true feelings, using no sexual language and use of language techniques, the mentioning of the SUV shows how he is into money and fame living the glamorous lifestyle. This is typical in hip hop artists.

STAR IMAGE

The overall meaning and story of this song is that Lupe meets a beautiful girl in the club and instantly falls in love with her. He is trying to prove and show her that its not just a one night stand thing and he assures her that he wants more than just a 30minute relationship. The song ends with him saying ‘I'll see you in the morning’ showing that he won’t just leave like other guys but that he’ll be there for her forever.

CONCLUSION