Kailey Song Analysis

“Sobre As Pernas” was released in 1985 by the Brazilian punk band, Akira S & Garrotas Que Erraram as a single. The song has yet to be released on a CD despite their prelevlance in recent years. Weighing in at 4:37, this song is longer than most punk songs, however, we have seen a ten minute post punk song. This factor of length does not change the status of the song as punk. “Sobre As Pernas,” meaning “on the legs,” tells about hell and partaking in prostitution, a taboo and therefore punk subject. Akira S & Garrotas Que Erraram, or Akira S and the Girls Who Fucked Up, was a band during the punk movement in Sao Paulo, Brazil that began during the late 1970's. The cover art for the album it originally released on shows the outline of a man using a urinal, which may represent filth in the Sao Paulo punk community. “Sobre As Pernas” maintains poor production quality, unbalanced and experimental, which is another indication that it is a punk song.

“Stand by Your Manatee” is a song by Future of the Left, a more modern band debuted in 2006 under the same title. This song is from the album Travels with Myself and Another released on June 22, 2009, but leaked in April of 2009. This is a fairly short song at 2:08 long, according to Wikipedia. Its cover art depicts a void with two human silhouettes inside of a venn diagram which maybe showing isolation and a societal otherness. A couple of the lyrics from “Stand by Your Manatee” summarize its meaning. “You let your manatee down and then you drown. That's just the way with nature.” I think that this means that you need to “stand by your man” or else everyone is going down together, showing the constructive consciousness of the post-punk movement. The tempo is fast paced, but the production is fairly well-done and clean despite the rough playing of the instruments. I would classify this song as hardcore which is a further classification of punk music.

The Pogues song, “Turkish Song of the Damned” was released on their album If I Should Fall from Grace with God in 1988. The Pogues, fronted by Shane MacGowan, incorporated many different Celtic instruments in a folky rock feel, largely inventing Celtic Punk. The band showed post-punk experimental leanings in so doing. Aside from their Irish folk feel, The Pogues had a very punk rock attitude, MacGowan actually leaving the band in 1991 because of severe alcoholism. The cover art for If I Should Fall from Grace with God is ironic in that it shows The Pogues respectably and traditionally despite their celtic cavortings. Turkish Song of the Damned has a Turkish, traditional Irish feel and contains punk sacrilege in the lyrics,

“Nor the nails of the cross

Nor the blood of christ 
Can bring you help this eve.”

The tempo of this song is fast and drunken with a somewhat dirty production value. I would classify this song as punk given the attitude of the band, the overall message of the song, and most other factors we have used to classify punk music.