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    Girl Crush Essay 1

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    The document compares and contrasts two versions of the song "Girl Crush" - one by the country group Little Big Town from 2015, and one by Harry Styles from 2017. While both songs tell a story of jealousy over a romantic interest, Little Big Town's version maintains a consistent solemn tone throughout, while Harry Styles' version builds emotion more with higher notes that entice deeper feelings from listeners. Overall, the document analyzes the different musical and tonal approaches taken in each version while still conveying similar messages of heartbreak.

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    Girl Crush Essay 1

    Uploaded by

    api-519812562
    278 views5 pages
    The document compares and contrasts two versions of the song "Girl Crush" - one by the country group Little Big Town from 2015, and one by Harry Styles from 2017. While both songs tell a story of jealousy over a romantic interest, Little Big Town's version maintains a consistent solemn tone throughout, while Harry Styles' version builds emotion more with higher notes that entice deeper feelings from listeners. Overall, the document analyzes the different musical and tonal approaches taken in each version while still conveying similar messages of heartbreak.

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    The document compares and contrasts two versions of the song "Girl Crush" - one by the country group Little Big Town from 2015, and one by Harry Styles from 2017. While both songs tell a story of jealousy over a romantic interest, Little Big Town's version maintains a consistent solemn tone throughout, while Harry Styles' version builds emotion more with higher notes that entice deeper feelings from listeners. Overall, the document analyzes the different musical and tonal approaches taken in each version while still conveying similar messages of heartbreak.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    278 views5 pages

    Girl Crush Essay 1

    Uploaded by

    api-519812562
    The document compares and contrasts two versions of the song "Girl Crush" - one by the country group Little Big Town from 2015, and one by Harry Styles from 2017. While both songs tell a story of jealousy over a romantic interest, Little Big Town's version maintains a consistent solemn tone throughout, while Harry Styles' version builds emotion more with higher notes that entice deeper feelings from listeners. Overall, the document analyzes the different musical and tonal approaches taken in each version while still conveying similar messages of heartbreak.

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    Wirsch 1

    Anna Wirsch

    Professor Cassel

    English 1201.B15

    24 June 2020

    The Similarities and Differences Between Different Versions of “Girl Crush”

    “I want her long blonde hair, I want her magic touch, yeah ‘cause maybe then you’d want

    me just as much” (Little Big Town). Little Big Town and Harry Styles introduce these words to

    listeners in “Girl Crush,” a song of jealousy and heartbreak. Little Big Town made this song into

    an impactful music video in 2015 (Little Big Town). Throughout, it is discussed how the

    singer(s) has developed strong feelings for a person, but she cannot be with him because he is

    intrigued by another. Similarly, Harry Styles sings “Girl Crush” in a music video in 2017 (BBC

    Music). In both music videos, the singers simply stare into the camera and sing, leaving the

    audience to analyze the difference in the music videos by the way the song is sung. Through

    both versions of the song, it can be relayed that when people develop feelings for someone they

    become envious of an individual or individuals that receive attention from that certain someone.

    Yet, whereas Harry Styles's version entices stronger feelings from listeners, Little Big Town

    simply acknowledges these feelings individuals may have.

    In Little Big Town’s version of “Girl Crush,” a consistent solemn tone is relayed. Little

    Big Town is a quartet made up of Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi

    Westbrook. Together, they have been singing alongside one another since 1998 in Mercury,

    Nashville (“Little Big Town”). In fact, their bond is so fluid that Karen Fairchild and Jimi
    Wirsch 2

    Westbrook got married over a decade ago and have a son together named Elijah (Murtaugh).

    After countless hits, the group produced the song “Girl Crush.” The song is not monotone

    whatsoever, yet, the tone is constant throughout the song. This leaves the song to discuss the

    heartbreak in a calm manner. The lines “I got it real bad, want everything she has, that smile and

    that midnight laugh, she’s giving you now” (Little Big Town) is sung in a manner in which there

    is sadness, but the sadness does not build. The dejection is maintained throughout the duration

    of the song. This leaves the heartbroken audience feeling sorrowful, but not overwhelmed with

    emotion. Although this version does not encourage tears from its listeners, Little Big Town

    utilized their lyrics to create a peacefully distressed feeling.

    In Harry Style’s version of “Girl Crush,” there is a growing tone of irritation and

    dejection. Harry Styles, a former member of the band One Direction, was embraced by success

    in the music industry at just sixteen years old (Lamont). The now twenty-five-year-old, states

    that “I just don’t think you need to be a dick to be a good artist” (Lamont). Additionally, Styles

    is open about his sexuality. He believes that if he likes a shirt and it is in the women’s section,

    he will buy the shirt. Although Styles has never come out to the world, he believes that being of

    the LGBT community is not necessarily identifying yourself as bisexual or gay, but it is about

    being who you truly are (Lamont). Therefore, when he sings the song “Girl Crush” no lyrics are

    changed and it can be believed that he too has gone through the experience of many of these

    hopeless romantics. In his version, he allows the song to build by using higher notes throughout

    the song. This entices more emotions from his heartbroken listeners. Though Styles did not
    Wirsch 3

    write the song, he made it his own encouraging deeper emotions by utilizing a crescendo of

    notes.

    Through both versions of “Girl Crush,” similar rhetorical appeals are utilized. The

    obvious rhetorical appeal is pathos. Pathos is utilizing the emotions of the reader, listener, or etc.

    to make a point. One will find pathos as the singers are describing the pain they feel. The line

    states, “I got a girl crush, hate to admit it but, I got a heart rush, it ain’t slowing down” (Little

    Big Town). Such lines influence listeners to utilize their emotions to either understand how this

    must feel or recall how this heartbreak felt. Another rhetorical appeal utilized is logos. Logos is

    using the logical appeal of the audience to understand a specific issue or topic. Logos is found in

    “Girl Crush” through the audience using their logic to comprehend why the singers must feel the

    way they do. By using the previous quote, the audience may be able to understand the logic

    behind the singer’s jealousy of the ‘girl.’ In the song “Girl Crush,” pathos and logos go hand in

    hand with one another. The song relays emotional appeals, and through the understanding of

    those emotional appeals, logical appeals may be found.

    All in all, both versions of the song “Girl Crush” are phenomenal. Where Little Big

    Town’s version adheres to a calmer approach, Harry Styles’s version adheres to a more

    emotional appeal. One version can only be deemed superior by one’s personal opinion. Both

    versions discuss the heartbreak and jealousy one feels when their crush is with someone else.

    Therefore, the audience can be found to be individuals who relate to this heartbreak.

    Additionally, both music videos contain a performance-like scenario. This leaves the only
    Wirsch 4

    difference in the versions to be the manner in which the song is sung. To conclude, “Girl Crush”

    contains the message that one is not alone in heartbreak.


    Wirsch 5

    Works Cited

    BBC Music. ​Harry Styles - Girl Crush (At The BBC). Youtube,​ 2 November 2017,

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rroc2y9if_Q. Accessed 24 June 2020.

    Lamont, Tom. "Harry Styles: 'I'm not just sprinkling in sexual ambiguity to be interesting.'" ​The

    Guardian,​ 14 Dec. 2019, www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/14/harry-styles-

    sexual-ambiguity-dating-normals-rocking-a-dress. Accessed 24 June 2020.

    Little Big Town. ​Little Big Town - Girl Crush (Official Music Video). Youtube,​ 8 April 2015,

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYZMT8otKdI. Accessed 24 June 2020.

    "Little Big Town." ​The Boot​, Townsquare Media, theboot.com/tags/little-big-town/. Accessed 24

    June 2020.

    Murtaugh, Taysha. "How Little Big Town's Karen Fairchild Found Love With Bandmate Jimi

    Westbrook After Her Divorce." ​Country Living​, Hearst Magazine Media, 13 Nov. 2019,

    www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/a21085357/little-big-town-karen-fairchild-jim

    i-westbrook-married/. Accessed 24 June 2020.

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