In my first unit writing I analyzed a cultural artifact of a song called “Marvin’s Room.” I briefly summarized the song and then dug deeper to find how the artist created the song and his purpose. I tried to search for any recurring patterns or repetition and found out why the artist did that. For example, a convention that the artist had was that he made casual references to drugs and alcohol. I believe the reason was to show how the artist became progressively intoxicated in the song. In addition, I evaluated a phone call trope that occurred in the song. I found out that people first started using this trope in 1991. Another aspect of the song that I analyzed was the music video. The length of the music video is shorter than the audio version, but I was still able to analyze the different things that happen in the video. Finally, I analyzed the meaning of the song title and different interpretations of it.
The themes that I associate with this song would be love and depression. In the song, Drake is very depressed. He begins to experiment with drugs and alcohol after a bad heartbreak with his ex-girlfriend. I had a similar experience in high school where I was experimenting with different things after I got played by a girl. Through this time, I felt that I was able to connect with Drake’s experiences and helped me cope with the problem that I had to deal with.
Tropes that I identify with my artifact’s genre would be the phone call trope and alcohol reference trope. Many rap artists today have music that involves some sort of answering machine or voicemail that helps set the context of the song. In “Marvin’s Room” for example, Drake uses the voicemail of his ex-girlfriend to set the mood and context of the song. He had just broken up with his ex-girlfriend and he wants to get back with her. The alcohol reference trope connected to many rap songs today. Many rap artists make references to name brand alcohol like Hennessy and Patron to show that they are having a good time or a depressed time. In “Marvin’s Room,” Drake refers to Rosé and XO which are different types of alcohols.
The whole song itself represents how a person may act after a recent heartbreak. In my life, I have had a heartbreak where I did things to cope with it. However, it was not the best or healthiest way to go through a heartbreak. Many people have different ways to deal with it, but I had a similar experience as Drake in the song. In essence, “Marvin’s Room” can be a metaphor for ways people cope with their problems.