Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s 2013 song “Drunk in Love” explores the overwhelming, intoxicating power of romantic and physical passion. Like Emily Dickinson’s poem “I taste a liquor never brewed,” the song uses the metaphor of intoxication to describe an emotional high that feels beyond reality.

Beyoncé uses both literal and metaphorical intoxication to describe her love

We woke up in the kitchen saying
‘How the hell did this shit happen?’ Oh baby
Drunk in love we be all night

Here, drunkenness becomes a metaphor for the loss of control that accompanies deep emotional and physical connection. This metaphor continues throughout the song, emphasizing that love, like alcohol, can blur reality, lead to impulsive behavior, and continue into morning confusion.

We be all night, and everything alright

No complaints for my body, so fluorscent under these lights, boy I’m drinking

This lyric captures just how loud and unapologetic Beyoncé’s version of love is. She’s completely consumed by it, out in public, and unbothered by judgment.

It may not seem that Dickinson’s poem captures intoxication in the same way as Beyoncé’s. Beyonce’s use of intoxication emphasizes the sensuality and passion of love, with the need for physical and romantic connection. Whereas Dickinson seems to be enraptured by an almost spiritual intoxication with life itself.  While her tone seems more subtle, the last lines of the poem reveal that she, too, is out of control

Till Seraphs swing their snowy Hats – 

And Saints – to windows run – 

Dickinson will continue to drink until people in the neighborhood, “Seraphs,” and “Saints,” run to their windows to see what’s going on. She is proud to be so intoxicated on life, stumbling around the streets, thriving on nature. She proudly declares herself as

…the little Tippler
Leaning against the – Sun!

For her time, this was radical. Dickinson dared to write about intoxication with total disregard, just like Beyonce, she leans fully into the ecstasy and freedom of love, regardless of who’s watching.

Although Beyonce and Emily Dickinson are separated by genre and time, they both use poetic language to capture what it means to be “drunk,” not with alcohol, but with a passion for life, and the experiences that come with it. Through metaphors, exaggerations, and symbolic imagery, they show us how powerful emotions can take over and make us lose control in the best way possible.

“Everything, everything” is a beautifully extravagant song, sung and written by one of the most talented R&B artists, Ms. Lauryn Hill.  

My first time taking a bite of Ms. Lauryn Hill was at our very own Oak Park Records. Going through my favorite sections of music, I stumbled upon a very unique album cover. Going over to my friend and asking if she knew who Lauryn Hill was, she laughed and said, “Just you wait till you get a taste of real music. She is real music.” With high expectations, I plugged in my worn-out AirPods and began from the beginning of her album, not realizing what was about to hit my ears.  The political and radically partisan opinions that she had throughout her album were crafted in such a way that they change your views on a lot of things. For that hour and seventeen minutes I spent listening carefully to every song, a very specific song stood out to me, her 1998 song “Everything is Everything.” This R&B track evoked a feeling of love and overwhelming emotion in me. You find yourself completely lost in the world that Lauryn Hill creates, and it’s so easy to be immersed in her lyrical experience.

Mid-April of 2025, almost two years after being introduced to Ms. Hill, I was sitting in my AP literature class, re-starting another round of my favorite types of units- poetry. Excited for new material, I began to dig into a new delight of fresh poetry, and was reintroduced to the biggest romantic there is in the history of poetry, Walt Whitman shared his words in my packet. Reading through the broken sections of his poetry on pages 63-74, I felt a familiar feeling of warmth and a pang. As someone who believes in the enjoyment of the little things that carry life, from then on, I realized Walt and I would become close friends.

The tight hug that his poetry gave me reminded me of a hug a close friend once blessed me with: “Everything is everything.” In her overseen single, she speaks about a multitude of different topics, but only a few lines stuck with me the most. “Everything is everything, what is meant to be will be, and after winter must come spring.” I love Ms. Hill’s appreciation for the most mundane things, her lyrics find beauty and significance in everyday moments and ordinary things we take for granted, it’s not just “Everything is everything” that speaks on this. Whitman seems to be the same way; he carries himself for the love of the “normal.” Even from the beginning of his first poem, he speaks about atoms. What poet have you read has ever romanticized atoms?

“Every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”

From such a simple line, there is so much one can gather, and I absolutely love how he speaks of the ordinary and how much appreciation he has for life in its simplest forms. I also love how “not formal” both Ms. Hill and Whitman are with their words; they’re conversational romantics and activists, and learned that to achieve the attention of a normal mind, you have to speak conversationally to the people you want to hear.

Both Lauryn Hill and Walt Whitman have changed my perspective on so much, being able to combine romanticism and political talk and a strong captivation with language, they have both been able to encapsulate the meanings of being a human, and what we should live and die for.

“Vienna” By Billy Joel from the album The Stranger 

The poem “I’m Wife” by Emily Dickinson is about a woman looking at her present self, who’s recently married, and looking back to times when she wished for marriage. This poem explores ideas of identity, happiness, and purpose. It begins with Emily stating how she’s “wife” now and has finished her childhood of wishful thinking and hoping. She later looks back on her life as a child and states how she believes her life is now heaven, but continues to think back to her old life while trying to convince herself that her life now is better compared to before. In the final stanza, she’s done convincing herself that things are better and refuses to reflect on her past anymore by stating “But why compare?” to finally accept the fact that all she is now is a wife.

 Romanticism is seen in this poem through it being a single moment in a normal woman’s life. This idea of a capture of a normal scene or a single moment is seen often in romantic poetry as it strays away from the strictly religious ideals that captured scenes of things like god in prior periods of history. This poem also encapsulates identity and emotion through the subject’s complex thinking about her childhood and her questioning of her current identity as a now wife. 

The song we chose to compare to “I’m Wife” is “Vienna” by Billy Joel. This song is overall a metaphor for growing older and the rush people feel to be older while still growing up. 

“Vienna waits for you.”

This famous quote from the song encapsulates the overall message of growing up and being patient about it. Our poem that we created also captures the woman’s desire to grow up and get married, as she slowly realizes that maybe she should’ve taken time and enjoyed being younger, because marriage isn’t all of what she thought it would be. 

Through Vienna and the poem, romanticism is seen through everyday moments being pictured, and they can be perfectly compared as they both reflect on growing older and memories. 

While there are many slightly inspired songs to I Felt a Funeral in my Brain by Emily Dickinson, there is a song that directly puts music to her words by Andrew Bird, featuring Phoebe Bridgers. They clearly have the same meaning, but being put to notes and instruments have a different way of emphasizing the poem’s point.

Throughout the song, they only repeat two stanzas, one of which being:

And then I heard them lift a box

And creak across my Soul

With those same Boots of lead, again

Then space, space began to toll

This stanza is repeated after they read through the whole poem. When these lines originally appeared, it was the turning point of the poem. It represents a funeral procession, and the box represents a coffin. The creaking and boots of lead are the biggest emphasis in the entire poem on the speaker’s suffering. The fact that the song repeats this stanza does the same. It shows the speaker’s suffering and pain from whatever mental troil they are going through.

Also, they repeat “Space, space,” which does not happen in the original poem. The diction of this in the song is that the first “space” is held out, and then the second one is much shorter. First of all, the significance of space is that it is out of our control. This focuses on the inability to prevent and control the suffering that the speaker is going through. But the second, shorter space shows that the speaker is almost has closure with it.

In addition to this, the song ends with the first stanza:

I felt a funeral in my brain

And mourners to and fro

Treading, treading ’til it seemed

That sense was breaking through

They come back to the negative connotations when prior lines mention heaven and bells. This shows that these mental problems are an emotional and nightmarish cycle.

Overall, a lot of the repetition that did not happen in the poem is very impactful in the meaning of the words.

When thinking about what makes a song poetic, “Seasons” by the indie band wave to earth comes to mind as a perfect example. This track, from their album 0.1 flaws and all, describes the complexities of love, self-doubt, and the cycle of time through  nature. The singer reflects on feelings of inadequacy and the pain of separation while holding onto hope and devotion. Using seasons as a metaphor for the emotional journey of life, “Seasons” captures the universal experience of change and renewal through vivid imagery, metaphors, and heartfelt language, illustrating the bittersweet beauty of life’s constant transformations.

The song begins with the singer confessing his feelings of inadequacy,

I can’t be your love

Look, it’s too trivial for you now.

These opening lyrics immediately set a tone of insecurity and self-doubt through the singer’s acknowledgement of his shortcomings. This vulnerable language sets an emotional foundation for the song, drawing the listener in with a relatable struggle with self-worth.

As the song progresses, the seasons become a metaphor for the emotional cycles of life. In the lines,

While the leaves withered

And grew again

You have gone far away,

the withering and regrowth of leaves symbolizes the inevitability of change, tying the natural cycle of the seasons to the singer’s sense of loss. This metaphor illustrates how life continues to move forward even when emotional connections are are left behind, creating a reflection on love and separation.

In the chorus the singer vows,

I’ll give you all my life,

My seasons

Here, ‘seasons’ symbolize the entirety of the singer’s life and emotional experiences. By offering his seasons, the singer conveys a deep and unconditional love, one that embraces both their most happy, and painful moments. This imagery suggests that proper growth require embracing life’s difficulties, giving the listener insight into the singer’s devotion.

Later in the song, the singer introduces the image of daisies,

I’ll be pushing up daisies

And bring all the chances to here

The phrase “pushing up daisies” is a common metaphor for death, but in this context, also reflects renewal and the possibility of creating something meaningful even in the face of loss. This juxtaposition of death and hope reinforces the song’s theme of cycles and transformations, suggesting that endings often are necessary to create new beginnings.

Wave to earth’s “Seasons” is a poetic narrative of love, loss, and renewal told with vivid imagery, natural metaphors, and heartfelt language. By focusing on the cycles of nature and exploring the singer’s vulnerability, the band transforms difficult emotions into a universal reflection on the beauty and pain of life’s constant changes.

Frank Ocean released “Bad Religion” as part of his album Channel Orange on July 10, 2012. Just before the album’s debut, the singer publicly came out as bisexual in a heartfelt Tumblr post. In the post, Ocean shared a deeply personal story about spending two summers with a man when he was 19, eventually falling intensely and painfully in love with him. Ocean’s album title, Channel Orange, represents his synesthesia and how everything those summers were orange.

The song “Bad Religion”central message is that unrequited love can be dangerous and all-consuming. Throughout the song, Ocean emphasizes that this love should be avoided at all costs due to its perilous consequences. Ocean also examines the parallels between unrequited love and religion, while underlining how homosexuality heightens and adds fear to the experiences.

Ocean repeatedly uses metaphorical language to communicate his theme, however he most clearly emphasizes it within the chorus when he sings,

“If it brings me to my knees

It’s a bad religion

this unrequited love”

Here, Ocean does more than just compare unrequited love to a bad religion, he defines it as such. Many people see religion as an all-powerful force within their lives that govern and dictate how they should live it. By calling unrequited love a bad religion, Frank Ocean is communicating that it has the same properties and abilities. Simultaneously, Ocean is also warning against participating in any religion that has this power as he calls it a “bad” one.

Additionally, Ocean further reveals the meaning of the song through allusions. Ocean sings,

And you say, ‘Allahu Akbar’

I told him “Don’t curse me”

Allahu Akbar is an Islamic expression that means “God is the greatest.” In one sense, the cab driver may have said this to comfort Frank, implying that no matter how enormous his troubles are, God is the greatest and will take care of them. Frank’s response exemplifies how unrequited love consumes him as he applies what the driver says to his own predicament. He instructs him not to curse him, suggesting that he does not want to serve another God because the one he has now is already a curse.

Finally, Ocean connects the homosexuality aspect of the song with the use of a simile and hyperbole when he sings,

Taxi driver

I swear I’ve got three lives

Balanced on my head like steak knifes

This poem not only depicts the narrator’s great stress and anxiety as a result of unrequited love, but it also inserts homosexual significance by stating that he must have three lives. The narrator has split his identity because he has unrequited feelings for a man. Many religions condemn homosexuality and have a history of aggressively persecuting people involved. As a result, Ocean compares it to balancing “steak knifes” on his head to underline the consequences if others find out.

After slow reading and analyzing “Bad Religion” I definitely think that the song should be considered poetry. Additionally, adding the vocals and the sounds to these lyrics deepen and intensify the meaning behind the poem as one can feel the emotions that the narrator is experiencing.