JC
Hi! I hope you enjoy the first in Sound of Pen’s 2000trees Series. Today, we’re going to listen to Hevenshe. Watch her set on the Saturday at Upcote Farm!!
Let’s start with ‘Wish I Had A Friend’, then move on to ‘The Blessing’, then finish with ‘Wild Wild Heart’. You will have the chance to practice your analysis of assonance, the star motif, adverbs and meter. All the ideas you come up with will be relevant in one way or another to the texts you’re studying in the classroom.
Okay, let’s go…
Hevenshe, ‘Wish I Had A Friend’
“Maybe it could be you
But is it too soon?”
ACTIVITY 1
Watch the video below and read the lyric above (in orange). Why does Hevenshe make use of assonance?* Come up with as many ideas as you can.
If you’re a teacher in the classroom, ask each student to write ideas down. There are three key ideas (in blue below the ‘Wish I Had A Friend’ video). Award a point to a student for each similar idea they have written down (so, a max of 2 points). Award them a further 2 points for each idea they come up with that makes sense, but that is not mentioned below!
*Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within closely placed words, typically in the middle of the words, to create rhythm, mood, or emphasis. Unlike rhyme, which focuses on the ending sounds, assonance highlights the internal vowel sounds.
That internal positioning of the assonant sounds really give them a sense of being absolutely central to the word – and to the person delivering it. This ensures the feelings translate in an appropriately heartfelt, meaningful manner. When you sing along to Hevenshe’s words, you can feel that the sound comes from your centre – from your heart. Often, that ‘oo’ sound is used to express a sense of wonderment or surprise – these are gorgeous feelings that we look forward to savouring when singing along to Hevenshe at 2000trees. The repeated assonant sounds underline the continual feelings of awe and wonderment – highlighting those feelings as persistent and not one-off.
ACTIVITY 2
Which of your course writers make use of assonance? Is it used to create a similar sense of awe? Or is it used in a more unsettling manner? In gentler contexts, the drawn out nature of the assonance can feel soothing and calming and reassuring, but it can also sound mournful. You might also consider how a repeated sound might be suggestive of something’s ongoing presence – every ‘oo’ for example might be another reminder of the continual presence of nature’s power in ‘Storm On The Island’: “You can listen to the thing you fear / Forgetting that it pummels your house too.” Or it might be indicative of how consistently amazed Nick is by Gatsby’s life: “In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound.”
Hevenshe, ‘The Blessing’
“Did you fall from the same star I did?”
ACTIVITY 3
Watch the video below and read the lyric above (in orange). Why does Hevenshe make use of the star symbol/motif? Come up with as many ideas as you can.
If you’re a teacher in the classroom, ask each student to write ideas down. There are four key ideas (in blue below ‘The Blessing’ video). Award a point to a student for each similar idea they have written down (so, a max of 4 points). Award them a further 2 points for each idea they come up with that makes sense, but that is not mentioned below!
Singing along to ‘The Blessing’ evokes the same kind of fluttery feeling Taylor Swift captured on her ‘folklore’ and ‘evermore’ albums. Soooo beautiful. And, of course, stars are such a common motif within the texts we’re studying. Why does it feel so perfect when Hevenshe delivers this line? Does the star image suit the moment so well because she feels like an outsider (from a different planet) and yet here, actually, is someone else from her ‘planet’? If the question is read rhetorically, it certainly creates the sense that she feels she has met someone who is just like her – and the fact that they both came from the “same star” underlines the unlikeliness, and therefore, the specialness of the pair’s connection. Or does the star image work because, since ancient times, people have believed stars and planets influenced human lives? In astrology, your fate is literally written in the stars. If Hevenshe and the person she’s addressing are from the “same star”, we understand the strength of their connection – they have the same fate and will understand each other’s experiences so completely. Or maybe the star image works because it’s so dreamy and heavenly. If hard earth represents our daily life, then the sky and the stars represent an alternative reality in which we can be free of ‘gravity’ – the subject of Hevenshe’s affections, then, represents escape from a more limiting reality. Or, possibly, the star image is so effective because we understand its fixed position. Just as the stars offer travellers guidance and a map with which to navigate the world, so we might be meant to understand how much Hevenshe appreciates the guiding influence of the person she’s writing about. Whatever the case, it’s such a positive, hopeful lyric and we will sing along with all our hearts at 2000trees!!
ACTIVITY 4
Which of your course writers make use of the star motif? Think about the ideas above and think about which feels most relevant to each use of that celestial imagery!
Hevenshe, ‘Wild Wild Heart’
“But you’ll always be the one
That changed my life forever”
ACTIVITY 5
Watch the video below and read the lyric above (in orange). Why does Hevenshe make use of the adverbs (“always” & “forever”)? What about the iambic heptameter?* Come up with as many ideas as you can.
*iambic heptameter: a line with 7 syllables – starting with a stressed syllable, then unstressed, then stressed, then unstressed and so forth.
If you’re a teacher in the classroom, ask each student to write ideas down. There are two key ideas re: adverbs and 4 re: iambic heptameter (in blue below the ‘Wild Wild Heart’ video). Award a point to a student for each similar idea they have written down (so, a max of 6 points). Award them a further 2 points for each idea they come up with that makes sense, but that is not mentioned below!
ACTIVITY 6
Ooh, we’re going to feel very emotional howling the words to this one!! First there are those adverbs: “forever” and “always” – the effect these people have had on each other is clearly sooooo profound. Thus we understand the significance of their relationship. In this moment, it might seem as if Hevenshe and the person she’s singing about have separated – and yet the impact they’ve had on each other will resonate until the end of time. The fact that these adverbs are placed in such close proximity to each other underlines the absoluteness of these long-lasting effects.
Then there’s the use of iambic heptameter. It’s not the most commonly used meter, and maybe its rarity makes sense given the special nature of the feelings being described. Poets often make use of iambic pentameter when writing about love. The fact that Hevenshe does not might hint at a particulaerly unique kind of love that doesn’t fit with other people’s expectations. The heptameter also creates a rhythm that feels shorter and more compact than the more familiar 8 or 10-syllable lines. This can result in a quicker pace, which might give the poem a feeling of movement or energy. Maybe this correlates with the sense of urgency Hevenshe feels – both because this relationship she’s detailing seems to be over and because she is still so keen regardless to articulate the significance of that relationship. Because the each line of iambic heptameter finishes on an unstressed syllable, perhaps this gives us an insight into how Hevenshe’s new independent life is now missing that final concrete syllable. Everything feels less complete, less finished, more intangible. Or maybe finishing on a stressed syllable would feel too tough. She wants to finish each thought with an unstressed, softer sound because that feels more relevant to her the way she is feeling.
And that’s it! Hopefully you’ve enjoyed spending time with Hevenshe’s music. Make use of the ideas you’ve explored today when you write your next essay!!