Tupac Paper

Tupac “Changes”

Lyrics combined with beat and tempo has the ability to change one’s whole outlook upon a certain subject. In Copland’s theory he states that music should be listened to only the beat. He thinks that music is supposed to be heard on only three planes; expressive, sensuous, and the musical plane. Yet Copland doesn’t talk about what lyrics add to these planes. In a song called “Changes” by Tupac Shakur , lyrics to this song made it a brilliant example of Copland’s theory on all three planes. Tupac was a brilliantt rap artist that used the times around him and his child hood as vehicles in his songs. Therefore it is necessary for him to use his lyrics in order to convey the true message of his songs.

The sensuous plane according to Copland is “The simplest way of listening to music is to listen for the sheer pleasure of the musical sound itself” (148). In Tupac’s “Changes”, the music heard in the background is what defines the mood for this song. The background music for this song has drum beats and a very nice piano chorus being played throughout the whole song. The mood heard is not one of elegance or happiness; it’s more of a sorrow mood that the beat sets for this song. But adding lyrics to this plane adds a whole other twist to it. The sensuous plane can not only be interpreted through beats, but now it can be interpreted through lyrics also. Not all artists express themselves only by their beats, many express their music only through their lyrics. For example in “Changes”, Tupac many times tries to make an image in the listener’s head;

I got love for my brother, but we can never go nowhere

unless we share with each other. We gotta start makin' changes.

Learn to see me as a brother 'stead of two distant strangers.

And that's how it's supposed to be. (Shakur)

He employs this technique many times in this song and in all of his other songs as well. Tupac Shakur wanted you to see what his life and many of his friends lives were, that’s what made him so successful. Copland only studied classical music which was free for interpretation. But adding lyrics to music restricts interpretation for that piece.

In Copland’s theory the expressive plane is said to be, My own......an expressive power, some more and some less, but that all music has a certain meaning behind the notes and that the meaning behind the notes constitutes, after all, what the piece is saying, what the piece is about. (149)

Yet how can one interpret a musical piece with lyrics solely on its beat and tempo. To the untrained mind, this would be a rather difficult task to do. But with lyrics added the listener can comprehend what the artist is trying to say. In “Changes” the whole piece is about how the world needs to change because it is not working the way it is now;

We gotta make a change...

It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes.

Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live

and let's change the way we treat each other. (Shakur)

You see the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do

what we gotta do, to survive. (Shakur)

The interpretation of this verse is very distinct and straight