A Stylistic Analysis of I Can Fly

連晨佳

【摘要】本文試圖通過運用多種語言學理論對電影《大眼睛》的主題曲《I Can Fly》歌詞進行文體學分析，從而揭示這首歌詞的文體學特點，以及這種特點對表現電影主題的作用。

【關鍵詞】文體學 詞匯意義 語篇語義 概念隱喻 女性主義

【Abstract】This paper makes a stylistic analysis of foregrounding in I Can Fly on the basis of lexical meanings， discourse semantics and conceptual metaphor.

【Key words】stylistic analysis； foregrounding； lexical meaning； discourse semantics； conceptual metaphor； feminism

1. Introduction

I Can Fly is a 2014 American song written and performed by Lana Del Rey. Its the theme song of Big Eyes， an American biographical film directed by Tim Burton. The film is about how Margaret Keane， an American artist who was famous for her paintings of children with extremely big eyes， had grown from a weak housewife who unwillingly let her husband take credit of all her phenomenally successful and popular paintings from 1950s to 1960s， into an independent and strong woman who could stand out and reveal her identity as the real painter of her works to the world. It is believed to be one of the best feminism films of 2014， according to many film critics.

I Can Fly is played at the end of the film， when Margaret Keane finally won the lawsuit against her husband in court. As the theme song of the film， I Can Fly successfully explicates and deepens the feminism theme of the film by focusing on Margarets mental progress from the beginning to the end of the story. Lana Del Rey， its writer and performer， has received a Golden Globe nomination for this song.

This paper aims at using all kinds of linguistic tools to make a stylistic analysis of I Can Fly s foregrounding at formal and discourse level， and find out how such foregrounding has supported the feminism theme of the song. In addition， how foregrounding at all levels has helped this song serve better as the theme song of Big Eyes will also be discussed.

2. Analyses of Stylistic Features and Foregrounding

2.1 Lexical Features

According to Leech （1981）， lexical meaning can be further divided into seven types of meanings： conceptual meaning， connotative meaning， social meaning， affective meaning， reflected meaning， collocative meaning and thematic meaning. Among all these meanings， the connotative， affective and social meanings of some words in I Can Fly are very profound.

For example， in the sentence “I was crazy on fire waiting to fly”， the term “on fire” has a social meaning that is closely related to purification and rebirth in Christianity. In the film， after believing in god and gaining power from him， the heroine is eager to get rid of her old life which is filled with lies and begin a new life as an independent， honest woman. By using the term “on fire”， her determination and strong will are shown to the audience. As for connotative meaning， the word “summer” in “You had me caged up like a bird in mid-summer”， “I was painting in the garden like a ghost in Mid-July”，“I had bright wishes in the summer”，and “Your lies were hard kisses in the summer”often reminds people of “bright”， “warm”， and “liveliness”， while the real life of the heroine was neither bright nor colorful until she won the law suit against her husband. Such contrasts successfully fore grounded the difficulties encountering the heroine and her struggle. In addition， the word “fight” in “I was fighting for my art， fighting with my lover” has very complicated affective meaning. The first “fight” shows the heroines determination to protect her rights as an artist， while the second “fight” has a quite ironical tone， expressing the heroines disappointment of her husband and her melancholy for their dead love.

2.2 Discourse Features

2.2.1 Discourse semantics of I Can Fly

Martin and Rose （2007） identify six sets of resources for making meaning as text， and these sets of meaning are known as discourse systems. The six discourse systems are： appraisal， ideation， conjunction， identification， periodicity， and negotiation.

The appraisal system focuses on evaluation. J.R. Martin and P.R.R. White （2005） regionalized appraisal into three interacting domains： attitude， engagement and graduation， and attitude can be further divided into affect， judgment and appreciation.

The lyrics of I Can Fly can be regarded as the monologue of the heroine， and many of her feelings and attitudes are shown in the lyrics. The line“I had a dream that I was fine” is an example of affect. It shows the mixed feelings of the heroine： Although she used the words “I was fine”， she had gained such feelings in her dream， so her real feelings in real life might be exactly the opposite. There are also many examples of Judgment. The line“I wasn't crazy， I was divine” ， which is repeated many times in the lyrics， is the heroines judgment of herself. When she decided to sue her husband for having taken credit of all her works， many people thought she was crazy. This judgment expresses her confidence to prove her value in front of the world. She was no longer a poor single mother， but a holy fighter fighting for her art. The lines“I've got things to tell you like I know that you're a liar” and“Your words cut like a knife in butter” are judgments of the heroines husband， indicating that he was a big liar and the heroine was really disappointed with and angry about him.

2.2.2 Conceptual metaphors used in I Can Fly

According to Lakoff & Johnson （1980）， conceptual metaphor refers to the understanding of one idea， which is the conceptual domain， in terms of another， which is the target domain. In the lyrics of I Can Fly， many conceptual metaphors are used for various purposes.

One conceptual metaphor is used in the line “You had me caged up like a bird in mid-summer” in the Chorus part of the lyrics to help the audience have a better understanding of the storys background and its characters. Here， the source domain is “bird” while the target domain is “me”， which refers to the heroine， Margaret. A caged bird is quite poor， for it has lost all freedom and has to rely on its owner. In addition， the term “in mid-summer” is used here. “A bird in mid-summer” is even more miserable， for the contrast between the sunny world outside and the hopeless world inside the cage is very strong. In the film， Margaret had been controlled and deprived of almost all her social connection by her husband for a long time， because he feared that she might reveal his dark secrets. Margaret was just like a bird in the cage， desperate， hopeless， and quite angry， relying on nothing but the mercy of her husband. The Conceptual metaphor used here shows the mixed feelings of the heroine and the cruel and ugly nature of her husband.

Some other conceptual metaphors have reflected how the heroines attitude towards her husband as well as herself had changed. In all three parts of the verse， three different conceptual metaphors are used： in the first part， “I was painting in the garden like a ghost in Mid-July”； and in the second part， “Dreaming of the water where I'd rise like a Phoenix or an iron from the fire”.

The source domain of the conceptual metaphor in the first part is “ghost” and the target domain is “I”， which is the heroine herself. By comparing herself to a ghost， the heroine was actually trying to express her sorrow and helpless feelings of losing herself. At the beginning， the heroine was asked by her husband to paint under his name and hid the secret for him. She was aware of the fact that by doing so， she would lose her own identity as a real person， just like a ghost， but dared not to obey her husbands will， for she believed that as a female painter and a woman on her second marriage in the 1960s， all her future was dependent on her husband. This conceptual metaphor is used here to show the helplessness and sadness of Margaret.

There are two conceptual metaphors in the second part. The source domains are “phoenix” and “iron”， while the target domains are both “I”. In this part， as time went by， the heroine had realized her true value and was no longer willing to obey to her husbands blandishments or threats. Here， she compared herself to “phoenix” and “an iron from” rather than a “ghost”. The phoenix is a powerful and beautiful animal. Whats more， it is the dominant power of its own world， depending on no other creatures but itself. An iron from fire is harder and has more strength than before. It has gained power from its suffering in the fire， just like the heroine had gained power from her miserable past. Such changes in the source domains of the two conceptual metaphors showed that the heroines sense as an independent woman was gradually awaking， and her unconditional obedience to her husband is fading away.

Another conceptual metaphor used in the line “Running fast from something with my eyes wide like Saucers spinning in the sun” is quite paradoxical but meaningful. The source domain is “saucers” and the target domain is “my eyes”. This metaphor may seem weird at first sight， for we all know that eyes are black， while painters saucers are full of colors. It might be easier to understand this sentence by referring to one line said by Margaret in the film： “The eyes are the windows of the soul.” Margaret had always tried to reveal the depth of human feelings by painting all the eyes extremely big. In fact， this metaphor reveals that for the artist， the big black eyes are actually representation of colorful human nature.

3. Stylistic interpretation

As the theme song of Big Eyes， I Can Fly has further explicated the themes of the film by exposing the mental activities of the heroine during the process of the whole story. The profound themes of this song are supported by the stylistic analysis in previous parts of this paper in the following ways.

The first theme of I Can Fly is undoubtedly feminism. At lexical level， the lexical meanings of many words in the lyrics， as analyzed before， have shown the growth of the heroine. Her attitude towards difficulties in life has transformed from mere sadness and helplessness to a strong will to protect herself and her art. At the discourse level， in the analyses of the discourse semantics， the heroines judgment of herself and her husband is full of assertion and confidence， indicating her sureness about her own life. In the analyses of conceptual metaphors， the changes in the source domain are signs of the heroines changed attitude. In terms of narrative voice， the heroine is the only narrator of I Can Fly， and her feelings and attitude are the center of all plots in the lyrics. All these stylistic analyses have shown a very clear theme： women should be self-dependent， follow their own feelings and live for themselves.

The second theme is the preciousness of honesty. At lexical level， the analyses of lexical meanings of some words， for example， “on fire”， have revealed the heroines guilty feelings towards her past dishonesty —— although she was almost forced by her husband to hide the truth， she was actually playing the role of accomplice by allowing him to cheat on everybody. At discourse level， in the analyses of discourse semantics， the heroines judgment of her husband as a “liar” has suggested the anger and disappointment of her， which is an example of the harm of dishonesty.

4. Conclusion

I Can Fly is a very good theme song as well as a very meaningful text to be analyzed. The whole song is like a travel to the inner world of Margaret， which provides the audience with a direct and deep presentation of her mental activities. Its a necessary supplement to the film and also helps to better illustrate the themes of the film. The stylistic analyses in this paper are only able to touch the surface of its beautiful language and profound themes. More detailed analyses are needed to further dig up its value.

References：

[1]Martin，J.R.，and D.Rose.2007.Working with Discourse：Meaning Beyond the Clause.2nd ed.London：Continuum.

[2]Leech，Geoffrey.1974.Semantics.Penguin Books.

[3]Martin，J.R.，and P.R.R.White.2005.The Language of Evaluation：Appraisal in English.Basingstoke：Palgrave Macmillan.

[4]Lakoff，George & Mark Johnson.1980.Metaphors We Live By.Chicago：University of Chicago Press.