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Someone to Watch Over Me has been more popular in recent years than it was when it was first released. The song describes a woman’s search for the perfect man who would comfort her and protect her. The song creates images of this mysterious man- someone who may not have the looks that some women look for, but is the perfect man for her.
Rhyme is used effectively throughout the song to imitate sounds and separate ideas, and includes examples like ‘blind’, ‘find’ and ‘mind’. Assonance is also used very well to imitate and repeat sounds within a sentence, like with line 17 and the words ‘please, ‘speed,’ and ‘lead.’ Allusion is used with the reference on line 2 ‘seek and ye shall find,’ a successful example of trying to make the song memorable. Line 12’s metaphor, which suggests the woman is a lamb, is also used on line 8 with reference her looking for a ‘sheperd,’ and attempts to create an image of the man with moderate success. Ejambement is often used, and one example, on lines 10 to 11, from ‘turns out to be’ to ‘someone who’ll watch over me,’ sounds unnatural when sung. Caesura is used on a number of occasions throughout the song, but perhaps the only successful example is on line 17, and this is done well in combination with the assonance examples on the same line. The ‘end stopped’ technique is used often throughout the song, but not as much as in many songs. A constant rhythm is kept throughout the song: ‘Won’t you tell him please, to put on some speed, follow my lead; Oh, how I need someone to watch over me.’
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