Cody Fry's "Underground" THE ART OF AN IMPACTFUL STORY

Introduction

Life consists of stories, good and bad. The amount that a story impacts us may vary but it is often the most impactful ones that become a part of who we are. As humans, we feel the need to share our stories. One of the most common forms of storytelling is music. A song can say a lot even without technically saying anything at all. It is this art form that I want to draw attention to. There are many conscious and subconscious choices that a songwriter or composer makes when crafting their piece. The different chosen elements and how they interact determine the quality of storytelling, including its impact on the listener. Looking at these elements through a rhetorical lens may reveal how they work to create an impactful story. Therefore, the driving question of this analysis is as follows:

Argument

How do a song’s compositional elements work to create an impactful story?

Description of Analysis Process

I approached the analysis of this song by searching for the implied strategies that Cody Fry employs to craft his story. I focused on how these strategies constructed a deeper impact by symbolizing letting go and giving in. To accomplish this, I began by identifying the compositional elements that stood out to me the most. I came up with a list consisting of the following elements: sound, story, tone of the sound, tone of the story, and tone of sound v.s. the tone of the story. I then used these concepts as screening devices to further understand the artifact. In my closer inspection of the text, I realized that what drew me to the song–its impactful story–was created through the compositional elements that I had identified. This brought me to my driving question: how do a song’s compositional elements work to create an impactful story? Now that I had a specific scope of analysis, I began combing through the song to find examples of the lyrics, sound, and tone. I collected and synthesized the examples I found to see the bigger picture. By being able to see how the lyrics, sound, and tone built off of each other, I began to understand that it is the relationship between the lyric and sound’s tone that generates the impactfulness of the story. This realization helped me organize my findings into the most effective and productive arrangement, bringing me to the final step of my analysis process.

Report of Findings

Creating the Story

Lyrical Content & Tone:

While all music communicates some form of a story, songs range in the amount of storytelling they convey. On a basic level, the lyrics of a song are responsible for communicating this story, regardless of its extent. This range highly depends on a combination of two factors: the genre of music and the artist. The genre of a song may not always be a direct indicator of a story but because of the connection to lyrics, it still plays an important role. For instance, we do not necessarily think of storytelling when we think about electronic, rock, or hip hop music. However, folk, country, and pop are heavily associated with strong storytelling, specifically through the song’s lyrics. As was mentioned, all of these music genres still contain individual story elements, what differs is that the former tends to focus on a succinct moment in time whereas the latter dives into telling a complex story with a beginning, middle, and end. This distinction is the difference between a regular song and a ballad, or a form of verse that narrates a story. Beyond genre, the artist or writer of the song ultimately determines the extent of the story that the song communicates through its lyrics. Due to a combination of genre and the artist’s stylistic choices, the song “Underground” by Cody Fry participates in storytelling, building its story on a lyrical foundation to become a ballad.

Looking at Cody Fry’s lyrics reveals that the song “Underground” relies on not just individual story elements but a particular form of in-depth storytelling. One of the primary characteristics of the song’s story elements that distinguish it as storytelling is its multidimensional plot. As is evident in the lyrics, the plot of the song follows the classic plot diagram structure created by Gustav Freytag, a German novelist. Although originally used for the written word, this structure encompasses all dramatic storytelling. The multidimensional plot of “Underground” is laid out on the plot diagram above using specific lyrical moments that resemble a written story’s plot points. This dissection of Cody Fry’s lyrics reveals his intense focus on telling a complete story. While the plot structure of the lyrics may be responsible for the song’s identifying storytelling quality, this is a multimodal artifact. Therefore, the sound or audio of “Underground” plays a critical role in Cody Fry’s ability to craft a ballad.

Sound Composition & Tone:

It is not just the story’s structure that makes this song an example of exceptional storytelling, it is also important to understand what the plot of this story is communicating. The sounds of the “Underground” do much of the heavy lifting in communicating the intentions behind the lyrics. These sounds are what adds meaning to the lyrics and create the song’s underlying tones. The underlying tones of the song’s story are what truly distinguish “Underground” as a ballad rather than just a song with story elements.

Note: The above video is an extended version of the song used for this analysis and is not the actual artifact being studied. However, apart from the additional orchestral content at the beginning, the video is representative of the artifact being used for this analysis.

For the entirety of the song’s rising action–which in this case happens to also be the majority of it–a listener can hear a gentle and soft sweeping melody that moves with the lyrics. Created by primarily orchestral string instruments, this portion of Fry’s musical accompaniment creates a whimsical feel. However, when paired with the lyrics it becomes clear that while the music holds a sense of instability, it is not necessarily positive but rather a listlessness meant to portray the emotions of the song’s subject as he navigates his way through an unknown domain. As the song’s subject grapples with the fact that he has been separated from the love whom he seeks in the lyrics, Fry creates a still sweeping but high-pitched and clear noise to indicate a coming train. Although this noise symbolizes an approaching train, figuratively, it may be representative of the lover the subject seeks calling out to him and thus also of hope. As the subject gains confidence in his ability to navigate his surroundings, one might expect the tempo of the music to pick up. However, the tempo remains the same until the train is close enough to see, hence why so much of the song’s duration is rising action. Due to this choice, “Underground” becomes dependent on and revolves around its build-up. With the signal from the lyrics “Then a light broke through the black,” the music picks up speed and loses its sweeping undertones to be replaced by a percussion-like ticking strum. By the train triggering the climax of the lyrics and peak of the music rather than the subject’s growing resolve, the focus shifts from the subject gradually finding his way through his problems to quickly escaping them. This being said, the lyrics make it quite clear that there is no escaping. Therefore, the sound of the music does not just pick up speed, it continues to build. When it becomes clear to the subject that he has nowhere to go, Fry lets out a guttural and raspy-sounding lyric to foretell his fate. This roughness also signifies the final stage of the music’s build. Suddenly, while Fry’s vocals continue to build by becoming higher and higher pitched, the music breaks back into its sweeping tones. This time, though, the entire orchestra of strings, woodwind, brass, and percussion is sweeping together, creating a climatic and beautiful moment. Eventually, Fry’s vocals peak too as the lyrics reveal he is hit by the train. In the epic release of emotions of both Fry and his accompaniment’s crescendo, the listlessness from the beginning begins to make sense as the subject is reunited with his love in his death. Despite the tumultuous range of emotions found in this song, I do not believe that its sounds, or even its lyrics for that matter, create a pessimistic underlying tone. Rather, the sound and lyrics work together to portray the hopeful journey of someone lost becoming found. The song does not end on a note of sadness but rather on a note of peace with Cody Fry singing one last content hum to complete his piece.

Building the Impact

As is the case for most songs, “Underground” relies heavily on its lyrical content and sound composition to create a story. However, what distinguishes this song from others is how the relationship between these two elements contributes to the story’s real impact. As was previously discussed, I think it is clear that the lyrics, with support from the sounds, distinguish this song as a ballad. Beyond its ballad classification though, Fry’s piece is more than just an excellently crafted story. What truly drew me to this artifact was its magnitude and overall impact. “Underground” becomes not just a story but a truly impactful experience through the combination of the lyrics and music. Without one or the other, there may be a story or even a ballad, but there will not be the inspiring piece of art that Cody Fry has assembled. This piece makes the listener feel something, it makes me feel something. While I imagine the impact of this story will differ from person to person, the primary effect it has on me is simple: it makes me feel alive. A story of loss and love and hope and death, “Underground” by Cody Fry is ultimately full of life. Through a well-crafted plot and underlying tones, the lyrical content and musical composition of this song intertwine in a marriage of story and impact.

Conclusion

Regardless of whether a listener is looking for an impactful story, “Underground” will give it to them. Even while working on this project, I found solace in this song. Listening to Cody Fry’s masterful song feels like a release, like letting go. Looking deeper into what compositional elements make it capable of evoking this feeling has only given me a greater appreciation for the art of storytelling through music. Understanding how the compositional elements of a song work to create an impactful story illuminates what a story is at its core. In my eyes, understanding stories is the key to understanding each other. It is not an uncommon sentiment to believe that we are all stories; however, as a once important person in my life said, we are also the authors. As authors, we have the power to create our own stories, redefine others, share them with each other through any form we choose, and let them go. Together, our stories can impact us all.