Some songs may have similar meanings or content, but the way that it is delivered may change the whole tone of the idea. Although both “Rock n’ Roll Band” by Boston and “Have a Cigar” by Pink Floyd have a similar main idea of bands rising, Boston utilizes local imagery and reminiscent tone to express that journey a band took to “be a sensation,” while Pink Floyd incorporates cunning imagery and arrogant tone in order to show that people are not always “what [you] think.”
The tone used in both “Rock n’ Roll Band” and “Have a Cigar” very different, although both songs are about the journey a band takes as it is rising to the top. In the song by Boston, the tone is very reminiscent of how the band came to be famous, and what it was like for them on the voyage. They started out “on the road to try to make ends meet” and were soon “getting pretty good at the game.” “A man came to the stage one night” and said that they were “outta-sight” and he has “great expectations” for them. They were remembering how they got to where they were today and how fun the ride was. In the song by Pink Floyd, the tone is very arrogant because of the manager who wants to use them for their money. The manager starts by telling them that “the band is just fantastic,” but then starts to wonder “which one’s Pink.” After their great success, he tells them that the need to get and album out because they “owe it to the people” and also that they are “so happy they can hardly count.” It seems as though he is trying to help them be successful, but he is only trying to get money out of them. The tones used throughout both songs are very contradictory.
In both “Rock n’ Roll Band” and “Have a Cigar,” imagery is used, but with different connotations. In the song by Boston, the imagery is influenced heavily by the idea of local color. Then their band was just starting up, they were “just another band out of Boston” who were “playin’ in all the bars, sleepin’ in [their] cars/ and [they] practiced right on out in the street.” Soon, they were “dancin’ in the streets of Hyannis,” and noticed that everyone was standing “in line and didn’t seem to mind/ you know everybody knew [their] name.” They were finally “playin’ for a week in Rhode Island” where they had a chance to “sign a record company contract.” Throughout the whole song, they are mentioning places that they have been and what they did there. Meanwhile, in the song by Pink Floyd, the imagery seems very cunning. The manager tells them that they are “never gonna die,” which is obviously false, since it is impossible to live forever. After their first huge success, he tells them that “everybody else is just green/ have you seen the chart?” Throughout the whole song, the manager is feeding them lies of impossible things to happen.
Both “Rock n’ Roll Band” by Boston and “Have a Cigar by Pink Floyd contain imagery and tone, but they have extremely different content. “Rock n’ Roll Band” is the reminiscent song about the way that a band climbed their way to the top. “Have a Cigar” is the manipulative story that shows that although people seem like one thing on the outside, they might be different underneath. Both of these songs have very strong examples of contradictory tone and imagery, in order to show the journey taken by different people.
