Irony Analysis

         

          In “Funny the Way It Is”, Dave Matthews Band portrays potent imagery, singular allusion, and dramatic irony to display the idea that the world is “funny the way it is”.

          Dave Matthews Band uses many cases of extremely potent imagery. They use a dual approach to show the broad spectrum of positive and negative events that happen each day all around the world. Using positive imagery they describe the day as having “sunshine in the grass, and the children play”. On the other hand, they say that “someone is screaming and crying in the apartment upstairs”. Using these two very different examples of imagery definitely portrays the surprising way the world works. Other imagery includes different senses as well. “You hear the laughter while the children play war”. This gives you the disturbing image of children “killing” each other and laughing about it. Dave Matthews Band appropriately uses and places this device to further impact the listener.

          A less important, but oh so prominent, device that is also in this song is allusion. The allusion to the song “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” by War is subtle but the idea is reinforced once it is heard. “And that war song is playing ‘why can’t we be friends?’” is not only a form of allusion, but is also a small example of irony.

          Irony has to be the most prominent and known device in this song. “One kid walk 10 miles to school, another’s dropping out” might suggest that I one kid is willing to walk 10 miles to get an education, another kid would be grateful enough to stay in school. Another way Dave Matthews Band uses irony is by saying that “somebody’s broken heart becomes your favorite song”. The reader might expect that somebody’s broken heart will make you feel remorse, but instead they’re saying that you enjoy their pain just for the sake of listening to a good song. An example of irony, that is also paradoxical, is when the band explains how “on a soldier’s last breath his baby’s being born.” This would suggest it’s ironic that the soldier, who is fighting to keep this country safe, is killed before he ever gets to see his child. The paradoxical side would explain this line by using the theory of the circle of life; everyone dies, and babies are born everyday.

          The world is “funny the way it is” because you never know what could happen; life’s a game of chance. Dave Matthews Band masterfully shows us the day-to-day gamble of living using these three literary devices. The song shows us that it also is the people that are “funny”, not just the world.