The song I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack is about seizing the moment, taking chances and always being ready to try new things in life. The artist, Womack wrote this song after going through a terrible heartbreak caused by the divorce from her husband. In one of her interviews after the release of the song, she said that after the divorce, she went to Florida Gulf Coast to get her mind off things, and while seated on the beach, she got the inspiration for the song. I Hope You Dance is a simple song with profound lines that many people can relate to, and this makes it very memorable.
The second verse of the song is my favourite. In this verse, Womack talks about how life is taking chances. She says that life may be difficult sometimes but taking a chance to improve your life is always worth-while. In the third and fourth line of the second verse, she says:
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“ Lovin’ might be mistake but it’s worth makin’
Don’t let some hell-bent heart leave you bitter” (AzLyrics, n.d.).
This line is very relatable because many people have loved and gotten hurt before. However, such mistakes are worth making because we can consider them as lessons learned. When the people we love wrong us, we should not be so quick to become bitter about everything in life. Being hurt should not make us change into bad people because this only makes us have a “hell-bent heart” just like the people who wronged us. She goes on and says that when life gives us the opportunity to change our situation; when life gives an opportunity to be happy, we should grab it, instead of wallowing in self-pity and sorrow. “And when you get the chance to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance” (AzLyrics, n.d.). This means that we should always choose things that make us happy and improve our lives.
Womack also uses several elements of poetry in her song I Hope You Dance . This one of the main things that makes the song so memorable and catchy. The song takes conforms to a lyric poem because it has an elevated style, a moderate length and an elaborate pattern of stanzas. The song also has a refrain after every stanza; which is “I hope you dance, I hope you dance” (AzLyrics, n.d.). The song has also applied an end rhyme in most of its stanzas. An end rhyme is the repetition of word that sounds the same at the end of two sentences or more. This can be seen in the first stanza:
“ I hope you feel small when you stand beside the ocean ,
Whenever the door closes I hope more doors open ,
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance ,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance ,
I hope you dance; I hope you dance ” (AzLyrics, n.d.).
The rhyme scheme is illustrated by the italicized words at the end of every sentence. The rhyme scheme of the first stanza of the song I Hope You Dance is abab , which means that the rhyming words alternate or skip one sentence and rhymes in the alternating one.
The song also makes use of assonance in its lyrics. For example, the sixth line in the first stanza shows the use of assonance. Assonance is the repetition of the vowel sounds in a line, regardless of their position: “Whenever o ne d oo r cl o ses I h o pe o ne m o re o pens.” (AzLyrics, n.d.). The use of assonance is indicated by the highlighted vowels in the text above. The use of assonance makes the song have a repetitive feel, thus making the song catchy and easy to remember. The song also applies repetition of a whole line and a particular phrase as a way of emphasizing the main theme of the song. For example, the word “dance” is repeated several times throughout the song, as well as the line “I hope you dance” (AzLyrics, n.d.). The reason behind this is to remind the readers/listeners that the main concept or theme of the song is “dancing”. The repetition also makes the song catchy and easy to remember, just like the artist intended.
The artist also uses metaphors in her song. Metaphors use a direct comparison between situations and objects, hence giving the poem/song a deeper meaning. For example, in the second stanza, she says: “I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean…I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance” (AzLyrics, n.d.). She is comparing real-life situations to objects. By saying that we should not fear the mountains in the distance she is comparing our problems in life with mountains. She encourages us to take chances in life and not to let the challenges that come our way in life instill fear in us; no matter how big they are. When she says, “I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean” (AzLyrics, n.d.), she means that there is always something greater than our problems. She also means that we may think that we carry the biggest burden in our lives, but there are people with bigger problems in life. No matter how bad we think we have it in life, things will always get better because there is a greater power; greater than our troubles.
In conclusion, the song I hope you dance will always have a special place in my heart because of its simplicity and message. It is a song that undeniably lifts someone’s spirit when they are feeling down. It gives them hope that life only gets better; and most importantly, we should not wallow in self-pity and woes, we should take chances in life; let lose; be happy.
References
AzLyrics – Song Lyrics from A to Z. (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2017, from https://www.bing.com/cr?
