Jay-Z

When the sky falls and the
Earth quakes
We gon put this back together
We won’t break
Sa Pa Sé, my Port-Au-Princes
My Haitian Gods and all of my Princesses
Our condolences as you fightin’ against this
We’re right by your side as we tryin’ to make sense of this
Heavenly father help us see through these problems
And for those that left, accept them into your garden
So here’s my theory, the country’s already starvin’
So we sacrificed many to shed light on all of them
God please pardon, I speak from the heart
It's the only way I see this tragedy befall on them
So lets get involved with them, hand to hand with them
Arm to arm with them til' they get strong again,
When the sky falls...

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[Rihanna and Bono – Hook]
Can’t wait until tomorrow
Haiti, Mon Amour
Haiti, Mon Amour
Not gonna leave you stranded, alone, alone oh no
[Chorus]
[Jay-Z Verse 2]
Learn from the past,
New Orleans
was flooded
So we know we just can’t rely on the
government
We under the rubble again, here we go rumbling when
When we gon catch a break, my friend lost his mother and then
And then, Carline lost her uncles and them
Buried with no caskets, they just put covers on them
And the tears fall, and we fight back
Story ain’t done, it can’t end like that
Nah not like this, tomorrow’s survivors gonna carry on your name
You live on inside us, your memory’s alive with us
You inspired us, to rebuild this country, you just guide us

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It’s not the angels that are on their way
It's not the bells of
Santa Trinite
The people waiting, positions vacant
For hands to help, not just to pray
[Hook]
[French singing]
Haïti va s’élever
Tu vas te relever
Nous nous éléverons
Ensemble ensemble ensemble
(not gonna leave you stranded...)
[Jay-Z]
We gon put this back together we won't break
We gon put this back together we won't break
We gon put this back together we won't break
We gon put this back together we won't break

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Shawn Corey Carter, who is best known for his stage name and rap persona “Jay-Z” is a multi-million dollar entrepreneur, rapper, and producer who emerged into the rap game in the late 1980’s, coming from one of the poorest projects in Brooklyn, New York;
Jay-Z is now one of the richest and elite rappers in the rap game and is hailed as one of the greatest rappers of his generation. He co-owns the 40/40 club and is also a partial owner of the New
Jersey Nets, which is only a small testament to his wealth and success, but it wasn’t always like that for Shawn Carter. Being born in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Carter’s father abandoned him when he was 12 years old and left him with his brother and their poor, single mother. Jay-Z dropped out of school because of his family’s financial troubles and started to sell crack cocaine to support himself. Life was hard for the young Carter, ideas of a better life made him find rap as a way to get things off his mind.
Carter bought a boom box and started to rap freestyles and beats, eventually making his way into freestyle competitions and won a lot of them. Because of his rapping prowess, he was signed to a record deal and released his first album, Reasonable Doubt, which got him played on airwaves all over New York. Jay-Z’s major commercial success came from his release of the Blueprint series of albums, all of which went multi-platinum. Jay-Z has released more than 10 critically acclaimed albums since his first attempt at commercial rap and has become a rap icon
.
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On Tuesday, January 12, on the nation of
Haiti, a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck south of Port Au Prince. The catastrophe caused intense damage throughout the entire nation and put it in a state of emergency. Many worldwide organizations sent help to evacuate people and set up search and rescue operations.
Many people starved with the little resources that were left and many lives were lost in the horrible aftershocks that rippled throughout the night. This connects to the song because it is the main focus of it. The entire song deals with the tragedy of the earthquake and overcoming it together to make a better life for the victims.
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Port-Au-Prince is the capitol of the nation of Haiti which suffered a 7.0 magnitude earthquake early in 2010.
The epicenter of the earthquake was within 10 miles southwest of Port-Au-
Prince. Many earthquakes have happened there throughout history, and the area is usually filled with civil strife and other problems. Unemployment is high, and tourism has significantly declined in the area because of the political conditions of the capitol. This refers back to the song because Port-Au-
Prince was almost where the disaster happened, and so the damage there was the greatest. The songwriter expresses that he hopes that the Haitian gods will help those that suffered.
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New Orleans, Louisiana is a city in the United States. The city is a very big tourist location for its rich history and yearly carnival events held. New
Orleans has a connection with the song because Jay-Z compares the earthquake in Haiti to Hurricane
Katrina in New Orleans, both natural disasters caused widespread damage and destruction. This connects to the song because the songwriter compares Hurricane Katrina to the earthquake in Haiti. Both were natural disasters and happened in locations where resources weren’t readily available to deal with the crises.
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In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the United States government was criticized about how the situation was handled. Emergency aid and evacuation was delayed by unessential protocol and many stated that the disaster could have partially been prevented if the government had thought of the deterioration of the levees that were protecting New
Orleans. U.S. District Judge Stanwood
R. Duval declared that the Army Corps of Engineers had been negligent of the levees and blamed the inefficiency of the disaster on them. The songwriter makes the connection that the Haitian government, although they had no control over it, could not protect the
Haitian people, as is the job of a government. He alludes to the failure of government in Hurricane Katrina.
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Santa Trinite is a Church in Florence, Italy which was built in the 11 th century. It houses many classical portraits depicting religious scenes or other fine pieces of art. The church is a tourist attraction in Italy with its architecture and works of art throughout. The
Santa Trinite is a symbol of prayer and religion and its bells show a spirit of divinity. The connection between the divinity of the Santa Trinite and the song is that there have already been prayers said, and are still being said, but people must get up and do something to rebuild the country.
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“And for those that left, accept them into your garden” is an allusion to the Garden of Eden from the Bible. The songwriter chose to allude to it to explain how the innocent people who died from the disaster deserve to be in the garden where nothing can hurt them anymore. The songwriter pleads with
God to allow those that have died to be able to go there. It goes with the theme of the song because it is a plea to save those that have become victims of the disaster.
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“God please pardon, I speak from my heart” is an apostrophe, or the addressing of an object of person who is not really there. The songwriter talks to God who is an outside influence. He tells him about how he feels about the disaster, and pleads with him to help those in need. This goes with the theme of the song because the song seems to have a recurring theme of prayer and god and hope.
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“It’s not the angels that are on their way, it’s not the bells of
Santa Trinite…” is an example of literary repetition because the words “its not the” are repeated. This literary device is used so that it puts emphasis on the lyrics and attracts attention to the song. The lyrics are said as if in defiance or to contradict something, so they are forceful despite being said softly.
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Rhyme scheme is the pattern that a rhyme follows throughout a verse, and how it is arranged determines what the rhyme scheme is . The rhyme scheme in the song varies but in most sections, it is AAABBCDD. Rhyme scheme adds a sense of melody to the song and connects it together with similar sounding words. The rhyme scheme in the song follows a straightforward pattern.
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“We gon put this back together, we won’t break” is the ending line to the song, and it repeated until the song ends.
The lyrics are also used near the begininng of the song, so it has a recurring theme. The lyrics represent determination and strength in the face of adversity, which is a central theme in the song. The reptition of these lyrics is a powerful statement of resilience of the people of Haiti and all those who have helped, and are still helping.
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