Language of the Body

TOB p. 92 Assignment 1

While searching and listening through my vast library of harmonious songs and cacophonous trash people call “music,” I stumbled upon one specific song that reveals the body and how it tells the truth. This one specific song is none other than “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira. Her lyrics tell of a woman whose “hips don’t lie” which translates to her body not lying. However, in relation to this song did also the very famous Maria Carey sing “Touch My Body.” Both songs relate to one another in how both women talk with their bodies, but only Shakira speaks the truth while Carey speaks of lies with her body.

Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” is a lively combination of both salsa and cumbia and involves the vivacious movements of the body with ties to the energetic movements of Latin Americans. This is a lively song and almost empowers the listener’s body to jump off their chair and start to dance themselves! The song’s beat captivates me and envelopes my feelings of insecurity as I look like a deranged person. The lyrics speak of the woman’s truth spoken through her body and how she speaks of love with the “signs of her body” referring to her movements. Her “hips don’t lie” which means that even though her words maybe of lies, her body cannot hide the truth behind her words.

Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body” relates a woman and a man in deep sexual tension between each other. She speaks of the sin of lust and how the secretive and deceptive lies of their affair is a dangerous and malicious scene. Her words are of lust and desire, but her body speaks of lies and deceit. She makes threats that “I will hunt you down” and of the nature as a deterrent for her true intentions of using the man just for sexual relations. She is a dirty temptress and uses the human inclination and concupiscence to lure the man into her chamber and to use him as nothing more than an object of pleasure and revoke his right as a human person with feelings and a heart and deserving much more.

Both songs talk of their bodies and how to use them however one talks of telling the truth with their bodies and the other talks of telling lies with their bodies. Mariah talks of using her body as a hussy with her dirty imagination in mind to abuse the man and use him purely for sexual pleasure with no basis to love. Contrasting to Mariah, Shakira’s song speaks of a woman on a dance floor who is captivated by the song and dances the night away with a man. This woman in Shakira’s song speaks the truth with her hips keeping in mind her modesty and self-respect.

Artists these days use provocative language and lewd clothing in music videos to attract the viewers of today’s society. However, with the language and slutty clothing, the meanings of these songs become loose and immoral like the message themselves. These songs are very influential in today’s world and remain a large impact in the youth of the world. Most songs, like Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body” tell how women use their bodies to tell lies and avoid the truth of their heart and words. On the other hand, some artists such as Maroon 5 and Mariah Carey focus more on the meaning of the body to others and how our bodies can be used to tell the truth that lies in our hearts. Overall, the meaning of music has gone askew over the past few decades but some retain morality to them to influence today’s society while being overwhelmed by “bad” music.