"We All Lift Together" Lyrics Analysis
We All Lift Together (written by Keith Power) is a song from the video game Warframe. It’s an excellent piece and I wanted to apply poetry analysis techniques to the lyrics—scansion analysis in particular.
The music video is great because you can see the heads of the robots lightup with each accented syllable.
Here are the lyrics:
Cold, the air and water flowing
Hard, the land we call our home
Push to keep the dark from coming
Feel the weight of what we oweThis, the song of sons and daughters
Hide the heart of who we are
Making peace to build a future
Strong, united, working 'til we fallCold, the air and water flowing
Hard, the land we call our home
Push to keep the dark from coming
Feel the weight of what we oweThis, the song of sons and daughters
Hide the heart of who we are
Making peace to build a future
Strong, united, working 'til we fallAnd we all lift, and we’re all adrift
Together, together
Through the cold mist, 'til we’re lifeless
Together, together
Analysis #
Each stanza has 4 lines, so this song would be a quatrain poem.
The refrains are trochaic terameter (stressed-unstressed foot, 4 feet per line). They also rhyme with each other.
The odd lines have 8 syllables. The even lines only have 7 syllables, where their last syllables are drawn-out slant rhymes.
[ REFRAIN A ] #
Cóld, thĕ / aír ănd / wátĕr / flówĭng
Hárd, thĕ / lánd wĕ / cáll oŭr / hóme
Púsh tŏ / kéep thĕ / dárk frŏm / cómĭng
Féel thĕ / wéight ŏf / whát wĕ / ówe
Starting each line with a stressed syllable conveys urgency and reinforces the underlying rhythm of performing hard labor.
[ REFRAIN B ] #
Thís, thĕ / sóng ŏf / sóns ănd / daúghtĕrs
Híde thĕ / heárt ŏf / whó wĕ / áre
Mákĭng / peáce tŏ / búild ă / fútŭre
Stróng, ŭn/ítĕd, / wórkĭng / 'tíl wĕ / fáll
In Refrain B, the last line contains 9 syllables, an extra beat from the previous 8 or 7. When the 9th syllable “fall” is sung, a new singer begins Refrain A, so “fall” overlaps with “cold.” I found it a clever way to not let the syllable dangle. The overlap in voices represents how the main singer hands-off their duties to the next member, as if saying, “I’ve done everything I could, it’s your turn to do the rest.”
[ OUTRO ] #
The outro uses a combination of different feet.
Ănd wĕ / áll líft, / ănd wĕ’re / áll ădríft
…
Thrŏugh thĕ / cóld míst, / 'tĭl wĕ’re / lífeléss
With 4 feet per line, the odd lines have alternating pyrrhic (double unstressed) and spondee (double stressed) feet.
This pattern gives the line a rising tone: “And we all lift–” and it has a sense of continuity. All of the actions are continuous and future-facing, fitting with the theme of working unto death.
Tŏgéthĕr, / tŏgéthĕr
Th even lines repeat the chorus “together” as amphibrach dimeter (unstressed-stressed-unstressed foot, 2 feet per line). When a stressed syllable is surrounded by unstressed noise, it gives the impression of a group of people standing alone in a murky wilderness.
Conclusion #
Because it’s a shanty, “We All Lift Together” is sung with a hybrid sing-speak style. I hope that by analyzing its meter, I can explain how the lyrics resonate and support the theme of the song.