Mrs. Evans' Barlow Girl Site

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    "One More Round" is a song by popular girl band, Barlow Girl.  The lyrical song expresses the feelings of a girl who feels beaten up.  The song compares life's struggles with a boxing match. She is determined to persist through the rough game, though, and to find strength from outside herself to do so.  The song does an excellent job of showing the girl's feelings by using imagery, idioms, and repetition.
    We find imagery throughout the lyrics.  Specifically, in stanza four, the writers created an excellent image using line one: "I may be bloodied and so bruised."  This line explains how the speaker looks in the imaginary boxing ring.  While the writers could have chosen to say something simpler like, "I may be beaten up," they chose these words to help create an image for the audience.  This image of a bloodied and bruised fighter creates more impact on the audience and, therefore, improves the impact of the song.
    The writers also used idioms throughout the song.  In stanza two, line three, Barlow Girl wrote, "I may be knocked down but not for the count."  This line, literally, would mean that the fighter has been knocked out but will get up before the referee calls time.  In the song, though, the speaker is being persistent that, even though she feels knocked down, she knows she'll be able to get up before the game is over.  The writer could have written a more literal line, but this idiom is both shorter and more effective.  It also fits very well into the author's boxing match theme.
    Furthermore, the writers used repetition throughout the song.  The phrase "One more round," is used repeatedly.  This phrase appears in the first and third lines of the chorus stanzas (stanzas three and six) as well as other places.  This line is also the title of the song.  The author repeats this line to reinforce the persistence of the fighter/speaker.  In line three of stanza one, the speaker signifies that she has been through seven rounds of fighting.  The fact that she continues to ask for another round displays her persistence.  Without this line, the poem would have a weak theme.
    Overall, the artists create an effective song by means of poetic devices.