Ludicrous does a remarkable job of portraying his message about the struggles that some adolescents are faced with. “Runaway Love”, by Ludicrous, featuring Mary J. Bilge (2007), represents the theme of struggle through hip-hop and rap music. It Is about little girls who are “stuck up in the world on their own. ” They have to take care of themselves because the people they are around do not care about them. They range from nine to eleven years In age, and their goal in life, at such a young age, Is to run away from home.
Ludicrous is trying to get the listener to realize the struggles that even children have to face because adults are not the only ones who have problems, Like most people believe. He Is very successful In portraying his message through this song. Girls at that young of an age should be enjoying their childhood, but instead they are forced to become adults and take care of themselves. Lisa, whom is nine years old, Is always stuck at home alone. She never met her father, and she never sees her mother because she is always out partying and then brings home a different guy every night.
Once her mother passes out from drugs that she takes, the new guy sneaks Into Alias’s room and tries to have his way with her. As much as she resists, she is only nine years old and not strong enough to fight him off Since no one is around to stick up for her, “she says she’s ’bout to run away and never come back. ” Nicole, whom Is ten years old. Also deals with the stress of being abused. Her stepfather always abuses her, mentally and physically, and even though her teachers realize what is going on, Nicole makes excuses for him. She wishes that she could leave. UT she Is unable to because there Is nowhere she can really go. Finally, she Is able to find someone whom she can relate to and also become friends with. Both Nicole and Stacy know that they are going to have to stick together, so they “promise that they always be tight ‘LU the end. ” Their friendship shortly ends when Stacy ends up getting shot and killed in her neighborhood one day. Nicole now feels like she is alone again and that there is “nothing else to do but get her clothes and pack. ” Eric, whom is eleven years old, also has to deal with dally struggles In her life.
She does not feel safe and ends up taking pills because she thinks that they can get rid of her pain. She is only an adolescent and does not realize that she can ruin her life by coming addicted to taking pills. After a while, she meets a sixteen-year-old boy and without her seeing it, he takes advantage of her. He knows that she is going through a lot, so he pretends that he loves her so he can have sex with her. Eric truly believes that she Is In love, so when he asks to have unprotected sex, she agrees.
She becomes pregnant and the “love of her life” decides that “he main;t ready for a kid,” so he leaves her. Now Eric is stuck with the responsibility to not only take care of herself, but also for the child that she will be having. Even though her life is not fair, he is unable to face her consequences and “she says she’s about to run away and never come back. ” The tone of “Runaway Love” is sad, depressing, and it opens the eyes of the listeners. These characteristics seem to go along well with the songs lyrics.
Although Ludicrous only uses a few poetic devices, they enhance the tone of the song. People who read the lyrics to Ludicrous’ song can tell that he is portraying a very makes the listener hear what he is trying to say. Also, he uses the word “hell” three times in his song, which symbolizes how awful and miserable their lives are. Another poetic device that he uses is rhyme. Rhyming is often used in hip-hop and rap songs to make the lyrics flow together. The last word in every line rhymes with the word in the previous line, but only during the verses.
The only parts that do not rhyme in “Runaway Love” are the hook and the outré. [l attached a copy of the lyrics so you would be able to refer to the song throughout reading this analysis. ] Ludicrous also uses imagery to make his song feel more powerful. Imagery helps the listener to relate with the characters in the song because they can see in their mind what is taking place. “Mama is on drugs getting high up in the kitchen” is an example of the imagery that is being used because the listener can picture the little girl sitting alone in her room, while her mom is doing drugs in their kitchen.
This makes the listener sympathize for the little girl, Lisa, because she is only nine years old and her mother is too busy getting high to take care of her. Ludicrous is able to make his listeners grasp how important it is to pay attention to signs of abuse so that adolescents do not have to feel like “hell is a place called home. ” Ludicrous makes his listeners feel like they are in the same position as the girls who are in his song, which in return, sakes them aware of child abuse. He not only makes his listeners aware of child abuse through his songs, but I learned that he also has a program called “The Ludicrous Foundation. It was created for “helping youth help themselves. ” The foundation contains five different programs that are all focused on helping children in our country. Finally, at the end of “Runaway Love”, Ludicrous comforts the girls to make them feel like someone out there cares for them. His Foundation also helps children realize that someone out there would like to help them because not everyone has to struggle to get through life. Featuring Mary J. Bilge in both the song and music video was a positive asset because of what she went through.
She unexpectedly made a painful deeply buried revelation to VHF ‘s “Behind the Music” recently, saying she’d been sexually abused and molested as a very young child, which left her feeling worthless and ashamed for much of her life. Mary J. Bilge recently opened up to VHF about the sexual abuse and molestation she endured as a young child. She revealed that it was a family friend who abused her. “When I was five years old I was molested and Just, you know. I remember feeling, literally right fore it happened, I Just could not believe that this person was going to do this to me.
That thing followed me all my life. The shame of thinking my molestation was my fault – it led me to believe I wasn’t worth anything. ” Bilge says as she grew, the emotional pain increased, and she turned to men and drugs to escape. “l ended up becoming my environment. It was bigger than me. I had no self-respect. I hated myself. I thought I was ugly. Alcohol, sex, drugs – I’d do whatever it took to feel better. ” The girls that are portrayed in this song and music video went through the exact same situations that Mary J. Bilge did. That is why I think it was neat for her to be featured with Ludicrous.
There is also a music video that goes along with the song. A lot of the time, songs and their corresponding music videos are totally different from what the song means. That is not the case in the video for “Runaway Love. ” Jesse Terror directed the video. Jesse was big into hip-hop and rap music so the Internet on November 29, 2006. The song itself did not become a big hit until the year 2007. The video, which is also divided in three situations, follows a storyline faithfully based on the song. The video features Mary J. Bilge in all of the three tuitions as a pedestrian that passes.
Featured in the background are orange posters for the National Runaway Switchboard (MRS.), a crisis hotlist serving runaway and homeless youth and their families. The hotlist for the National Runaway Switchboard is also displayed on several of the “missing child” posters that are shown in the music video. This promotional effort highlights the partnership between The Ludicrous Foundation and the National Runaway Switchboard to promote how hard they are working to protect and make better situations for the runaways and their families and to increase awareness of issues related to runaway adolescents.