Imitation # 4 1980's: Slick Rick, Children's Story

Joel Milian                                                                                                                10/15/12

Children’s Story

By- Slick Rick (1989)

Once upon a time not long ago,
When people wore pajamas and lived life slow,
When laws were stern and justice stood,
And people were behavin' like they ought ta good,

There lived a lil' boy who was misled,
By anotha lil' boy and this is what he said:
"Me & You, Ty, we gonna make sum cash,
Robbin' old folks and makin' da dash"

Critique:

This song by Slick Rick is portrayed as what should be a typical children’s bedtime story but in reality, tells the story about a crime gone wrong. These 8 lines are only the introductory lines of the song but provide the foundation to the story involving a little boy who was encouraged to commit a crime. I believe this song is not a confessional, boast, nor a critique rather just a story. Slick Rick’s audience in this song is children because he telling a bedtime story, but the actions in the song pertains to adult situations such as theft and physical violence. There are a few literary devices in this sample of the song. There is clearly some examples of end Rhyme with words like ago, and slow and stood and good. The tone appears to be relatively straightforward and with that comes a very literal meaning to the words being said. Slick Rick does a very good job at telling the story along with his rhymes and the fact that it is easy to understand the story led to the popularity of the song.