For my Podcast Assignment, I was considering doing either “Female” by Keith Urban (2018), or “What Do I Know” by Ed Sheeran (2017). The lyrics to “Female” are really powerful, considering it was written and sung by a male artist. His lyrics address the bias made up by society about women and then proceed to elevate women and show the listeners how women are so much more than the stereotypes placed upon them. I also really enjoy “What Do I Know,” Sheeran focuses more on the desire to change the world and make it a more unified, equal place. I really enjoy how he goes about making his statement and encouraging his listeners to be inspired to make a change.

Secondly, Ed Sheeran says that his song was in response to a series of events that happened in 2016, including the election. As he sings about being an artist and being told to keep his political opinions to himself, he found that it was important to use his platform to acknowledge the issues going on and hopefully encourage others to go into the future with a desire to create an accepting, more loving world. I think researching this song will lead me to understand more about certain issues he addresses, like politics and the economy, and also the importance of artists’ voices and their impact on the world. However, Keith Urban’s song is extremely relevant, too. It is certainly a unique country song as the country community often objectives women. It is revolutionary in the fact that it focused on shining a positive light on women and respecting them, compared to other country songs. I would love to do more research on this song and see how much different it is compared to other songs within this genre, as well as see how much of an impact his song had on the community.

“What Do I Know” is a really good song with a very unifying, feel-good message. I think it’s really important to keep Sheeran’s message in mind. I really like songs like this one, however, I do worry I won’t be able to get enough information to do 11 weeks of research on it. On the other hand, Keith Urban’s song is also a really incredible song with a message that means a little bit more to me. It is really meaningful in terms of the feminist movement, as he brings this social justice issue to light within the country music community. While I’m not the biggest country fan, I do think that I would enjoy studying this song for 11 weeks and really unfolding it, especially because it is so unique compared to other songs within that genre. As I mentioned before, the lyrics are really powerful and send a really strong message about the need to lift women up as well as end the stereotypes and biases against women. He sings about heavy topics like sexual assault and is very meaningful, especially when it comes to the #MeToo movement.

I am certainly concerned that I won’t be able to reach the time requirements for the podcast – I tend to be brief when it comes to analyses and research so I truly hope that no matter what song I choose, that I will be able to research and get enough information to successfully complete the project, and do it well. Otherwise, I have no other concerns and am excited to get started.