Tightrope By Janelle Monae Song Analysis

Janelle Monae is a grammy nominated artist who writes lyrics, creates music and puts it together in short films highlighting issues rooted deep within our society.  In 2010 she released the song Tightrope which featured Big Boi as a part of her album The Archandroid.  The grammy nominated song  makes light of major social insecurities in the world.  Tightrope is all about remaining balanced while creating a path to follow your dreams.  In the lyrics Janelle Monae uses metaphors, motifs and to say you are on your own path and do what makes you happy while staying humble at your highest points and the strongest at your lowest points. 

In the social media obsessed society today it is easy to compare lives with others.  Oftentimes people change in order to fit in more even if it does not align with there values or dreams. In the lyrics of Janelle Monae's Tightrope she makes light of this social issue through the uses of metaphors, “I tip on alligators and little rattlesnakes”.   Alligators or snakes are commonly used to describe people who are sneaky, do not want to see you succeed and do not have your best intentions in mind.  But one cannot worry about those people because they are not on your tightrope. In order to remain balanced the individual must keep looking forward but while difficult,as Janelle Monae understands, getting caught up in what other people are doing and saying can be detrimental to an individual's dreams. This idea of remaining on your tightrope is another metaphor that is found in the lyrics and the title of  the song.  Life is like a tightrope, “I got to tip on the tightrope, (Tip, tip on it), Now baby tip on the tightrope, You can't get too high, (You can't get too high), I said you can't get too low, (We can't get too low), Cause you get too high, (You can't get too high), No, you'll surely be low” you have to find your perfect balance in life, remain hopeful and focused at your lowest point while remaining humble and still focused at your highest points.  The key is to find your own balance in life because it is yours. 

Every word in the lyrics written by Janelle Monae is intentional and presents her persona.  While the lyrics are a reflection of her own life and how she found her balance while working in the music industry and how unfortunately there are people who do not want you to succeed, this idea is translated onto her audience.  It presents the message that people will not always like what you are doing and they will try to pull you off your tightrope but “you can’t allow it”. The motif found throughout the song is that she's on her own tightrope not everybody can be on the same tightrope, not only would life be boring if everyone had one dream but it would not work.  The audience Janelle Monae attracts is a unique group of people who see a future of their own while being conscious of other social issues.  Another common theme among all of Janelle's Monae lyrics and work but can also be found in the lyrics of Tightrope specifically is her activism, “I fight for what I believe” and “You can rock or you can leave, Watch me tip without you”.  She will continue to fight for what she believes in sending the message.

Janelle Monae’s Tightrope lyrics inspire individuals to choose their path and find that perfect balance on their tightrope.  Not everybody is going to be approving or agreeing with what your plan is but it is not about them.  and even as you walk closer to your dreams the tightrope of balance does not end. DO what you want to do because you will never be  able to make everyone happy anyways.