Listen to both of the following songs (if you'd like to follow along with the lyrics of Don Williams' song, you can easily find them on the internet).
Then, in a comment, tell me whether each qualifies as a "personal credo." Why or why not? Give examples.
A credo is a statement of beliefs either pertaining to an individual or a group. I believe both "I Believe in You" and "I Believe I Can Fly" are credos. "I Believe in You" by Don Williams is a credo because each verse lists many thing that he doesn't believe him, which I don't think disqualifies this song from being a credo, followed in the chorus by four things that he believes in. For example in the first chorus he sings that he believes in love, babies, Mom and Dad, and "you". "I Believe I Can Fly" by R Kelly is almost certainly a credo because of the chorus including the titular line "I believe I can fly". Since credo's are statements of belief, if one believes they can fly, then the impracticality of flying doesn't change the fact that it is a credo. More reasons include the lines in the chorus "I believe I can touch the sky" and "I believe I can soar."
ReplyDeleteDon William’s song, “I Believe in You”:
ReplyDeleteI think that this song is defiantly a personal credo. (If Don Williams wrote this song.) It is a list of personal beliefs. In fact, it used anaphora by repeating the phrases “I believe” and “I don’t believe”. The song is a statement of what Williams personally believes. Like “I believe in love…I believe in you.”
R. Kelly: “I Believe I can fly”:
I do not think that this is a personal credo. It mainly shows goals and believing in an IT. “I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky” “If I can see it, then I can be it. If I just believe it, there’s nothing to it.” The song uses anaphora, but it doesn’t list personal beliefs. He is saying that he believes he can fly, (not literally) but he believes it only if he can see it. To me, that doesn’t make since as a actual belief. You believe in something if you think it's true even when you DON'T see it. It doesn’t say I believe IN, which, to me, makes it easier to see that it’s a belief in something. It may be a credo, I’m not sure, but it isn’t as clear as Don William’s song: which is obviously a credo to me.
I believe that both, "I Believe in You" and "I Believe I Can Fly" are credos, although the latter less than the first. I think of a credo as an authentic statement of beliefs; which like Trevin said can pertain to an individual or group. I think "I Believe in You" is a credo because Don Williams lists both things he believes in and things he doesn't believe in. For example, Don Williams starts out the song saying, "I don't believe in superstars, organic food, and foreign cars," but begins the next verse saying "But I believe in love. I believe in babies..." The song continues like this, so it can be considered a credo. I also think "I Believe I Can Fly" satisfies the requirements for a credo, although less so than "I Believe in You". I say this because other than repeating "I believe I can fly," or "I believe in me", the song does little to inform us of his other beliefs. It's possible that I expect too much out of the song, but I feel it needs to have more information to be a full credo.
ReplyDeleteDon Williams- I believe in you:
ReplyDeleteI think whether this is a personal credo is debatable. He may use some examples in what he may not believe in that are specific to himself but some of the others are very general and thousands of other people probably believe in them too. Also, him believing in love his a universal belief as well, but his version of love may be specific to himself. All in all, I think that this song can be considered a personal but there are a lot of contradictions that make me not sure.
R. Kelly- I believe I can fly:
Yes, I do think this song is a personal credo. Everything is very specific to his own life even though he uses metaphors to represent his thoughts. He is also not "preaching to us" and trying to make us believe the way he believes; just showing us how he feels.
I think that Don Williams' Song "I Believe in You" could fit into the category of personal credo. However, instead of listing his beliefs like a normal credo, he uses the anaphora of "I don't believe..." in the verses to list the contrary of his beliefs, making the listener think hard. For example, he says that "I don't believe that heaven waits, for only those who congregate." The listener has to use logic to infer that he must believe that people who do not go to church (presumably) or some other religious congregation can still go to Heaven. We also know now that he believes in Heaven. In the chorus, Don Williams gives the listener a break and states his beliefs in a more direct way, using the anaphora "I believe in..." Although his version of love may be different then everyone else's, as Samantha said, since it is a personal credo, and not for a group of people, it doesn't matter that he doesn't define his certain "version" of love.
ReplyDeleteI think that R. Kelly's song "I believe I can Fly" does not fit the category of a personal credo. A credo is a list of beliefs, and this song really only has one central idea or belief: that if he sets his mind to something he can achieve it. The anaphoras "I believe I can fly," and "I believe I can soar," are just repeated metaphors of that basic idea. The rest of the song really describes praxis; he talks about how he was depressed and could not go on until he realized this main belief, which, now that he believes he can do anything if he puts his mind to it, will change his actions and allow him to achieve miracles.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that both "I Believe in You" and "I Believe I Can Fly" are personal credos; however, there are aspects of each that appeal to the public due to overlapping similar values or beliefs. The lines and thoughts are very specific to each singer though which makes them personal credos.
ReplyDelete"I Believe in You" clearly uses anaphora. He repeats "I believe, I don't believe," throughout the song. The things that he believes are very specific to him, and he isn't speaking the ideas of a group. The same applies when talking about "I believe I Can Fly." He doesn't use anaphora, but it's still his own personal opinion that he isn't speaking for a group of people. The only way I could think to argue that these are not personal credos is that they are marketed with the hope of getting others to identify with their thinking, and this could be considered a way of trying to make us believe what they are saying. One could argue that all art and music is a form of persuasion to either make a reader see something differently or make a point.
Don Williams "I Believe In Love"
ReplyDeleteI think that this song is definetly a personal credo. He gives several examples of what he believes and what he doesn't believe, for example he says, "I don't believe in superstars, in organic food... But I believe in love...Mom and Dad, and I believe in you." This song is a really good example of anaphora. It is basically a list of things he believes in, and he is not trying to convince the listener to think one way or another when he lists his beliefs. There are also very personal thoughts concerning religion, which makes it a personal credo rather than a manifesto or group credo.
R.Kelly I Believe I Can Fly
I do not think this song is an example of a personal credo. It only has one focus, that the singer believes he can accomplish the impossible. A credo is a list of beliefs, and this song only has one. Also, "I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky," is not really something that you can believe in, its more of a thought.
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ReplyDeleteI think that "I Believe in You" by Don Williams is a personal credo. I think this because this is a love song and love isn't just a specific feeling that only he can relate to. Everyone feels love. But, the song holds his own personal beliefs as well. It is about love, that isn't a thing he only feels, but the love is specifically directed towards a girl.
ReplyDeleteI think that "I Believe I Can Fly", is not only a terrible song, it also is not a credo. I think this because the only things he repeats are, "I believe i can fly" and "I believe i can soar." I wouldnt call that a list. The rest of the song is him just singing about how he would be depressed. This song is saying how if you try something, you can do anything. It isnt really a list of beliefs.
I think that both "I Believe in Love" and "I Believe I Can Fly" are personal creedos for several reasons. They both use anaphora, proclaim their beliefs and put it in list form. At the same time, I think that "I Believe in Love" by Don Williams is a stronger creedo than "I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly. I think this because Don Williams states the things he doesn't believe in which in my opinion makes a stronger creedo. For example, Don Williams says, "I don't believe virginity is as common as it used to be." Also, R. Kelly does not exhibit anaphora, many of his beliefs or use the list form as well as Don Williams. However, I do think that both "I Believe I Can Fly" and "I Believe in Love" qualify as creedos.
ReplyDeleteI think that the song "I Believe in You" is definitely a personal credo because it is a statement of beliefs. It uses anaphora by repeating "But I believe" and "I don't believe" many times. It is also in the form of a list. It lists everything Don Williams believes and does not believe in. Another form of anaphora it uses is repeating the key phrase "I believe in you."
ReplyDeleteI think that the song "I Believe I Can Fly" is not really a personal credo. Though is repeats "I believe I can fly" I do not think it is a true belief. Many of its words are metaphorical, but they all represent the same thing - freedom. I believe that though this is an inspirational song it is not a personal credo.
Don Williams "I Believe in Love"
ReplyDeleteI think that this is for sure a personal credo. The first main reason that it is a personal credo is that almost the entire song is said with an I believe infront of a the following statement of belief. An example of this is “but I believe in love, I believe in music, I believe in magic, and I believe in you”. This clearly shows how the I believe is repeated making it a credo. Also this is a credo because it contains anaphora and is in the form of a list. The repetition of the phrase I believe is the anaphora and the listing of the things he believes is the list in the credo.
R. Kelly "I Believe I Can Fly"
I believe that this is also a personal credo. It does have anaphora of I believe in statements like “I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky”, which characterizes it as a credo. It also is in list form saying that he believes he can fly and he believes he can touch the sky. These things characterize this song as a credo just like "I Believe in Love".
I think that both, to an extent, are personal credos. "I Believe in You" is definitely one because he repeats the phrase "I believe in..." He clearly states his beliefs and none of them really contradict each other and somewhat follow a theme. In class, we talked about that sometimes you can tell what a person is like by what they believe in, and I think that is the case here. He is obviously very supportive due to the repeated phrase "I believe in love...and I believe in you." I know that it's supposed to be a love song to someone, but it still shows his character. "I Believe I Can Fly," on the other hand, isn't a love song, but rather a self empowering song. He states not only what he believes he can do, but that he "believes in [himself]." This song tells us less about the person, besides the fact that he is obviously very confident. However, although his only belief in really in himself, I think it still counts as a credo.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that either of these are credos. For the Don Williams song, he is not really talking about his personal beliefs, he is using symbolism. When he says "I believe in magic," he doesn't mean that he actually believes in magic, he is just saying "You can do it!" or "The love we have is special." He may believe in God, and that may be part of his personal credo, but this song is not a personal credo. The entire aspect of "I love you" is not a belief or personal viewpoint. This song comes close to a personal credo, having some personal beliefs in it, but it isn't really a list solely of them.
ReplyDeleteThe R. Kelly song. It is mostly inspirational, saying "I can do it!" There may be anaphora but there is no clear statement of personal beliefs. He says "I believe I can fly; I believe I can touch the sky." But neither can be taken literally and neither really shows his point of view on different issues.
I think that Don Williams' song "I Believe in You" is a personal credo. He uses phrases like "I don't believe" and "I believe" and "I know". The indicate the form of a credo. He is displaying his personal beliefs in a statement. He is not trying to persuade the audience to believe what he thinks, but he is just laying out his own convictions.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that the R. Kelly song "I Believe I can Fly" is a credo as a whole. The chorus repeats "I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky" many times. This phrase is an example of a credo to some extent because it is saying what he believes, but it is more figuratively written. The rest of the song although, is not a credo because it is not what he believes to be true but it is a story of his life.
In my opinion Don Williams, "I Believe in You", is more of a personal credo than R. Kelly's, "I Believe I Can Fly". I say this because in Don's song, he repeats again and again what he believes in list form. ( i.e. the definition of a credo) For example, he says he believes in love, music, magic and "you". At one point he even contradicts himself and says, " I don't believe in superstars, organic food and foreign cars,".... etc. This helps clarify that he is not just stating what he believes in and that you should too, but what he doesn't believe in too. Also, he incorporates the line, " I believe in you," meaning that "you" can do anything and he will support "you". However, in R. Kelly's " I Believe I Can Fly", the chorus is only the main part in which he states what he "believes" in and it is the same thing the whole time. Also, it is not in a list form. For example, the chorus states: "I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky,".... etc. This is really the only point where R. Kelly clearly states what he believes in; therefore he is only stating one belief the whole time. This means there is not a consecutive list of his beliefs and making this song not necessarily a credo.
ReplyDeleteI think that Don Williams song, "I Believe in You" is definetly a credo. It isn't in anyway public but it can easily fit in to the category of personal creeds. His beliefs and nonbeliefs are stated one after another in a sort of list (lines in a verse). I don't agree with what I think Trevin's statement was saying, that Williams's statements of things he doesn't believe in do not count as the credo part of the song. I think in order to fully understand what someone believes, in some cases, you need to know what they do not believe, and therefore his nonbeliefs are still part of the credo because it is helping describe what he does believe. R. Kelly's song "I Believe I Can Fly" is also a credo, but in a more loose form. Since his statement of beliefs ( I believe I can fly, touch the sky, soar, etc.) are not actually what he believes (they are only metaphorical), I don't think it is as much a credo.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I believe both songs are definitely personal credos. They both tell about the beliefs each of the singers have.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically, for Don Williams, his song follows the pattern which repeats the first few words in a phrase. He also lists a ton of things he believes in in this form. After the song is over, it's very clear to the listen to the listener Williams' specific and personal credos. With the use of a lot of phrases like "I believe in ..." and "I don't believe in ...", we know for sure that this is a personal credo.
Likewise for R. Kelly's I Believe I Can Fly, I think this is a personal credo for three reasons. First and most persuasive, in class when we were asked to list famous credos, I listed R. Kelly's song, and Ms. Fleming said yes! Other than that, I believe this song is a personal credo because it uses the form "I believe" repeatedly. Even though it doesn't give as much beliefs as Williams' song did, it still tells us one big, overarching belief that R. Kelly has. He metaphorically believes he can fly, as in succeed. The other lyrics that aren't "I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky" are just more support and more of a reason why this song is a personal credo that tells us his beliefs.
I think that both are personal creedos because they give the beliefs of each person, and an example of this would be the use of the phrase "I believe" or "I don't believe." Using the word "I" automatically makes it personal. For "I Believe I Can Fly," it does have anaphora and does show what the singer believes in, but R. Kelly chooses to make the lyrics metaphorical instead of literal. I think it's harder to identify as a creedo (which is why some people said it wasn't one) because of the metaphorical sense. It's easier to identify a creedo if it uses actual beliefs, like "I Believe in You" does. Don Williams uses anaphora and actual objects or feelings that he either believes or doesn't believe in to compose his personal creedo.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that "I Believe in You" is a personal credo. It is a song about how he believes in the power of love. This may be what he believes in, but that does not make it a personal credo. A personal credo tells how the belief is supportive to each person and how it affects them. This is just a song a bout what he believes in. He may not have even written this song; he could just be singing it to make money or as part of a new album.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that " I Believe I Can Fly" is a personal credo. It is a song about how he believes he can do something impossible. He elaborates on most of his beliefs. He shows what they mean to him. This credo tells what is important about bis beliefs. This credo is more than just a song.
I believe Don Williams song is a credo, even though it may not be a be personal one it still fits the credo category.The reason for this is because it follows the form that credos repeat them selves and state in list form the beliefs that it supports. Also he is just saying it, not caring what you think about it nor is he trying to persuade you the listener to fall in his beliefs.While in R.Kelly's song he just puts them out there and even though he says I believe I can fly it's not really a belief but just a saying cause nobody can really fly meaning that his song isn't much of a credo but just a song saying I believe in this and I believe in that no true meaning to it.
ReplyDeleteI think that the song by Don Williams is definitely a credo. It tells many specific personal beliefs that he (I'm assuming he wrote the song, but if he didn't, it's still the author's beliefs) holds, and it also offers a form of guidance as he points out the things and values he finds important to life. In addition, it uses repetition of the phrases "I believe..." and "I don't believe...", which is a common trait of credos.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't believe that "I Believe I Can Fly" is a credo. While it does use repetition of the phrase "I believe..." multiple times, this doesn't necessarily make it a credo on its own. At first glance the song appears to lay out a set of beliefs, but in reality it simply uses metaphor to give the overall message of believing in yourself. While this isn't a bad thing, it means that the song is not a set of personal beliefs and therefore not a credo.
I think "I Believe in You," is a credo, but "I Believe I Can Fly," is not. As listened to the songs I heard the truer meaning behind Don Williams' voice over the other. "I Believe in You," gives a message with personal details when "I Believe I Can Fly" is more general. Williams also explains what exactly he believes vs. what he does not believe.
ReplyDeleteI believe that both "I Believe in You" by Don Williams and "I Believe I Can Fly" are both personal credos. In "I Believe in You," Don Williams states his beliefs and what he does not believe in. He does this using repetition and laying out what he believes is most important about love and in life. It also guides listeners to take what he believes and believe in it yourself. In "I Believe I Can Fly," there is much less to it, but it is still a personal credo. While not as many views or values are laid out by the author he still states his belief that he can accomplish what he puts his mind to.
ReplyDelete