Oprah Winfrey

Soo Jung Ha

Synopsis:

Oprah Winfrey is a world renowned American media pro-

prietor who dedicates her life to serve and

inspire people. Despite her status as a revered luminary,

however, people do not view Oprah as a distant celebrity.

Rather, people connect their lives to Oprah’s past life,

equating struggles she had to face, (which I will explain in

later slides) to struggles that they faced, or are facing cur-

rently. This playlist seeks to define many of the adversities

that Oprah had to overcome and also seeks to provide my

effort to correlate those tragedies into musical

elements in songs.

Teresa Jennings

“Forte Piano”

Music: The dynamic changes in this music symbol-

ize Oprah’s reframing journey in her life by the use

of forte( f ), piano ( p ), fortissimo (ff) , Pianissimo

(pp), crescendo (<) ,and decrescendo (<).

0:00 – 0:37 -> Music starts out from mute to gen-

tle whispering, portraying a crescendo that repre-

sents

the beginning of Oprah’s adversities.

0:38 – 0:44 -> Start of Oprah’s tragedies (whisper-

ing dynamic to a forte that accentuates growing

tragedies).

0:45 - 1:40 -> p, f, p, f, p, ff, pp, < , f , p, f, p, f

Constant dynamic changes that represent Oprah’s

dynamical life that culminates in her upcoming

years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUYEvCly8Fo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn676-fLq7I

• “Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don't fight them. Just find a new way to stand.” 

• “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” 

• “Breathe. Let go. And re-mind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure. ” 

- Oprah Winfrey

Kelly Clarkson:

“What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)”

Oprah’s unsettling troubles began at age six when she was sent to Milwaukee to live with her uncle and her male relatives. In such place, Oprah was sexually mo-lested; consequently, at an age of 14, she became pregnant, only to find out that the baby died in the hospital after a few short weeks. Through such event that constitutes to her hardships in childhood she had to undergo as a young girl, she retained and learned to encourage women to take position in their society. Simi-larly, Kelly Clarkson’s “What Doesn’t Kill You”, mirrors Oprah’s determination to overcome adversities and push herself further and beyond her boundaries. The loud, yet steady beats of the drum further represent Oprah’s steadfast determina-tion to succeed despite the daily struggle she had to face. The constant repetition of “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” serves to represent Oprah’s motto of her life that channeled her to promote and encourage victimized women to stand up and demand the justice for themselves.

LYRICS

…You think you got the best of meThink you've had the last laughBet you think that everything good is goneThink you left me broken downThink that I'd come running backBaby you don't know me, cause you're dead wrong

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJjKm1GJP4w

“If you want to accom-plish the goals of your life, you have to begin with the spirit.”

“The biggest dream you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”

“ The whole point of be-ing alive is to evolve into the complete per-son you were intended to be.”

“When I look into the fu-ture, it’s so bright it burns my eyes.”

- Oprah Winfrey

MIKA

“We Are Golden”

Ironically, Oprah’s life started to rise for better after she ran away

from home. After a traumatizing incident of being constantly abused by

her male relatives, Oprah then decided to move with her father in Nash-

ville. In Nashville, Oprah’ father inspired her to do best in everything she

did, paving the road for Oprah’s unprecedented success such as… *refer

to the box below

The accelerating beat of the song with an electronic tune that surrounds

the music leads to a mood of freedom that Oprah was now experiencing.

Furthermore, the wild drum beats in the middle of the song adds on to

the lyric of the song, “ No giving up, when you are young and you want

some” that mirrors Oprah’s start of success after the continuous cycle of

calamities.

“ We are not what you think we areWe are GOLDEN, we are GOLDEN”

“ No giving up when you’re young and you want some”

1970: Won a scholarship to Tennessee State University

1971: Crowned as Miss Black Tennessee

1973: Became the first black TV news anchor reporter with WTVF- TV

•

“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who willtake the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”

“What material suc-cess does is provide you with the ability to concentrate on other things that really mat-ter. And that is being able to make a differ-ence, not only in your own life, but in other people’s lives.

- Oprah Win-frey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16LxC-4dm1E

Jessie J – Price Tag

Although Oprah winfrey is indeed a prosperous women, she constantly reminds

people and exemplifies of the idea that material success should not be people’s

top priority. The lyric of this song by Jessie J stresses to forget about the price

tag, and “pay” with love, which perfectly exemplifies of Oprah’s charity work

today. * Oprah donates millions of dollars to various organizations. She even

has a charity foundation run exclusively by herself: Oprah Winfrey Foundation,

in which she donates the money she received, to work on a project such as the

Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. Furthermore, this

song, compounded with Jessi J’s powerful voice also weaves a laid back mood

to simply do what one enjoys doing.

“It’s not about the money, money, money. We don’t need your money, money, money. We just want to make the world dance…”

“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”

“Follow your instincts. That’s where true wisdom manifests itself.”

“Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it well. Dwell in possibility.”

- Oprah Winfrey

Spirited Away – Always with Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zICGnq1EyFM

Oprah began her career as a television reporter and an anchor. During that time,

Oprah stated on Academy of Television Arts and Science that there was nothing

more important to her than striving to be a good human being. Oprah’s such

statement separates and denotes herself as a unique human being who focuses her

life to become a good human being.

The violin that comes in after the piano’s entrance in the very beginning of the

song immediately captures the mood of tranquility. In a similar sense, when Oprah

gives advices on her show, she often brings up advices that does not force one to

behave to a particular path right away, but, gives advices that calm and reassure

people to not worry, and understand everything will fall into right places. The

silent yet moving notes represent Oprah’s silent yet powerful advices to people

that move their hearts.

“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.”

“You CAN have it all. You just can’t have it all at once.”

“I don’t think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as some-body who from an early age knew I was for my-self, and I had to make good.”

- Oprah Winfrey.

Jessie J – Who’s Laughing Now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsxSxF3JKeU

The song immediately starts with an upbeat tune along with an intricate

and fast rhythm that pulsates the song. This sense of rhythm keeps cy-

cling on and on throughout the song and such sense of a loud/lively tune

signifies Oprah’s overcoming of adversities and her start of a new life

after her troubled pasts. It also adds more emotional meaning to the

constant repetition of the lyrics, “But who’s laughing now” in the song.

The intricate electronic rhythm in the background of the song that is

constantly driving the song also represents the amount of internal

struggle that was entailed in Oprah’s life.

“But thank you for the pains. It made me raise my game, and I’m still rising, I’m still rising…”