Finally dredged this up out of my deepest archives. Last semester in Interpersonal Communication I had
to analyze a song of my choosing based on various relationship models listed in our book. After
kicking around various songs, I settled on (You Want To)Make A Memory. Here's the essay I wrote:
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Song Analysis – Adrian *********
Lyrics
Bon Jovi - (You Want To)Make A Memory
Hello again, it’s you and me
Kinda always like it used to be
Sippin' wine, killing time
Trying to solve life’s mysteries
How’s your life, it’s been a while
God it’s good to see you smile
I see you reaching for your keys
Looking for a reason not to leave

If you don’t know if you should stay
If you don’t say what’s on your mind
Baby just, breathe there’s nowhere else tonight we should be-
You wanna Make A Memory

I dug up this old photograph
Look at all that hair we had
It’s bittersweet to hear you laugh
Your phone is ringing, I don’t wanna ask

If you go now, I’ll understand
If you stay, hey, I got a plan
You wanna Make A Memory
You wanna steal a piece of time
You could sing a melody to me
And I could write a couple lines
You wanna Make A Memory

(guitar solo)

If you don’t know if you should stay
And you don’t say what’s on your mind
Baby just, breathe there’s nowhere else tonight we should be-
You wanna Make A Memory
You wanna steal a piece of time
You could sing a melody to me
And I could write a couple lines
You wanna Make A Memory
You wanna Make A Memory
(outro)
Analysis

At several points, this song appears to be about old friends meeting again.
The lyrics are not typically what are expected from a love ballad, particularly one from the band Bon Jovi,
which has always been known for over-the-top romantic songs. While the lyrics are, as mentioned,
sometimes ambiguous or open for interpretation, there’s enough evidence in this song to
suggest a romantic relationship between the singer, and the object of the song.

Hello again, it’s you and me
Kinda always like it used to be

These lines suggest a separation of some kind, probably amicable. According to
the Knapp model, the suggestion is the couple in the song appears to have moved past the Terminating
step of the Coming Apart phase.

Sippin' wine, killing time
Trying to solve life’s mysteries
How’s your life, it’s been a while

They’ve definitely a been long time apart, according to the singer.

God it’s good to see you smile
I see you reaching for your keys
Looking for a reason not to leave

And yet, they’re back together again, talking, wasting time, drinking. The
singer enjoys watching her smile. When it’s time to go, she’s “looking for a reason not to leave.” This
seems to suggest some enjoyment of time spent together (on her part) as well as a hesitation to
break off contact again. It seems the couple has jumped past the Initiating phase of Coming
Together, and is somewhere between Experimenting and Intensifying. Given their history, it would
seem that they’re past the Experimenting phase in that they
already know a great deal about each other, but perhaps that’s what the “sippin’ wine, killing time, trying
to solve life’s mysteries” is about.

If you don’t know if you should stay
And you don’t say what’s on your mind
Baby just, breathe there’s nowhere else tonight we should be-
You wanna Make A Memory
You wanna steal a piece of time
You could sing a melody to me
And I could write a couple lines
You wanna Make A Memory
You wanna Make A Memory

Again, there’s some hesitation on the part of the woman. She plainly has
conflicting feelings and doesn’t know whether or not it’s good or appropriate to stay. Earlier in the song
the line “Your phone is ringing, I don’t wanna ask” suggests she has a separate romantic entanglement
from the previous and current ones discussed by the singer. He is quite sure of what he wants however.
He wants her to stay, definitely, to the point where he confidently states that “there’s nowhere else
tonight we should be.” Again, this seems to suggest, slightly, adultery, as he seems to be reassuring
her that the somewhere else she should be doesn’t matter.

The imagery of coming back together is particularly vivid. Stealing a piece
of time, the combining of melody and written word into a song, and the insistent question “You wanna
Make A Memory?” Whatever the meaning of that phrase, it’s obviously a powerful suggestion.
A part of the song that really cannot be communicated accurately through
a writing assignment is that of the actual music. The arrangement at the beginning, for perhaps the first
minute is extremely sparse. Though I’m no music expert, I suspect that there’s just a guitar for the first
sixty seconds or so. This seems to correspond with the getting together, talking, and noncommittal
part of the song. The lyrics seem more spoken than sung.

Layers of instrumentation are added all the way up through the second
chorus, intensifying the feeling of the song. After the second chorus, there is about a ten second
break for a rather uncharacteristic (for the song) electric guitar solo. Like the lyrics, this solo has a longing,
lonely, almost pleading tone to it.

The instrumentation is completed in the third chorus, which is, incidentally,
the most complete, combining parts from previous parts of the song. As the tone of the lyrics gets more
intense, so does the music. As the characters seem to be coming together the music builds in dramatic style,
layer upon layer of instrumentation coming together. After the last chorus, there is about a minute’s worth of
vocal harmonization. This is rather odd for a song, and is used to good effect to build drama and emotion.
By the end of the song, you have the feeling that they’ve gained a deeper, more meaningful relationship than
the pair of wary strangers they started out as, perhaps moving into or past the Intensifying stage.

I highly recommend giving this song a listen, as well as the unofficial second
half “Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore” from the same album, “Lost Highway.”
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Some of it is B.S. that the teacher wanted to hear, obviously, but I thought you guys would
get a kick out of seeing Bon Jovi turn up in a homework assignment. By the way, I got a perfect score on
the essay.

Let me know what you think.

Adrian

ETA:Sorry for the messed up formatting. Tried to get it as nice as I can, but JT doesn't like copying and pasting from Word.