My Favorite Song

Since the day its music video came out, even back when the intro part that says "shit" over and over was something I skipped over because of how vulgar my freshman self thought it was, "Suit and Tie" by Justin Timberlake has consistently been a song that never fails to get me excited and ready to "turn the frick up" as the youngsters say.

Why is that? I'm not entirely sure, but I think it may be the nostalgia. I'm in the tiny percentile of the population that had a lot of fun their freshman year of high school. I also liked dressing up. And anything directed by David Fincher (the music video is, and that's actually how I discovered the song in the first place).

Let's break the song's rhetorical situation down:

The song is certainly telling a story, or, at least, an idea. This story is vague, and it's certainly enhanced by the visuals of Fincher's black-and-white music video, but it all boils down to one main concept : Justin Timberlake and the kind of night he has when he gets dressed up in a tux, which apparently is a great night.

But who's he singing to? Who's the audience? Well, for starters, Justin Timberlake fans, of course. Anyone who liked his music at the time was certainly going to give this one a listen, but there's more to it. This song came out to show off the sound from his new album, The 20/20 Experience, before it came out. Timberlake was trying to build hype, or at least his label was. The audience is also potential Justin fans, ones who haven't been convinced.

--To be finished--