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Xochitl Weiss

Mrs. Reed

American Literature, 2nd hour

5 February 2017

Sister Sledge are Birds of a Feather United Together

In 1979, Sister Sledge released a new song that would become a hit track and be listened

to for decades after its release. We Are Family was a chart topping iconic song with central

family themes. Despite being rejected by the first record company they applied to, the creators of

the song were able to bring a work of art, that would become world renowned, into American

culture. We Are Family, written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, shows the experience

of having a close knit family and relates to American culture through reflecting the music of the

time period.

We Are Family, performed by Sister Sledge, describes what it is like to have a close

family. In order to give listeners information about the relationship, the authors include

information about how close the family is throughout the beginning of the song. Most notably

the lyrics can they be that close? are included which directly state the close relationship among

the family in the song. Next the authors include the two lines were giving love in a family

dose and we dont get depressed which show two gains of having a close relationship. The

relationship among the sisters makes them happy and they love each other. The entire songs

focus in around this relationship and the authors stress the benefits of being close to family

members.

I can relate most to the aspects of the song that discuss being close to ones family and

being happy with ones family. My siblings and I have always been a united group that spends a
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lot of time together and is closer than the average family. We have created many memories with

each other and some of my happiest times have been spent with them. The lyrics Living life is

fun and weve just begun are directly relatable to my life because I enjoy living life with my

family, and as we are all young, we have lots of our lives left to spend having fun. The creators

of the song use repetition of the lyrics and rhyme to create a catchy tune that gets their family

themes across. For example We Are family, I got all my sisters and me is a repeated line of the

song that listeners hear and understand the message from.

During the late 70s, when the song was released, disco, funk, and soul music were

popular genres of the songs being released in America. The song We Are Family does not have

a specific genre to fall into because it reflected a lot of the music from American culture during

this time period. Many have tried to classify the song as disco, pop, soul, funk and others, but the

song is a combination of many different genres. The song is a well known symbol of this time

and became incredibly iconic and popular. We Are Family is still frequently used in movies

and listened to today. It became so intertwined with the culture during the late 1970s and early

1980s, that it is known worldwide as culturally and historically significant to the time period.

We Are Family. written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards has specific lyrics that

relate to what its like to have a close knit family and also is a representation of the culture of the

time period through music. The song has family themes that are shown through repeated rhyming

lyrics. I am able to connect my relationship to my family, to the close relationship described in

the lyrics. This popular cultural symbol is one that is not likely to be forgotten and will continue

to be played for many years.