"Count Every Star"

One song that I would like to analyze is “Count Very Star” performed by Al Hibbler.  I first heard this song while playing a video game, Mafia II.  Why this song stuck out to me is that it is a very slow and romantic song, however it is in the middle of a very violent and vulgar video game.  The game takes place in the mid 1940s and 1950s in a city based on New York City and Chicago.  In the game, music from the time period played on the radio in cars and restaurants.  Though this song isn’t necessarily part of the story line, it is often heard on the classic radio station, and I think it was including in the game for a reason.

There is big contrast between the lyrics of the song and the video game itself. The song is short and follows a simple AABB rhyme scheme.  The first verse reads, “Count every star in the midnight sky, count every rose, every firefly, for that’s how many times I miss you, Heaven knows I miss you.”  This verse is of the narrator of the song describing how he/she misses someone who is close to them.  You can tell that they are close because of the great amount that is described with the examples provided.  I think that the narrator and the person that the narrator is speaking to might be romantically involved because of the use of roses as an example of how many times the narrator misses this person.

Now why would the developers of the game include this romantic and pleasant song into the same game that currently holds the Guinness World Record for the number of “F-bombs” dropped in a single video game?  I think that it was put there to show that it is okay to let out your feelings in your life.  This serves as a very subtle message in the game, because the game follows life with organized crime, which is all about being tough and a “no nonsense” attitude.  The last two lines of the second verse are “Count every star and darling when you do, you’ll know the times I’ve cried for you,” coming right out and saying that they cried for someone that they care about, an act that would probably shunned by a Mafioso.

This is a message that everyone can apply to their own life.  You should never be afraid to show your emotions or let out how you feel.  Even if this isn’t in a romantic situation, you should not be afraid to voice your opinions about a certain topic or subject.  That’s a very pleasant message get from an extremely suggestive video game.