In “Five and Dime,” Hazel English says a few things. The song is about self-discovery, independence, and the struggle to maintain personal boundaries within a relationship. It’s also about how hard it is to do anything in life at all. English’s language choices throughout the lyrics build up pictures of what she’s singing about so that the audience can be right there and feel everything as if they’re living through it themselves.

The first line reads “Oh you bring me back down.” This is her way of saying that she feels closed off and vulnerable when she’s with a certain person. By using the word “you,” she signals to us that this song will be very specific, so we should pay attention.

As the song goes on though, the listener starts to get more of an idea of who or what this person is by reading through some vivid imagery. For instance, phrases like “Caught my stride but you follow me around” and “Almost figured it out but you cut me off” give descriptions of a push-pull relationship where one party won’t let the other go out into the world alone. All these verbs fill our heads with moving things and tension which makes us tense up too.

English also repeats some stuff here and there for funsies. The phrase “Heading to the five and dime” shows up several times in different parts of the song to remind everyone that freedom is what we’re sprinting towards here. When something important gets said multiple times in any sort of media, people usually pay attention because repetition signals urgency or importance, or both.

Finally, throughout her lyrics English does her best to make your senses tingle by using strong words like “looking”, “leave”, “crazy”, and even doubles down on them with things like “feel”. She wants everyone listening to be able to feel everything just from hearing her sing it all out loud.

At its core though there’s a reason that every word in this song is there. English has a unique ability to pick out the right words at the right time so that they’re both poetic and relatable. She knows exactly how to write lyrics that sound good, but also make you feel something deep down in your bones.

In conclusion, Hazel English uses her poetic language paired up with repetition, imagery, and strong word choice throughout “Five and Dime” to tell an emotional story about human connection. The song takes listeners on a wild ride through independence, self-discovery, personal boundaries and freedom from them all.