Music Video Analysis of \"Civil War\' by Guns N Roses 1. Watch the music video (
ID: 3460989 • Letter: M
Question
Music Video Analysis of "Civil War' by Guns N Roses
1. Watch the music video (rhetorical artifact), listen to the song, and then read the song's lyrics.
2. Identify any unknown images, references, symbols, or words.
3. Re-Watch/Listen/View the music video (rhetorical artifact)
a. What new meaning do you now have? (Make note of this.)
4. Reconstruct the Context
a. Why was this video created at this moment in time?
i. Consider the year, the current events going on at the time of the video's creation
b. What is the history around this singer/band or topic?
i. Why would they choose this music video and its content?
c. Do some research on the song and music video. Was there any press coverage of the song's release? Was there any controversy? Why? (What did you discover?)
5. Identify the Rhetorical Situation
a. The context will lead you to the exigence.
6. What artistic proofs are present in your video? (Ethos, Logos, and Pathos - How do these apply to your rhetorical artifact?
a. How is the message being said?
b. What images are being used, why are these significant? (Consider everything that you see, and pay attention to the things you think you should see but don't. Absence can be significant.)
c. Does the video tell one long story, many small stories, or a fragmented story? Why?
7. Assess the effects of the rhetoric
a. Why does it matter?
b. Why is it important that people watch this video? How might it influence the public?
c. Does it reinforce the status quo? Or has something changed? How do you know this?
d. What ideas are mentioned and what ideas are absent?
Explanation / Answer
Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.
(Answer) a. Why was this video created at this moment in time?
This video was made around the time of the Vietnam War and the Kennedy assassination. Such instances outraged the American public about the pointlessness of violence. The lyrics of the song and imagery of the video are clearly a condemnation of war.
b. What is the history around this singer/band or topic?
The writers of this song confirm that they have chosen to talk about real-life experiences in this song. One of the writers claims that the part written about the “black arm-band” was when he attended a peace march after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. as a child. Also, there are other speculations that the part about the armband is ambiguous to several martyrs including Archduke Ferdinand.
c. Was there any press coverage of the song's release? Was there any controversy? Why?
This song was released for the album called “Nobody’s Child.” The proceeds of this album went to the orphans in Romania. The controversy about this song is that this was the last one where Steven Adler contributed to the music. The bandmates claimed that he was a junkie that they simply couldn’t get through to. Adler agrees that this song was the perfect send-off.
d. Identify the Rhetorical Situation
It is assumed that the rhetoric of this song is that religion is one of the major causes of war. The song claims that once religion is probably eliminated, it could lead to fewer wars. However, the true meaning of this song seems to not vilify religion as much as it condemns a lack of communication. The band has used motifs from historical events that have occurred where the failure to communicate had incubated fanaticism or political biases. These attitudes are probably responsible for the belligerence in the world.
e. What artistic proofs are present in your video?
Since the artists condemn the failure of the human race to communicate and get through difficulties, they have used the “failure to communicate” speech from “Cool Hand Luke.”
Furthermore, Axl Rose whistles the song tune of “Johnny Comes Marching Home” in the video. This folk song celebrated the happiness that the people feel when the war is over and a soldier comes back home.
Also, this song beautifully ties the perspective of religion, politics and economics by saying that only the rich benefit from war, while the poor are left worse off. Furthermore, the lyrics also state that there is no God or humanity in war.
f. In this song, the band conveys the message as an argument but through a “fed-up” voice. This is implied in the last few lines when they sing, “I don’t need another war” and “What’s so civil about war anyway.”
The song attempts to not just debase war but, also to assign a certain value to peaceful communication. This is exactly why people need to listen to the song and why it still matters. Even though the message is simple, it is still valid and it is still something much needed. Perhaps, now more than ever, communication and cordial discourse are truly needed. In terms of the environment, wars, religion, territorial issues, fanaticism and even the impaired mental state of those in power, peaceful communication is what could potentially clear several issues.
For the video, ‘Guns N Roses’ is successful in pointing out the evils of several instances in history. However, there might be a certain failure to highlight the alternative to war. There are not peaceful scenes of a life back home, a life away from the bunkers and a life where peace talks seem to dominate the political and not combat.
In most of the scenes where weapons and explosives are being used, the minor detail that is easy to overlook is that the faces of the people being attacked are hazy, blurry and appear tiny since they are at a distance. Presumably, the band tries to point out that even the shooters do not know who is going to die and who is to live. They even don’t know the people who might be shooting them back. All that is known are the political leaders whose failed negotiations lead to these wars.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.