The song that has made the greatest impact on me is “Where Were You” by Alan Jackson. For those who are unfortunate enough not to recall or even worse have never heard this song, “Where Were You” is a compilation of all the things that people did in response to the attacks of September 11. Jackson introduces each response as a question, inquiring to each individual in his audience to see if they reacted in specific ways. However, the overall purpose of his song is to call upon people to act: to love. Specifically, he says, “But I know Jesus and I talk to God / And I remember this from when I was young / Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us / And the greatest is love.”
Jackson is a world-renown American country music singer whose songs often hit a chord with country music fans throughout the nation. Immediately, his target audience, Americans throughout the nation, is reached as his words were broadcast all over the radio and television. Furthermore, the song connects with all people. Rather than narrowing his scope to the perspective of just one, he integrates the actions and feelings of millions of Americans and calls upon them to recognize that they are not alone.
The general purpose of the song is to inform people of the effect that September 11, 2001, had and still has in the world. This song will continue to be played for years to come. This genre of rhetoric reaches everyone including those who are illiterate. It effectively communicates a purpose in many cases without the listener even knowing that they are being persuaded. Also, in the time soon after the attacks, people did not want to be lectured and directly reminded of the dramatic results of such a horrific event. The genre of song is an effective, less-direct way of persuading others. This song is a perfect example.
1 comment:
As much as I am embarrassed to admit this, I was one of the "more than unfortunate" people who haven't ever heard the song "Where Were You," so I googled up the song and played it while I was reading this blogpost. I'm certainly not the biggest country music fan, but the lyrics indeed reached my heart instantly. They weren't fancy and definitely not pretentious - not like one of those authoritative political speeches or newspaper editorials filled up with difficult facts and vocabularies. "I'm not a real political man / I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you / The difference in Iraq and Iran." Listening to this part of the song, it almost felt like someone that I know in real life was talking directly to me. He, Alan Jackson, felt like one of us.
Bush's speech following the 9/11 attack was one of the best speeches he has given, well actually, one of the best speeches I have heard. Public statements made by so many prominent people around the world were yes, all very touching and sympathetic and all but this song, it brought me back to the very moment that I heard the news of the attack. Where I was, what I was doing, how I initially reacted to the news, all these small trivial stuff.
I believe that songs are indeed one of the most powerful mechanisms of communication. As mentioned in the blogpost, it does effectively convey its rhetoric to the illiterate, and might I add to the target audience the apathetic. It shouldn't be the same for everyone else, but as for me, when I repeatedly hear songs I start to hum along with it, and at some point start singing along even if I only partially know the lyrics. Songs have larger impact than just plain words. And they're easier to remember and memorize--because with a good melody and beat they're sometimes just too good you must put them on your ipod playlist.
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