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Blog 8, Iraheta

The piece I chose for this blog is Childish Gambino’s This Is America. This was released in 2018 and became very popular at the time. The song itself wasn’t the only reason, as the video itself caught many people’s attention. The piece is about prejudice against people of color in America. Glover throughout the song reiterates this idea through the lyrics. For example,”Police be trippin’ now,” which refers to police brutality that is usually aimed towards black people. Another example is,”I just checked my following list and you guys owe me,” which shows how they feel that the way they’ve been treated isn’t fair and deserve something in return. However, the most repeated line shows how Gambino views the situation,”This is America” which I interpret to him saying, that’s just how it is in this country, like it’s bad but you can’t really do anything about it. However, there is a lot more commentary in the video. Such as how gun violence is commonplace in America, yet guns are still treated as sacred, as can be seen when Gambino finishes shooting both the guitarist and the choir the gun gently wrapped in a red cloth before being taken away. In addition to this the video also seems to be commentating on how the media doesn’t focus on the serious issues and chaos that is happening, rather focusing on things that would distract and entertain. This can be inferred from how there is always something chaotic happening in the background, yet Gambino dancing is the focus and distracts from everything else. One musical characteristic that makes it especially good as a political song is the repetition. This repetition, of such words as “This is America” and “Don’t catch you slippin’”, make the song stick in the listeners head, making them remember for much longer.


3 Comments

  1. I wanted to do this song as well because it sends such a strong message with both the lyrics and the video. I really liked your interpretation on the lyrics and also how you explained the commentary about gun violence/social media. I think a good point was the musical characteristic which was repetition because most people remember those words after listening to it a couple of times. Amazing job!

  2. I liked the way explained the song, commenting on the aspect of repetition and specific lyrics. I also liked how you brought up the importance of the video as well.

  3. I like the way you talked about the song. I also chose this song. The meaning behind it is very powerful and shows and means a lot if you really try to understand the meaning of it. Police brutality or racial discrimination is something that we have been dealing with since forever. Many famous influencers have tried to get rid of it but it never worked. There will always be someone racist saying something or doing something that they shouldn’t do.

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