-Andrew Fein
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Pathos of “For What It’s Worth”
There are many strong appeals to emotion throughout the song
“For What It’s Worth.” From the first verse of the song, the audience is called
to attention with the phrase “There’s a man with a gun over there.” This
immediately strikes a sense of fear and danger. Then the chorus begins, telling
the audience to “stop, children, what's that sound? / Everybody look what's
going down.” The sense of danger accentuates the urgency of the situation. The
fact that he uses “children” contrasts the man with the gun with the innocence
of children. In the second verse, Buffalo Springfield speaks of the paranoia of
getting in trouble for protesting, as seen in the line ” Step out of line, the
man come and take you away.” Many of these lyrics incite the audience to speak
their minds, and stand up for what they believe.
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Wow. I love this song and have heard it countless times. I find it amazing that I could sing the lyrics and feel nothing, but seeing them written in front of me is completely different. I never even noticed what he was talking about. It's amazing how clear he is. Saying that it's time to stop, look, and listen is a very clear call to necessary action. Thanks for opening my eyes and ears to it.
ReplyDelete-Corey Ferrick
I really like the contrast between the chorus and verse, it demands attention at the chorus, and has some powerful pathos.
ReplyDelete-Jeannette
Also, you could have included how the song has an upbeat happy instrumental, yet the lyrics are a call for urgency which contrasts this.
ReplyDelete-Ebonie Massey
Great analysis!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could also include the use of "everybody" in the song as a way of involving a collaborative movement among many different people.
Also, the music reflects the urgency as there is a literal stoppage of the music after he says stop.
Natasha Virjee
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYou assert this claim:
ReplyDeleteThe fact that he uses “children” contrasts the man with the gun with the innocence of children.
But you do not explain why you said it or an analysis, I'm actually really confused by it.
-Mariah