A Demand for Peace and Change

This week we talked about songs that were written in a response to 9/11. When listening to all of the songs each group chose, it was cool to see that some of the songs focused of other problems in our country, rather than what happened on 9/11.

My group chose the song “The Proud” by Talib Kweli. I found this song very well written because it was straight to the point. I thought he was very bold to talk more on the topic of what goes on in the projects more than 9/11. It was like he was saying yes this happened to you, but we feel this heart break on a daily. Kweli shed a light to everything wrong and what needed to be a change.

After listening to all of the songs I also noticed that all of the songs we listened to demand a change. Either it was a demand in change of the heart and mind, or actual problems in our country and world. We listened to ‘New New York’ by The Cranberries which demanded for the country to look for a new day and to have a new perspective of life. The song asked others to look on the bright side and to not let what happened get to them. To rise above the hate. We also listened to ‘Rule’ by Nas. This song was similar to ‘The Proud’ because it talked more about the world and its problems in a whole. However, it mixed demanding peace and love and to change what’s going on in the song.

Watching the music videos for these songs also helped understand these songs. For ‘ New New York’ , the video showed different pictures of the special places in the city. This gave a sense of everything is ok, and to look at the amazing parts of this amazing city. The music video for ‘Rule’ had a lot going on but it also went with the song, putting some powerful words on the screen. The  video also put pictures of what Nas was rapping about. Lastly ‘ The Proud’ also had a lot going on in the video. I liked the video however because it showed everyday people doing everyday things.

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to these songs because it shows how much pain people had in their hearts during this time. These same songs also shed a light to the darken areas of our country and world. These songs did not dwell on what happened but said, “ Hey Lighten up, keep your head up!”