In the first four lines of verse 1, the writer says he does not believe in the politics of the “chosen fools and hypocrites.” He calls the political leaders of America “fools” and “hypocrites.” The next four lines convey the message that under the government officials, we are going into a “mass delusion” where no one knows who is leading us or in what direction we are going. The two lines before the chorus say that there is no time left and it is too late. This implies that we are doomed under our government and we cannot change it now.
The first line of the chorus is “March of the Dogs.” This is a metaphor comparing political leaders to a pack of dogs. Most likely comparing them to wild dogs that will do anything to get what they want. Line 3 of the chorus lets us know that the writer is talking directly about the president because he/she says, “sworn under God.” Presidents are sworn into office at the Presidential Inauguration by placing their hand on the Bible. The fourth line is a stab at the decisions that are made by government leaders. The writer says that they breed panic and confusion.
The first four lines of the second chorus say that we need an exorcist to get the evil out of the people standing “under God” and “above us all.” The writer goes as far as implying that our government is run by demon possessed individuals and need an exorcist to rid them of evil. The last part of verse two says that we (Americans) are desperate, confused, and frustrated now without any vision of “salvation”. The writer uses the word salvation as if we are bound for Hell under our current national leaders. The last verse starts off by saying, “Hey! Hey! Hey! Another president is dead because they blew off his head.” This is almost as if the writer is excited about the death of our president. The next two lines say, “no more necks to be red, guess off to heaven he fled.” This statement is giving a description of a typical president. Usually, when a president runs for office, they try to take on the persona of a hard working (red neck) religious middle class guy. After the writer says that the president is dead, he asks the questions, “by whom will we be led?” and “from whose hand will we be fed?” This government makes it seem as if we only hear what our government wants us to hear. In the last couple of lines, the writer calls our government leaders, “lying liars.”
The song is constructed mainly around ethos. The song uses very little pathos. There is no use of logos in this song. “March of the Dogs” is basically the writer’s point of view of the government and the political leaders of America. In line 3 we are introduced to the idea of ethos when the writer says, “I don’t believe……” The goal of the writer is to persuade American people to view the government just as the writer does. The writer just presents his/her own views without any facts. He or she plays with the idea of pathos because some of the lines ne the song may get an emotional rise out of the audience. For example, the line in the last verse that says, “from whose hand will we be fed?” This makes the audience feel as if we are being taken advantage of by our own government.
The writer’s argument in this song is not very effective. The writer’s emphasis on ethos takes away from the effectiveness. It seems like he or she is just presenting his or her own view point without any credibility to back it up. It’s almost as if the writer is just nagging and complaining about our government. By saying, “our president is dead” really brings a negative effect on the argument. Most American people would support the government to a certain extent. I also know that a majority of our country would not condone even joking about killing our president. The negativity in this song would turn most people away. The diction is cruel. Using words like, “exorcist”, and “evil” and saying, “they blew off the president’s head” brings a negative response to this song.
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