“Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth,” written by Willie Nelson is a song protesting Bush’s decision to send troops to Iraq. This song is primarily using pathos, although there is also some logos incorporated. Logos is an argument, Wilson is arguing about the Iraq war and his feelings on it. Pathos is audience, Nelson is also trying to involve people and make them think about the wrong doings of this war. Nelson’s message is that America was unwittingly sent in to fight a war in Iraq, he points this out by articulating the issues many people have stated in the four years since we entered the war. His arguments are weakened by the fact that his political leanings are already well known to most, and ultimately those that agree with him will feel very in tune with this song, and those that don’t will dismiss this as more liberal music from Willie Nelson.
The message is clearly anti-war. Nelson believes there are so “many things going on in the world” today, such as poverty, abuse, and crimes, that we should be focusing on this instead of sending soldiers to Iraq, a place that did not harm the United States before we invaded. We are told to “believe everything that they tell us” on the news and in the papers; Bush announces that “they [are] [going to] kill us” we are forced to automatically assume “we [need to] kill them first.” Therefore we have thousands of innocent men and women serving our country in Iraq because a group of political citizens thought it is the best thing to do at the time.
Nelson continues to write giving references from his strong Christian belief with examples of Commandments written in the Bible. Do the Christian citizens of our country really follow their values of faith? Christianity is the largest religious group in the United States, yet we are still in a country killing innocent Iraqi’s because we are afraid that they might invade our country first. Is it really ethical to be in that country violating “a commandment, thou shall not kill,” because we are afraid? The Golden Rule we were all taught in kindergarten has changed, it is no longer, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” it has changed to “do unto others before they do it to you.” This is a clear attempt by Nelson to take the view point of those he assumes are supporting the war and use their beliefs to strengthen his own argument.
Nelson believes Bush’s take on this war is to “kill [them] all and let God sort [it] out” when the time comes. The citizens of our Country are letting “one picker's word” affect our lives. No matter how much “mass protection” the Iraqis have, “truth sets you free” and that is all we need.
Nelson’s goal in this song is to get the citizens of the United States, his audience, to understand why our invasion into Iraq was wrong. He is very persuasive in this song using logos yet most of the information in opinionated rather than factual. He states specific facts about his beliefs on the war. In verse two line four, he states, “But I remember a commandment; Thou shall not kill,” he shows his Christian beliefs in this song referencing a Commandment from the Bible. He strongly believes we should not be in this war or killing, and backs up his belief with the Bible.
Pathos is the main part of the triangle he seems to use; he really tries to persuade his audience to follow his guidance. In the first verse lines one through three state, “There's so many things going on in the world; Babies dying; Mothers crying,” Nelson really begins to reel in an audience here; mostly female, some male. They feel the pain in the first verse and want to listen.
In the second verse he begins to talk about Commandments which is a negative impact on the song because it is turning Non-Christians away but bringing in Christian individuals. Nelson’s audience throughout this song is female Christians. Most men will think it is too sensual and those outside of the Christian faith do not believe in his Christian thoughts.
The chorus, “And the bewildered herd is still believing; Everything we've been told from our birth; Hell they won't lie to me; Not on my own damn TV; But how much is a liar's word worth; And whatever happened to peace on earth,” enlightens Americans using symbolism such as “the bewildered herd,” calling us confused Americans, referring back to scripture when Jesus talks about herds of sheep in the Bible following the wrong path. We are confused Americans following the wrong path today not knowing right from wrong. What has our society come to?
Nelson’s song also uses emotion to express his beliefs. It is not factual but many people living in the United States today can understand the pain and anger he feels toward Bush and the other Political figures involved in the decision to invade Iraq. His message makes some very compelling points, but it would be difficult to see if anyone changed their thoughts on the war in Iraq as a result of this song.
The song itself is very well constructed, as it takes a traditionally right wing pro war vehicle like the Bible and uses it to support anti-war sentiments. Unfortunately, it was sung by Willie Nelson, whose credibility among the pro-war Republicans is extremely low. In asking ourselves if this song effectively laid out an anti-war argument, the answer is yes. Additionally, it used Christianity to support this argument, further adding ‘credibility’ to the argument. However, if a political song’s success is defined by the changes that are a result of the song, the answer would have to be no. We are a nation so divided that it is unlikely anyone who does not already agree with Nelson would even hear the song.
Quoted material from song lyrics. "Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth"
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5 comments:
Leann Morris
When you describe the references to Christianity in Willie Nelson’s song, I felt you presented your ideas very clear. You made very good arguments in this third paragraph about Nelson’s examples he uses from the Commandments. I like the rhetorical questions. Also, I really like your reasoning on the use of pathos in the song. You give strong evidence to support your idea of what audience the song addresses. There could be a few improvements. Your thesis toward the end of the introduction paragraph is not all that clear. I had trouble following it. You mention the use of pathos and logos in the song, but it lacks clarity. You could make it more assertive. Also, I think you could explain your quotes more. You have very good evidence, but I did not see much of your own interpretation about it. For example, in paragraph four you use a lot of quotes, but there are no sentences that include your own explaining of them. Overall, it is a very good paper. Some things to focus on are: clarity of the introduction paragraph and organization. On the introduction, just go back and make a solid thesis statement at the end of the paragraph. Also, you make many good points, but the paragraphs explaining everything does not flow very well. Just add a few transitions here and there.
Catherine, overall I thought that your essay was pretty well written. I thought that you did a good job in factoring in the way Willie Nelson tried using Christianity to sway his listeners into a anti-war phase. I also thought you did a great job in splitting each paragraph up properly into different topics. In my opinion, your opening paragraph could be improved by removing the two or three sentences about logos and pathos and placing them towards the end of your paper. I think this would be better at the end so that you can explain what happens in the song first and then state your conclusion of what he used. I also think your paper could be improved if you put a few more of your own interpretation about some of the quotes. Overall, the main things I think you should focus on is improving the opening paragraph with more solid thesis and slowly going back over the paper to check for grammatical errors or sentences that do not flow well with the others.
Catherine, Good job sticking to the topic of the paper. There was no question about what you thought these lyrics were about. I think you met the requirements of the assignments. The statement you made at the end that the author uses “a right wing pro war vehicle like the Bible to support anti-war sentiments” is a good observation of what the author is really doing. However, the paper could have been organized better. You introduce the ideas of logos and pathos in the first paragraph, but you do not elaborate on them until the sixth paragraph. You could have transitioned them into the same paragraph and it would have made more sense. It also seems like it’s your opinion that the war in Iraq is wrong. Throughout the paper you make all these statements about the war being wrong, but you only give a few examples from the lyrics that back this up. Why is the audience female Christians? Why are the lyrics directed towards them and not at men of non-Christians? I would focus on giving more examples from the lyrics and make it sound less like your own personal opinion. I would also try and organize the paragraphs better so it’s not like you are skipping around.
Catherine the paper is good.
When you started off the first sentence grabs my attention. In the opening paragraph there are references saying exactly what you said in your thesis, so already in your introduction you are listing the reason to back your thesis and set up the body’s job to back those reason. Restating can be tricky, but when you remind the reader that Nelson has a goal in mind it reminds me that the paper is about the song and pulls the paper’s focus from the Iraq War. The reasoning behind the bible references is strong claims that make your paper great. The end of the paper you aren’t making the reader believe that Nelson’s song has an impact with any results. This last sentence of Nelson can only get to who listen to him and the audience who Nelson wanted to reach just won’t be reached. This ending sentence should end with the reader with a call to wake up and it does it alright. The entire paper is an easy read and through all of it I enjoyed your paper.
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