new year and i should keep more up to date with my blog so i thought id start off with something i did for a friends essay research as its relevent here too.
firstly looking through the reviews of other peoples feedback on the songs they love i got the daunting feeling that my reasons would not be in any way comparable because having no background in music, other than loving to listen to it and dance away i dont feel i connect in the same way to the songs i love, in that i do not like them for the way they are composed or the tempo of the piece. i feel that i can relate mostly to the lyrics of a song, as someone that loves to read and write poetry i think it because of this link that i focus on this.
looking through my media player i could not find a song that stood out from the rest, so instead i chose based on that when i heard this song played live, is the only song to have ever made me cry at a gig. a song being able to provoke such a reaction in someone i feel has got to have some kind of strong bond with the listener.
i have chosen 'hero of war' by Rise Against as even though i only came across the band within the last year i think it is due to the politics within their music, particularly their lyrics that correlates to the things i have been experiencing around the same time, and some of the questions i have considered during this time.
the song is sang as a ballad about a father talking to his son and encouraging him to become a soldier but the song then turns to the songs perspective of war, and how it is not as glorified as it is often portrayed in the media. at the time of becoming aware of this song my brother had recently joined the H.M army infantry division and was in his basic training, with his reasons often being that he wanted to help fight for his country and instead of being an engineer etc he wanted to ' be on the frontline doing something '.
i think this is why the lyrics ' a hero of war, thats what i'l be, and when i come home they'll be damn proud of me' hit home, because having bad experiences my brother left his training 4 months in, after deliberating about coming home for a month before he left, fearing that we would be dissapointed in him for failing when all we really wanted was him home safe. for these personal reasons i like and relate to the song because it makes me think about the strong bonds i have with my brother and also in a way evokes that fear i had for a while that in the future there was a possability my family and i might lose him as a result of war.
the song also touches on ideas of perspective, how the job is glorified by his dad, telling him it would open doors for him, allowing him to travel, see the world and get paid, but the son does not talk about these ideallic experiences at all. i think this idea of political perspective and similarly for individuals is important because often they way things are advertised are often skewed by the intentions of the advertiser, and there is an ongoing prominence in the media whereby a soldiers view of not having enough equipment and support is risking their life, is due to a budget cut from someone elses paperwork who likely has no experience of war.
i think the title for the albumn 'appeal to reason' shows the bands intention not to force people to become anti war but just to open their minds to new suggestions and almost look through anothers eyes at the situation and maybe make a more informed decision. like much music if it asks you to stop, listen and rethink things, it is bound to get the listener on a deeper level than just passively listening, and this song definately does this in my opinion and is a reason for me liking it so much.
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