Where is the Love? A Pentadic Song Analysis
Throughout pop culture, and society in general, music has been a powerful, and influential
text. Music is so powerful, that it was used in primitive societies as a way of
communicating their cultures history, and beliefs from generation to generation.
One of the reasons music is powerful is that it is useful in mood management.
For example, when a person is sad, they may listen to a mellow song that the
person can relate to, and be soothed from. Music can also be quite pervasive.
Meaning that music can spread throughout a culture rather quickly. One of the
more deeper, and not so transparent qualities of music is its ability in
rhetorical exigence. Rhetorical exigence is using a message or text to
influence, or persuade others. Music is often used as a type of a text that can
influence the thoughts of others. By using a pentadic analysis on the song
“Where is the Love?”, by The Black Eyed Peas, one can see clearly how a song can
be used in a rhetorical exigence.
The song “Where is the Love?” was released in the year 2003 by the
hip-hop band The Black Eyed Peas, featuring Justin Timberlake. Musically, when
analyzing charts of the top songs of 2003, hip-hop and rap artist were on top of
the billboards. With such artist such as Beyoncé, 50 Cent, R. Kelly, and Lil Jon
appearing on the lists multiple times. Justin Timberlake, who was featured in
The Black Eyed Pea’s song, was also very present on the Billboard chart.
Historically, the year 2003 was a very uncertain and unstable time in American
history. America was still recovering from the 9/11 terrorist attacks that
occurred in 2001. In 2002, America begins major military operations in
Afghanistan, and a year later, in defiance to the world, America invades Iraq.
It was a time where news stations had a “Terrorism Level Meter”, and violent
terrorist acts were happening all over the world. A very dramatic period to
live, with many problems and situations that called for action, or exigence.
When doing a pentadic analysis of a song, there are five aspects to look
at, act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose. The act in the song is asking the
question, “Where is the love?”. In the music video this is expressed through not
only the lyrics, but the group putting up fliers throughout a city with a
question mark on them. The scene of the song is America during the year 2003, as
mentioned previously, a very uncomfortable time. In the video this is made more
clear, as there are a couple scenes involving Americans glued to their TV. One
scene showing kids playing violent video games, and another of someone watching
the wars going on overseas. The agent is simply the band The Black Eyed Peas,
and Justin Timberlake. The agencies in the song are the powerful lyrics, and use
of images. All this put in combination helps achieve their purpose. The purpose
of the song is to spread the message of love. The song gives many examples of
the problems going on in the world, and poses the listener to think about the
lack of love in the world. There are many examples of exigence that can be
pulled from the lyrics of the song. Some of these examples are war, “Chemical
gases filling lungs of little ones”. The politics behind war, “The truth is kept
secret, swept under the rug”. Violence in the media, “Negative images is the
main criteria, infecting the young minds faster than bacteria, Kids want to act
like they see in the cinemas”. Finally, racism, “But if you only have love for
your own race, then you only leave space to discriminate, and to discriminate
only generates hate”. Ultimately the song is successful in its
purpose.
The song set out on a purpose of awareness of certain problems, and to
spread a message of love. Although the world today is obviously still violent,
and uncertain, I find the song to still be a success. As I find the song to be
very thought provoking, as it brings up a plethora of problems in the world, and
does so in a very catchy and colorful manner.
Black Eyed Peas were not the only ones to bring up such problems in
music, as years after they released the song “Where is the Love?”, many other
songs spreading messages of peace were released. Whether the success of the song
by The Black Eyed Peas had anything to do with the releases of these songs is
not entirely sure. A few of these songs are “Dear Mr. President” by Pink, “21
Guns, and Holiday” by Green Day, and “Waiting on the World to Change” by John
Mayer.
One thing is for certain, music is still being used as an effective tool
in rhetorical exigence. Music’s power, popularity, and pervasiveness make it an
excellent tool at spreading a persuasive message. “Where is the Love?” is just
one of many examples of songs expressing this. As problems persist through the
world, so will the beats.
text. Music is so powerful, that it was used in primitive societies as a way of
communicating their cultures history, and beliefs from generation to generation.
One of the reasons music is powerful is that it is useful in mood management.
For example, when a person is sad, they may listen to a mellow song that the
person can relate to, and be soothed from. Music can also be quite pervasive.
Meaning that music can spread throughout a culture rather quickly. One of the
more deeper, and not so transparent qualities of music is its ability in
rhetorical exigence. Rhetorical exigence is using a message or text to
influence, or persuade others. Music is often used as a type of a text that can
influence the thoughts of others. By using a pentadic analysis on the song
“Where is the Love?”, by The Black Eyed Peas, one can see clearly how a song can
be used in a rhetorical exigence.
The song “Where is the Love?” was released in the year 2003 by the
hip-hop band The Black Eyed Peas, featuring Justin Timberlake. Musically, when
analyzing charts of the top songs of 2003, hip-hop and rap artist were on top of
the billboards. With such artist such as Beyoncé, 50 Cent, R. Kelly, and Lil Jon
appearing on the lists multiple times. Justin Timberlake, who was featured in
The Black Eyed Pea’s song, was also very present on the Billboard chart.
Historically, the year 2003 was a very uncertain and unstable time in American
history. America was still recovering from the 9/11 terrorist attacks that
occurred in 2001. In 2002, America begins major military operations in
Afghanistan, and a year later, in defiance to the world, America invades Iraq.
It was a time where news stations had a “Terrorism Level Meter”, and violent
terrorist acts were happening all over the world. A very dramatic period to
live, with many problems and situations that called for action, or exigence.
When doing a pentadic analysis of a song, there are five aspects to look
at, act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose. The act in the song is asking the
question, “Where is the love?”. In the music video this is expressed through not
only the lyrics, but the group putting up fliers throughout a city with a
question mark on them. The scene of the song is America during the year 2003, as
mentioned previously, a very uncomfortable time. In the video this is made more
clear, as there are a couple scenes involving Americans glued to their TV. One
scene showing kids playing violent video games, and another of someone watching
the wars going on overseas. The agent is simply the band The Black Eyed Peas,
and Justin Timberlake. The agencies in the song are the powerful lyrics, and use
of images. All this put in combination helps achieve their purpose. The purpose
of the song is to spread the message of love. The song gives many examples of
the problems going on in the world, and poses the listener to think about the
lack of love in the world. There are many examples of exigence that can be
pulled from the lyrics of the song. Some of these examples are war, “Chemical
gases filling lungs of little ones”. The politics behind war, “The truth is kept
secret, swept under the rug”. Violence in the media, “Negative images is the
main criteria, infecting the young minds faster than bacteria, Kids want to act
like they see in the cinemas”. Finally, racism, “But if you only have love for
your own race, then you only leave space to discriminate, and to discriminate
only generates hate”. Ultimately the song is successful in its
purpose.
The song set out on a purpose of awareness of certain problems, and to
spread a message of love. Although the world today is obviously still violent,
and uncertain, I find the song to still be a success. As I find the song to be
very thought provoking, as it brings up a plethora of problems in the world, and
does so in a very catchy and colorful manner.
Black Eyed Peas were not the only ones to bring up such problems in
music, as years after they released the song “Where is the Love?”, many other
songs spreading messages of peace were released. Whether the success of the song
by The Black Eyed Peas had anything to do with the releases of these songs is
not entirely sure. A few of these songs are “Dear Mr. President” by Pink, “21
Guns, and Holiday” by Green Day, and “Waiting on the World to Change” by John
Mayer.
One thing is for certain, music is still being used as an effective tool
in rhetorical exigence. Music’s power, popularity, and pervasiveness make it an
excellent tool at spreading a persuasive message. “Where is the Love?” is just
one of many examples of songs expressing this. As problems persist through the
world, so will the beats.