Feel it comin' in the airHear the screams from everywhere
I'm addicted to the thrill
It's a dangerous love affair
Can't be scared when it goes down
Got a problem, tell me now
Only thing that's on my mind
Is who's gonna run this town tonight...
Is who's gonna run this town tonight...
We gonna run this town
The haunting vocals of pop singer Rihanna grace rapper Jay-Z’s Run This Town, which also features fellow rapper Kanye West. The song depicts the against all odds theme which is prevalent in several of Jay-Z’s albums. It is not simply a song with a can do attitude, rather it is a song that possesses a must do attitude. The video accompanies this as well. For the most part the only people’s faces that are seen in the music video are that of the three artists. The rest of the people in the video wear black bandannas across their mouths, showing only their eyes.
Get y'all black tees on
The haunting vocals of pop singer Rihanna grace rapper Jay-Z’s Run This Town, which also features fellow rapper Kanye West. The song depicts the against all odds theme which is prevalent in several of Jay-Z’s albums. It is not simply a song with a can do attitude, rather it is a song that possesses a must do attitude. The video accompanies this as well. For the most part the only people’s faces that are seen in the music video are that of the three artists. The rest of the people in the video wear black bandannas across their mouths, showing only their eyes.
Get y'all black tees on
All black everything
Black cards, black cars
All black everything
And our girls are blackbirds
Ridin' with they dillingers
The lyrics of Jay-Z further display the somber “I will not lose” attitude. Every person in the video is donned with black. Jay-Z and Rihanna wear bullets around their neck in addition to their black garbs. The location of the video has an eerie displaced feel to it (although it was actually filmed in New York City). Multitudes of people in the video wear black, there is little electricity and most light comes from fire. The details given tells the viewer that society has collapsed, there is no stability, just chaos. People band in tribal fashion, in according dress and the use of weapons, including baseball bats. The world in this video is violent but in some ways comforting. Despite whatever events that has caused this grimy state of the world a group of committed people are together to survive, excluding any other options.
The lyrics of Jay-Z further display the somber “I will not lose” attitude. Every person in the video is donned with black. Jay-Z and Rihanna wear bullets around their neck in addition to their black garbs. The location of the video has an eerie displaced feel to it (although it was actually filmed in New York City). Multitudes of people in the video wear black, there is little electricity and most light comes from fire. The details given tells the viewer that society has collapsed, there is no stability, just chaos. People band in tribal fashion, in according dress and the use of weapons, including baseball bats. The world in this video is violent but in some ways comforting. Despite whatever events that has caused this grimy state of the world a group of committed people are together to survive, excluding any other options.
This is a great "small apocalypse" discovery. But here is a question to complicate things: How would Laura Mulvey's sense of the cinematic gaze problematize this survival narrative? Where are we (the spectators) in relation to the events on the screen—or for that matter, in relation to the screen in general? Right now, the computer is on my lap, and I can see the pictures of "Run This Town"—it looks like I am facing off with the violent world in the frame. At the same time, though, I am sitting here cozy on my couch—perhaps *that* is what is strangely "comforting" about this scene?
ReplyDeleteI want to push you to critique the nature of the spectacle in this video: it's entertainment, right? The spectacle is diametrically opposed to conflict, because it is premised on mediation (the screen, flashing lights, recorded sound)—and mediation is always, in part, *conciliation*. Can a music video ever be truly 'apocalyptic'? Or does the prevalence of the genre of music videos show us just how far we are from anything even closely resembling an 'apocalypse'? It would seem in an odd way that the more apocalyptic games and images and movies we get, the farther we get from serious apocalypticism. Instead, we get irony in the juxtaposition of mass enjoyment and doomsday imagery. Does this make sense?
It is odd that many video games and music videos push this theme of catastrophe and apocalypse. It is an oxymoron because through these mediums, apocalypses can be fabricated to be believable and visually real through the use of sound, light, animation and camera effects; however, we are watching or playing these games from the comfort of our own homes. The fact that we have the luxury to either create or participate in these activities shows the affluence of our society since these “spectacles” only primarily have entertainment value.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there is an apocalyptic aspect that stems from the use of music videos. Music videos have altered the way people listen to music, since it is not only an auditory experience anymore, but also a visual one. Also, with the introduction of YouTube, music videos are easily accessed, thus, imprinting one visual interpretation of the music in the viewers mind. There are times when I have viewed music videos that are horribly done and seem to have nothing to do with the music, and then there are videos that are almost iconic and inseparable from the music itself. This is the case with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” What are the implications of music restricted by a visual aid? Does it enhance the music or does it take away from it?
I think music, because it is not visual, allows more room for interpretation. Thus, when songs are placed in a certain context in a video it definitely confines the music to those who view it. This is apocalyptic in that it brings a big change in how music is perceived and interpreted.
Another thing about music videos changing music is that high-tech videos with many effects build spectacles around as song. In that sense, perhaps videos build an aura around artists and music, thus, making it less about the music and more about the show. These kinds of acts can be seen today, not only in videos, but in performances that are no longer just a band performing or an artist singing but a whole staged event. Just the fact that musicians are now called—and expected to be performers—show a huge apocalypse in the music industry.
When thinking this song apocalyptically I cannot but be euphoric at reading the following lyrics:
ReplyDeleteLife's a game but it's not fair
I break the rules so I don't care
So I keep doin' my own thing
This is the beauty of what I dare to call the ‘postmodern apocalypse’, and my reasoning for doing so is precisely because I think that it does signify (and “refer” given the appropriate conditions of the ontological gap, of withdrawal and absence, or, deferring and delaying) phenomena (and phenomena-to-come). The structure or Form of language may appear and be analyzed, but so may its content, Referent, or 'Substance’/’Materiality' (spooky word that is). Language and Being may be of two orders but these orders are interrelated. They come together in battle.
But back to Rhianna and the (Je)-HOVA of Rap: Jay-Z…the problem with the Modern apocalyptic is that it takes itself too seriously, as if there is something fundamental at stake which changes, as if there is an Event which destroys, and through that destruction a revelation may occur. Tom Sheehan on ‘Entitled Opinions about life and literature’ (beginning at 29:09 to roughly 31:00) sums up the historical context from which the modern view inherits its’ deadly seriousness (devoid of religious and revolutionary effect, no doubt):
“Apocalypse refers to ‘revelation’ not in our usual sense of dictation from beyond. Revelation at that time, ‘apokálypsis’ meant that God was going to dramatically break into history from beyond. Remember that God had been absent in effect, or at least very transcendent since the Babylonian Captivity in 586 BC. God was going to break in from beyond, toss out the gentiles, and reconstitute the kingdom of David, an era of messianic blessings. “ (available at Standford.edu, or, on iTunes University)
The Modern apocalyptic envisioning (this term seems slightly more apropos than Imaginary) precisely inherits this notion of an ‘in-break’ from Outside, from Beyond…a penetrating which shall change everything (excuse my masculinist phrasing). No doubt during this in-break there shall be catastrophe, or in the Greek etymological sense, literally, an “over-turning” of all that is (from kata + strephein: over + to turn), but that is to be expected when there is an apocalypse. Destruction as a promise, a credit of things to come. The in-break of Nuclear Catastrophe, Global Climate Change, Economic Collapse, all actually immanent and not transcendent causes of an “apocalypse” (put simply, these Events are of our own making), still gather meaning from the Modern, from the in-break of political, social, religious forces beyond control of the mere human. The difference thus between the Modern and the pre-Modern apocalypse is this destruction without redemption, this “toss[ing] out [of] the gentiles” without any “reconstitut[ion] [of] the kingdom of David”, for both still cling to forces that necessarily cause an Event.
Yet the postmodern is wholly aware of the destruction and possibility of reconstruction. It would be too easy, too simple to argue that the postmodern, or the contemporary, focuses only on destruction, on a lack, or a loss without the possibility of a reconstitution. This is a ‘things have never been worse’ approach, and it is too presentist, too Luddite, too “fuddy-duddy” to be critically engaging. If anything, the postmodern characterizes the realization of the change of fortune, as in a game when one is playing at a loss and through a blessing of Fortuna (Goddess of Fortune) one sweeps away the loss and begins to reconstitute a victory. The post-modern opens up a space of “play”, of de-essentializing reality and allowing new and different responses and performances that allow more liberty, not less for humans. The intensive struggle of thinkers who resisted the sedimentation of thought, of thought as dogma and dogma as an Absolute Knowledge (even beyond Papal claims) is not to be ignored or depreciated. What I see precisely in the postmodern is the recognition of ‘the game’ and that includes positivity and negativity. But the game is still a game and it is to be played well or not so well, maturely or immaturely, fairly or unfairly, with care, or lack of care. Rhinna reveals the postmodern in her realization, utilization, and indifference over ‘the game’ that is Life itself.
ReplyDeleteI've heard this song on the radio a few times and I assumed that the song was about a teenage troublemaker who is up to no good every night. For me (but possibly not for Joe or Brian) most of the lyrics underplay any apocalyptic themes that the song might be trying to push; the first ten lines of the song are a little too simple and unspecific to hint at anything apocalyptic to me. They could just as easily refer to a risky relationship, a hold-up, or a heist. The chorus, again, reaffirms the idea of a misguided teen who feels that the whole world is against him.
ReplyDeleteLooking past the lyrics, the music video certainly screams apocalypse. There is a lack of bright colors and a lack of most of the things we attribute to our everyday lives (such as food, cars, books, grocery stores, etc). I agree with Melanie that some music videos are inseparable from their songs while others seem to be the furthest thing from their songs. Videos like these make me wonder if the artist's vision (when they produced the song) was accurately portrayed when the director produced the video. There might be some kind of apocalyptic realization for the music artist to see the meaning of their song converted into action shots and camera angles. In a way, that's what I think our class is trying to do with the texts that we read: We’re trying to conceptualize and put a face to the apocalyptic ideas that these texts provide.
While listening to the radio today, I noticed some very apocalyptic themes in one of Rihanna's older songs: "Disturbia."
ReplyDeleteIt's a thief in the night to come and grab you
It can creep up inside you and consume you
A disease of the mind, it can control you
It’s too close for comfort
Put on your pretty lies, you’re in the city of wonder
Ain't gon’ play nice, watch out you might just go under
The song is basically about losing one’s mind. The song mentions a car running out of gas, thieves in the night, disease, faded pictures, disconnected phone lines, darkness being light, feeling like a monster, and putting on “pretty lies.”
To me, the entire song just screams references to The Parable of the Sower. There’s a special kind of danger that this novel has compared to the other two novels. This is the kind of danger that includes rapists, drug addicts, people with shaved heads and painted bodies, cannibals, people wielding guns, and man-eating dogs. There seems to be a heightened level of constant panic, paranoia, and fear in Lauren’s world and Rihanna’s song captures the idea of losing one’s grasp of reality in response to the endless chaos around you. I guess what I’m trying to say is that out of all three of the books, I was most fearful of Lauren’s post-apocalyptic world.