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The first song expresses the feeling and the emotion of the singer toward the condition around him. Through this song, the singer tries to show the listeners
about the messed up condition in America. Just like the function of folk music itself that accommodates people to express their anger, hope, and fear, this
function is applied very well on this song. The singer also presents a solution on that problem, by stating that love can be a hope. To love or to be loved is enough
to make someone feel better and feel fine with their own self, although they live in a messed up condition. Consequently, they will be united as big family of
America. Some characteristics of protest music are preserved on this song. For instances, painting to some problems, reinforcing the singer value, and presenting
solution.
B. No One Would Riot for Less: The Expression of Protest toward Middle East War
The first song to analyze, No One Would Riot for Less, is taken from Bright Eyes’ 8
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album Cassadaga 2007, Saddle Creek Record. The song is played in melancholic tunes and has 6 stanzas for 05 minutes and 12 seconds long. The song
is played in a slow tempo. This slow tempo gives a feeling of sadness and grievance toward the song. Besides, the way the singer sings emphasizes his
innermost emotion of sadness and grievance as well. There are also two musical parts of the song. The first part is the serene
part which consists of guitar instruments and strings instruments, and the second part is the epic part which consists of full musical instruments. The serene part
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captivates the sad and grieving feeling toward the song, while the epic part tries to boost up the listener’s emotion to be more aware with the issues stated on the
song. The combination of music, the way the singer sings, and lyric attempts to recruit individuals by arousing their sympathy and support.
The song points out the crucial problem during George W. Bush presidency. The song itself was composed during the political situation in which
the President, George W. Bush, declared war toward Middle East country. The title, No One Would Riot for Less has a meaning that no one would go for war
riot to fight for something useless. The war began as the reaction of terrorist attack in World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 9
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. Claiming as ‘holy war’, the President attacked Afghanistan and Iraq which were believed as the
mastermind of 911. Joined by British military forces, the United States invaded central Asian country of Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, in what was tagged
Operation Enduring Freedom. On March 17, 2003, again in concert with British forces, the US military invaded Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Hamm, 2005, p. 47
The President believed that those countries were responsible for 911 attack. The President also believed that one of the countries, Iraq, possessed the
Weapon of Mass Destruction WMD that could be a threat for America. This becomes the strong reason why the President attacked Iraq. However, the belief of
President that Iraq was a threat to America is unproven. The Iraq war seems unjustifiable and brings nothing except death. Iraq President was never a threat to
United States. His “Weapons of Mass Destruction” remain invisible, his terrorist
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connections remain unproven, and he had absolutely nothing to do with the destruction of the World Trade Center. Crowther, 2003, para. 6
The fact raises controversy, considering that the reasons behind declaring Middle East war are not proven. The war which is believed as the holy war does
not bring any victory but only death and miseries. The first line of the first stanza tells that the war declared by George W. Bush is only madness, not a holy war like
what the President states to the public. death may Come Invisible or in a holy war of fire
in the breath between the marker on some black I-80 mile from the madness of the government to the vengeance of the sea
everything is eclipsed by the shape of destiny Holy is associated with God or religion. It is related to something good,
right, and having a divine quality. Merriam, 1990, p. 576 Meanwhile, fire relates to something destructive and evil, which also can be the symbol of danger. Fire is
a threat to humans, animals and nature. It can destroy acres in a matter of minutes and its not a thing that we can compete with. O’Looney, 2001 According to the
definitions of holy and fire, there is paradoxical meaning of those two things. Holy relates to something good while fire relates to something evil. Thus, the holy wall
of fire on the first line symbolizes the holy war. This fire refers to the destructive fire that is believed as something good and acceptable to God. It is a fire which is
soaring tall like a wall which is caused by heavy artilleries on the.
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War on Terrorism declared by George W. Bush is considered by Bush Administration as a ‘holy war’ because the president believed that the war is based
on God’s will. This guy Bush already thinks and occasionally tells foreign leaders that he gets his order from God. Welch, 2003, para. 3 Ironically enough,
George W. Bush identifies with the light and imagines that he is divinely inspired. He then believes that any action he desires is justified in the name of God, as he
can rationalize it as being God’s will. Unable to self-reflect, he is convinced of the rightness of his viewpoint, which he considers non-negotiable. Levy, 2004, para.
9 All the words suggest that the holy wall of fire in this lyric is associated with the holy war declared by George W. Bush.
Though Middle East war is declared as the Holy War to counter terrorism, but war is still a war. It kills people and brings sorrow to the victims. Terrorism or
not, there is no doubt that the vast majority of people in the region and in the world, believe that the war was entirely unjustifiable. Whitney, 2005, para. 5
American feels tired with the war declared by their government: since the Vietnam War in 1960s till the latest Iraq war. They realize that war only hurts humanity and
brings death to innocent people and American soldiers. Government is the one that should be responsible for the massacre and madness. “Ultimately the Bush
administration bears the responsibility for the death of every American killed in Iraq just as if they had lined them up against a wall and shot them one by one.
Their blood is on the administration’s hands not those of the Iraqi insurgency” para. 1
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The third line of the first stanza also states ‘the madness of government’. The madness refers to this situation, while the government refers to the Bush
Administration. The singer says the government as madness because rather than destroying terrorism from the world like the promise before, Bush’s policy on war
of terrorism has killed hundred thousand people and made the situation worse than ever. Paul Levy in his article, states that
George W. Bush action seemed so arrogant, so full of hubris. Different with his promises on his campaign, his policies in dealing with
terrorism which is the realization of ‘war on terrorism’ are actually fueling the fire. Al Gore says also about Bush’s policies on terrorism
and his pre-emptive invasion of Iraq: ‘Instead of making it better, he has made it infinitely worse. We are less safe because of his policies.
The unpleasant truth is that President Bush’s utter incompetence has made the world a far more dangerous place and dramatically increased
the threat of terrorism against the United States.” Levy, 2004, para. 5 Moreover, his policy in declaring war also raised protest from the world
and American whose families become soldiers on the war. They insist that this useless war should be stopped before it gets more victims.
“
While our soldiers die in ever-increasing numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting to complete an ill-
defined mission based on nothing more than Bush lies.” Zimmerman, 2004, para. 1
The government just gives an order to fight the war and then send them to death, while the intention or the reason behind the war is still questionable. The
President says that this is to end the terrorism and to destroy the Weapon of Mass Destruction. However, the Weapon of Mass Destruction was never found, and the
relation between terrorism of 911 and Iraq remained unproven. This truth leads public to think that the President has another hidden reason to attack Iraq. John
Kaminski states that America did not go to war against Iraq to overthrow a tyrant.
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They invaded Iraq because they wanted to steal a Country’s precious resources. Because, America, in the blatant hubris of their soulless blindness believe that they
can steal for any reason 2004, para. 14. It means that the soldiers fight and send themselves to death to fight something that is still questionable. They die for the
government lies and uncertain reason. This is a kind of madness of government depicted by the singer.
War is identical to death, and the last line of the first stanza the singer uses
metaphorical words to illustrate the death; well everything is eclipsed by the shape of destiny. Eclipse makes the world dark because the light coming from the
sun or the moon is hindered by the moon or the world itself. Because eclipse makes everything darker, thus the singer uses this word to give connotation about
death. Death is identical to darkness; it is because when someone dies, they cannot see anything. Besides, the dead will be buried on the underground, which is
closely related to darkness as well. The word eclipse gives mysterious impression also; just like the death itself which is mysterious. The singer put this as
connotation to emphasize that everything will be closer to death on the war zone. War will kill everyone without an exception; from man, woman, children, old
people, and even other living things such as animal and plants. It is the same with an eclipse that makes everything darker without any exception
There are so many ways to die just like what are mentioned by the singer of the first stanza, but war is the worst way of death. War kills civilians, innocents,
and soldiers brutally in a mass number. Furthermore, war happens because of political error of the government. The Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq war is
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the example of the unnecessary war caused by the political error of the government. Operation Iraqi Freedom is a dishonorable, murder-laden, failure.
The Bush course is an endless minefield that yields nothing but the death, maiming and torture of innocents, in sum nothing but catastrophic human suffering.”
Zimmerman, 2004 This is what the singer is trying to protest; the unnecessary war that only brings death, destruction, miseries, and sorrow.
The musical background played on the first stanza also reveals the feeling of the song. The singer plays the guitar by plucking it rather than strumming to
bring the feeling of calmness. In addition, he also plays it with acoustic guitar rather than electric guitar to bring the feeling of serenity. The intro is started by the
minor keys to bring the feeling of sadness. Music based on minor scales tends to sound serious or melancholy. Minor chord sounds darker than major chord.
Kamien, 2000, p. 67 Right before the vocal enters; synthesizer-string instruments fill the music and give the second dimension. This synthesizer-string section gives
deeper feeling of grievance toward the song. This synthesizer-string also gives the sense of modernity. Moreover, the implication of the musical elements on the intro
is giving the image upon the song about sadness and grievance caused by the product of modernity which is war technologies and artilleries. Finally, the song is
trying to evoke the listener by attracting them to feel the sadness felt by the victims of war.
The second and the fourth stanzas illustrate the cry of soldier on the war zone. On those two stanzas, the point of view shifts to the soldier’s. It can be
known from the use of word my on the first line and me on the third line.
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So love me now Hell is coming
Kiss my mouth Hell is here
There are two words stating hell on the second stanza. The word hell creates the images of catastrophic, horrible, apocalyptic situation on the war. War
is correlated to hell because it destroys everything in casualties. It also brings death, miseries, sorrow, immorality, sadness, and other sinful acts. This is what
happens in Iraq war. Thousand Iraqis and innocent people lose their life for this unnecessary war.
Conservatives estimates that nearly 80.000 Iraqi civilians have died, but a study published in 2006, which included those who have died
of disease and other issues related to the war, indicated that 650.000 Iraqis had perished In addition, about 4.000 American soldiers have
died since the baseless invasion of Iraq, and the Department of Veterans Affairs is overwhelmed by the sheer volume and dire
condition of wounded soldiers who manage to return alive. Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board, 2008, para. 2.
The statistic indicates that the war is the same with massive victims murdering. Besides, the war in Iraq war veteran, Private Brandon Hughey, who
moves to the Canada to avoid the war duty declare: ‘I don’t care what people in the States would call me. Raping prisoners, shooting ambulance, bombing
civilians, and burning cities is not my idea of honorable. as cited in Stephenson, 2011, para. 10 his statement indicates that the war also creates immorality. That is
why this war is condemned by American society and people of the world. All of
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the actions on the war zone are closely related to something sinful. That is why the singer says it as hell is coming.
kiss my mouth hell is here
he says help me out hell is coming
This line still has the same story with the previous; which is depicting the soldier who needs love and affection before he meets death. It is something fearful
to lose life because of death. Thus they need much more love and affection to save them or at least to release their pain and fear before they leave their life forever.
Kiss is the symbol of affection and love. It is the way how lover expresses their feeling of love. Kiss in this lyric does not only mean literally kissing from
someone, but kiss also refers to love and warm affection. Kiss my mouth in this line shows that the soldier who fight on the war needs affection and love by their
lover because hell is coming to them. He feels afraid of what they face on the war zone, thus they need affection and love to encourage him.
The fourth stanza has the same melody with the second stanza. But on the fourth stanza, there is a sound of a man laughing at the back when the singer sings
hell is coming. The man laughs devilishly and obscurely. This laughing man voice emphasizes the word hell and gives an illustration of hell which is eerie and full of
tormented. It also gives an eerie feeling toward the song as well.
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There is an angelic background choir when the singer sings on both two stanzas. The angelic background choir depicts the soothing angel voice. Angel is
believed as a compassionate figure bringing joy, peace, and serenity to cure and ease miseries. This angelic voice brings the sense of joy toward the song. This
choir also justifies the word ‘love’ on the lyric which is correlated to joy. Love is a feeling full of joy and caress and this kind of feeling cannot found in ‘hell’ which
is related to miseries and torture. When the singer sings hell is coming, there is female voice as a backing
vocal. Female is related to tenderness and affection, thus the female backing vocal gives a sense of tenderness and affection of the song. This sense of tenderness and
affection is paradoxical with the word ‘hell’ itself which is related to sorrow and miseries. But this is the way how the singer makes this part more meaningful.
Because ‘hell’ is miserable, thus the female vocal on the background is trying to give tenderness feeling and especially to ease the sorrow and miserable feeling.
This is to emphasize how suffering and sinful the soldier on the war zone. They fight a war in horrible situation with a big chance of death anytime.
This line illustrates how fearful the war zone is. The war brings no victory but only brings miseries, sadness, and sin. The soldier feels afraid to face the
catastrophic and horrible situation on the war zone, and he feels afraid also of the death for his sins. This is the way how the singer evokes the listener to feel what
the soldier feel on the war zone. This second and the fourth verses are trying to evoke the listener to feel pity for the soldier who fought on the battle line. They
fought for the order of the government without any certainty to stay alive or not.
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There is a shift on point of view from the second to the third stanza. Here, the point of view shifts to the singer’s. In this part, the synthesizer-string musical
instrument enters to emphasize the grievance and sorrowful feeling of the song. This stanza illustrates another dreadful and horrible situation on the war zone.
There are brutalities and casualties on the war. The singer says that war is something that has no heart. Heart is always associated with kindness and love. So
this phrase means that war has no kindness and love. Little soldier, little insect, you know war it has no heart
It will kill you in the sunshine or happily in the dark Where kindness is a card game or a bent up cigarette
In the trenches, in the hard rain, with a bullet and a bet War is not living being, it surely has no heart. But the singer puts the word
‘heart’ to justify that war has no kindness. It is cruel and only brings evil toward humanity. War kills and destroys everything in brutalities and casualties.
“a seven-year-old Iraqi boy caught in a gunfight and hit in the abdomen. A two-year-old girl from Kalsu, south of Baghdad, with a
bullet in her brain who survived, a 62-year-old Sunni elder from Doura, south Baghdad, with at least five bullet holes in his back. An
Iraqi gunner whose Humvee had hit an improvised explosive edvice IED was admitted with shrapnel wounds to his head and a
fractured skull. Another young Iraqi boy named Mustafa, 8, had been shot In the head when his family’s car was waved through one
end of a check-point just as a US convoy was entering the other. One of the convoy’s gunners opened fire. Mustafa will be brain-
damaged for life” http:www.timesonline.co.uk
This exposure indicates that war surely has no heart. The Iraqi civilians are the one who suffered most because of the war.
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The second line of the stanza, It will kill you in the sunshine or happily in the dark, illustrates that whatever may happen because of war, it brings nothing
except misery. In this line, there are two paradoxical words “sunshine” and “dark”. Sunshine relates to happiness, while dark relates to sadness. War will kill you in
sunshine means that war still kills someone even when they are in a good condition. While happily in the dark means that although war does not kill them,
but war will leave them in a lonsome condition. All this words suggest that the result of war is always worst. War does not give something beneficial to anyone,
but it only brings sadness and sorrow. Killing hundred people does not mean a victory, but it just only another tragedy. That is why war has no heart and it is
cruel. On the third line, the singer writes where kindness is a card game or a bent
up cigarette to emphasize that it is difficult to find kindness in a war. Kindness can be found on the things which are not related to war, sometimes on small things like
playing card and smoking cigarette. Card game in this line also symbolizes that the war is a game. There is no oil crisis. There were no terrorist attacks. There is no
war on terrorism. We America are chasing a ghost. It is all a game. http:askville.amazon.com cigarette also symbolizes the difficult time and
stressful condition on the war zone. It is because smoking helps relieving boredom, relaxing or staying awake for long nights for the soldiers. It keeps their
sanity on the stressful war zone. Jura, n.d. The next line illustrates the worse condition on the war zone: ‘in the
trenches, in the hard rain with a bullet and a bet’. Trenches is a long cut in the
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ground ditch, especially used for military defense. Merriam, 1990, p. 1258 It is a place for soldiers to hide themselves from the attacks on the war zone. This line
actually gives an illustration of the worst condition of the soldiers. Trenches is an uncomfortable place to stay in, besides hard rain pours down on them. It makes the
condition and situation on the trenches worse than ever. The different musical instruments enter on the fifth verse. The sound of
timpani drum produces a steadily and jungle drum sound like to rise up the emotion and the feeling of the song itself. In this part, the singer points out clearly
the consequences of war to the listeners: sterile soil, poisoned sky, yellowed water, and then the death itself. The singer asks the listener to be aware of the war
consequences. This can be known from the word ‘see’ which indicates an imperative word. Thus the word ‘see’ ask the listener to see or to be aware of the
consequences of war. The music on the background works well with the lyric by changing the
musical elements. It changes from serene acoustic guitar to intense and steady beat drum. The way the singer sings the song changes as well; from monotonous
melody into raising melody to attract the attention of the listeners. The music elements play an important role to tell the listeners that the mood or feeling of the
song is shifting from the gloomy feeling to the attentive feeling. See the sterile soil
Poisoned sky Yellowed water
Final scraps of life
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Bringing new tears The lyric of the fifth verse is trying to show the condition because of war.
This situation can be found also on Iraq war. The environment of Iraq became degraded because of military attack. The first line shows the impact of war toward
the soil. He states the sterile soil, which means that the soil become sterile. The soil is no longer fertile because of war, and no living things can survive because of
war. Military movements and weapon application result in land degradation. The destruction of military and industrial machinery releases heavy metals and other
harmful substances. The inorganic substances caused by heavy machines, bombs, and artilleries pollute the soil. This pollution makes the organic substance on the
soil die, so then when the organic substance of the soil dies, the soil becomes sterile. The sterile soil also means that no one, especially civilians, survive and
stay alive on their town or city. The houses burn down, people move away from the city, and if they are not move away then they will stay on the city as death
bodies. The other effect of war for the environment is poisoned sky. The line gives
depictions that war also cause the air pollution. The cause of air pollution can be happened in any form. Oil trenches are burning, resulting in air pollution. In
Northern Iraq, a sulphur plant burned for one month, contributing to air pollution. Besides, war also causes pollution toward the water. It is depicted on the third line
of the stanza: yellowed water. Damage to sanitation structures by frequent bombing, and damage to sewage treatment systems by power blackouts cause
pollutions of the River Tigris. Ezler, 2006, p. 7
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All of these three conditions illustrate the worst condition because of war in Iraq. It does not only kill people, but it surely brings pollution to the soil, to the
air, and to the water. The environment were toxicated and destroyed, thus it is no longer safe as before. Soil, sky, and water are the important elements of the world.
These are the elements that preserve the life of human being on earth. When these three elements are destroyed, so then the life of human being is threatened as well.
This is what the singer wants to tell the listener. The singer emphasizes death once again on the last line of the fifth verse;
final scraps of life bringing new tears. These illustrate that final scraps of life will bring new tears. There are two paradoxical words here, which are ‘final’ and
‘new’. Final means the end, while new is the beginning. This line suggests that the end of the life is the new beginning of tears. The death of civilians, families, and
the soldiers brings the new tears cries to the family who lose them. This is what happened in Iraq war. Hundred people died as the consequence of the war. This
tragic war brings the tears for those who lose their family. Before entering the sixth stanza, the musical instruments emerge and
become more varied. The various musical instruments enrich the musical color which is previously dominated by calm plucked acoustic guitar. This instruments
boost up the feeling of this song which is sad, sorrow, and grieving into more heroic and attentive.
On the next stanza, the singer ends the song with dramatic lyric about the story of civilian on the war zone. The last stanza of the song illustrates the
innocent people who have to leave his house before he gets killed. This situation is
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the portrait of the condition on the war zone which can be found also on the Iraq war.
Wake, baby, wake leave that blanket cos nowhere else as safe I’m leaving this place but there is nothing I’m planning to take
The word baby on the first line is the metaphor for the innocent people. Blanket can mean literally blanket or the protection. This latest part provides the story of
someone who asks his lover to leave from the place where they stay in while they are still sleeping. They have to leave as soon as possible to find another safer place
to save themselves from catastrophic situation on a war zone. The line I’m leaving this place but there is nothing I’m planning to take
illustrates that someone wants to leave the place and find the safer place without bringing belonging unless his love. This line gives dramatic effect toward the
song. It evokes the listener to sympathize the life of the innocents on the war zone. At the ending of the song, the singer says just you three times and
whisperingly. Just You
Just You Just You
The word you in this line refer to the loved person whom he saves. The voice fades gradually till the third line to illustrate that the man of the story has run
and move away from that catastrophic place. The smoothly fading singing part
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also makes such a resolution effect. The background music fades slowly along with the voices as well. This background music emphasizes the resolution on the
lyric. The resolution tries to give by the singer is, though the houses and all belongings are burn down because of war, but still the family, lover, or children is
the precious one to save. In catastrophic condition like the war, everyone can be the victim; not only
the soldiers but also the innocent people also. If they are lucky, they can escape and find a safer place, but if they are not then they will lose their life and family.
Through this song, the singer reinforces his moral value concerning Middle East War. The singer feels that the war is immoral, unnecessary, and bring nothing
except death. The singer feels that the war is immoral, unnecessary; and bring nothing except death.
Through this song, the singer protests the government by depicting the war and its consequences. His song becomes the medium to grieve unnecessary war
declared by the President. It tries to arouse sympathy and support from the listener. The song written by Conor Oberst suits well with the statement of Marcus Brooks
that states folk music embodied human emotion, nature, and spirit Folk music made people cry. Folk music mourned when someone had died. Brooke, 2007,
para. 6 Conor can implement the function of folk music through this song. This song No One Would Riot for Less reflects the saddest part of human life. It is used
to mourn the victim of war and tell about the physical and emotional pain because of war. The singer can mix really well the lyric and the music into sad song that
can provoke the listener.
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C. When The President Talks to God: Protest toward George W. Bush Policies
