Black Eyed Peas' "Where is the Love" depicts the sociological ideal in its words. Will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, and Fergie's group expresses concern about the deterioration of human character in modern society. (Black Eyed peas). The song is inspired by the social reality shifts that have altered both the globe and its inhabitants. It also conveys how society's values and norms are being violated by individuals through acts of terrorism, conflict, and self-centeredness. The central focus is the America’s participation in the Iraq war when its own country was battling the 9/11 ordeal (Goza & Maria 14). The Black Eyed Peas is a modern hip-hop group in the U.S. which featured Justin Timberlake in the song “Where is the Love.” The song pleads with the U.S government to focus on solving the terrorism menace in its soil by withdrawing its troops from Iraq. Consequently, the war in the world and rivalry between people inspired the song. The inadequacies of the United States government in response to the 9/11 terrorism, racism, discrimination and hate have distorted human sanity and the love among its citizens.
The world as a whole and the society in particular is slowly losing its values. As will.i.am notes in the song’s first verse, leaders focus on improving the welfare of other countries or people when their own is at stake. He points out that while the United States was under attack from terrorists who are American citizens, the government failed to look into the issue as expected (Black Eyed peas). Instead, it deployed the military to combat terrorists in Iraq, an aspect that questions the eligibility of ensuring charity begins at home. In order to change the world, it is important to first solve issues that surround you as they impact how others see you. The singer emphasizes self-evaluation in the U.S. over its priorities as a government in order to safeguard everyone’s interests. Although will.i.am appears to criticize the U.S. government, he is simply elaborating the basis for Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which looks into the interests of the Americans by combating terror.
Will.i.am also points out the issue of racism in the U.S. that has since history been considered the face of America. Despite abolishing slavery, racism began because issues of equality emerged. In order to have a country and society that is devoid of racism, it is necessary to make everyone focus on issues that matter. In so doing, the media that commands the world’s attention should be used to end racism rather than perpetrate it. People no longer have love for each other because they focus on issues that separate them rather than those that unite them. Discrimination is a hindrance to the success of a country whether developed or developing. Moreover, it motivates conflict among the inhabitants. The song highlights the factors that foster discrimination among people and the song emphasizes on soberness so as to achieve a common perspective towards eradicating discrimination (Black Eyed peas). The second stanza in the song raises the issue about war bearing in mind that the 9/11 war triggered the production of the song “Where is the Love.” It is rational that the song captured the Iraq war as a crucial issue in putting an end to seclusion and self-centeredness. However, the war in Iraq proceeded even when the actual reasons remained a secret. The lyrics indicate that leaders or ordinary people who wish to accumulate wealth tend to contribute to the war. Succinctly, individuals or groups could intentionally instigate war for their own gain without bothering about those who suffer in the process. The authorities may also be aware of the situation but choose to cover up the truth from the citizens who are subjected to the suffering. Government hypocrisy should change as its persistence gives meaningful gains to a few while a majority suffer.
The media plays an integral role in disseminating crucial information to the public. However, the influence that is bestowed on it renders the society powerless and susceptible to sabotage. The song brings into context the agenda-setting concept of the media. However, the media has become selective as it only projects information that affects the society while reporting subjectively to achieve certain outcomes. Based on the song, children suffer the most owing to the content that is aired by the media that has failed in its role to unite people and instead spread animosity. The song’s last verse elucidates the unbalanced or biased information by the media (Black Eyed peas). The singers insist that the media only focuses on relaying destructive information that destroys community values as it adds no value. Notably, the media greatly influences the youth who are quick to act yet the city is not hasty enough to contain the resulting undesirable outcomes. The song notes that societal values have been eroded as the spirit of brotherhood is no longer existent. The innocent rarely if not, have an encounter with justice since the systems that should enforce the law have been compromised.
The song “Where is the Love” uses literary devices such as repetition and rhyme to emphasize why change is necessary to restore human sanity and foster love. The repetition of the letter ‘ma’ creates a rhythm and rhyme scheme in the song. Moreover, repetition is meant to emphasize and point out relevant aspects of the song to capture the attention of the audience (Chiat & Ying 3204). The singers are pursuing divided intervention because the world has become desperate for love. By using allusion, the artists are trying to achieve divine power since the frequency of a word in different stanzas will definitely attract the audience. The singer uses the words discriminate, hate, irate and race in the end of each line in the second stanza to create a rhyme scheme meant to emphasize important concepts.
The song uses poetic devices such as similes, personification, metaphors, repetition and hyperbole to give the audience a thoughtful that reinforces their idea of love. Words such as ‘mama, drama, trauma’ and ‘brother, other, undercover’ are rhyming to enable the singers achieve consistency through rhythm in the song hence a good flow (Chiat et al. 3207). The song uses the simile, “people living like they isn’t got no mama” to imply a life that lacks discipline. ‘Mama,’ which means mothers are moral people in the society and that the world without ‘mama’ lacks moral principles or discipline. The song repeats the question, “where is the love” several times in the poem. The repetition enhances memory while invoking the feelings of people.
The song also uses the hyperbole, “I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder” which means the burden of concern for the widespread animosity among people is too heavy for the musicians to bear (Winton 158). In fact, bearing the entire burden in terms of carrying the world and its issues on the shoulder is an extreme exaggeration as no one has the energy to carry the world. The metaphor, “infecting the young minds faster than bacteria” creates a comparison of the media and its influence on young people with thoughts of radicalization and violence (Black Eyed peas). The song emphasizes that the young people in the society and world today have greatly contributed to the wearing away of human sanity. Regardless of their innocence on issues that the authorities use for individual gains, young people are certainly at the center of any violence that occurs. The personification, “And that exactly how anger work and operates” means that people whose anger emanates from the ongoing conflict with others tend to find an immediate solution by instigating wars. The parallelism, “people killing, people dying” implies that people are killing each other yet they share the same religion, purpose and country because the act is preference to resolving conflicts (Black Eyed peas).
The song employs descriptive language to deliver their message. The part that says, “Nations dropping bombs” describes the night of the first attack that was launched in Iraq after allegations they bombed Baghdad. Similarly, the descriptive words appeal to the listeners by allowing them to build mental images of bombs that are dropped maybe from a rocket to those on the ground (Winton 161). In addition, the military strategy was considered to be the “shock and awe campaign with chemical gasses.” Chemical gasses are meant to describe the disreputable attacks that Saddam Hussein unveiled on Iraqi Kurds. The repetition of the words “where is the love” is intended to ensure the listener thinks deeply about the state of the world in terms of love. Besides the Iraqi bombing, the song applies descriptive language to eradicate racism in the United States. Children and youths are also used in figures of speech to elaborate the extent to which they are misused for individual or group gains. In the long run, they are caught in problems that could have been avoided.
The song is conversational and relaxed to allow the listeners to understand the minor issues in the U.S. that should be addressed rather than giving all attention to the Iraqi war. The singers emphasize that the U.S. people ought to fix the situation rather than safeguarding the interests of other countries when their own is in jeopardy. The line that says, “If you practice what you preach then you turn the other cheek” not only refers to the war but also the minor concerns in the United States such as corruption, racism and violence that need to be addressed (Black Eyed peas). The U.S. authorities must first address these issues before attempting to help in the Iraq war since it is the homeland that matters the most before anything else. The words, “wrong information always shown by the media…” implies that the youths are easily manipulated by the media to instigate juvenile and violent acts (Black Eyed peas). The wrong information is in itself the basis for violence because negative messages are enough to trigger violence especially among the aggrieved. The song wants the listeners to know that racism is exercised by people who do not the interests of others at heart. Moreover, the listeners should also understand that the popularity index of materialism is on the rise as people continually pursue material things instead of life.
The song “Where is the Love” is strong and persuasive hence its ability to influence people’s emotions against war. Moreover, many people are involved in the song in one way or the other. While some tweet and write the song in blogs, others perform it live, form social media group fan base and attend concerts. Clearly, the song addresses the political perspective of the U.S. hence its ability to uplift the participation of people in political activities (Black Eyed peas). Most listeners are inspired by the powerful words that have been used to make them join in the fight against war. Besides recruiting people to promote justice and discontinue the killings, the song is educational as listeners get useful insights about the importance of staying united with love. Listeners can also learn the old facts about America as it links many events and ideologies that the general public may be unable to do.
Conclusion
The song, “Where is the Love” aims at making people abandon self-centeredness and pursue unity and justice for everyone. It ensures people learn what it means to prefer hate to love because the consequences are more pronounced. The song appreciates the problems in the U.S and the world in terms of the social problems such as terrorism, violence and racism. The message in the song is powerful as it emphasizes the world is in a worst place hence the need to pursue optimism and civic engagement to address the ensuing issues.
Summary
The world should be a peaceful place. Furthermore, we all need each other in order to prosper. The song emphasizes on unity and love as concepts that could easily send a country to oblivion is ignored. The authorities should practice what they preach so that the priorities of those they lead come first. The Iraq war was considered important than the terror attack in the homeland U.S. because the authorities were pursuing their own selfish gains at the expense of combating war. Although the terrorists in the 9/11 terror attack were U.S citizens, it was not justifiable for the U.S. to ignore the pain and suffering that befell its citizens.
The U.S as the song notes did not practice what it preaches. The citizens should be a priority all the time and the authorities must ensure that charity begins at home. The singers want people to coexist peacefully regardless of the differences between them. Moreover, they decry the heavy burden of hate, racism, discrimination and biased media that is difficult for them to carry on their shoulders. They want these issues addressed so that the world can be a great place. Every country has development plans but it takes a cohesive and peaceful environment that ensures those plans are successful.
The media also plays an integral role in supporting a country’s progress. However, it has become manipulated to the extreme such that it acts for its own benefits or that of others. In most cases, the youths are susceptible to engaging in violent acts as they are not well informed about the consequences. The media should desist from disbursing the wrong information as it has the power to destroy a country’s heritage.
The song emphasizes on the value of humanity since it is slowly fading away owing to compromise over material possession. In today’s society, people prefer to adore material things rather than life. This explains the widespread hate among people who should stay united and build a great society or country. Love and peace are therefore critical elements that people should maintain regardless of their race, religion, political stand or opinion.
Works Cited
Chiat, Loo Fung, and Loo Fung Ying. "Importance of music learning and musicality in rhythmic gymnastics." Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 46 (2012): 3202-3208.
Golash-Boza, Tanya Maria. Immigration nation: Raids, detentions, and deportations in post-9/11 America. Routledge, 2015.
"The Black Eyed Peas - Where Is The Love?" YouTube, 16 June 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc. Accessed 17 Nov. 2017.
Winton, Sue. "Rhetorical analysis in critical policy research." International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 26.2 (2013): 158-177.
