Song Analysis 1

Panos Nikolos

3/7/11

Poetry of Song D

Song Analysis 1

               The world of music has always been known as a place where artists openly express their opinions. Whether these opinions relate to politics, world problems, or life in general, they frequently contain an important message. Zach de la Rocha, the vocalist of Rage Against the Machine and One Day as a Lion, frequently uses music has a way to express his opinion towards war, politics, racism, etc.  "Wild International is a song" where de la Rocha expresses his opinion towards the war in Iraq and world problems. In the song, “Wild International”, by One Day as a Lion, Zach de la Rocha expresses his disgust with America’s intervention in the Middle East through the use of allusions and vivid imagery.
               Zach de la Rocha is notoriously known for his views on world problems. Whether it is racism or a war, de la Rocha has fearlessly voiced his opinions on a consistent basis throughout his career. Using allusions in “Wild International”, de la Rocha is not only able to defend his argument, but he is also able to set up an image of what the scene at Afghanistan and Iraq look like. In the climax of the song, de la Rocha compares the air space to the ninth ward of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina: “Air war was flooded like the 9^th ward/ On the AM, on the AM” (Lines 43-44, verse 3). Zach de la Rocha’s refers to the flooding of the 9^th ward in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina to compare how the air space in the Middle East is like. The flooding of air space refers to the planes, jets, and helicopters of the United States military that preoccupy the air space in the Middle East. De la Rocha could not have made the use of the simile to compare these two occurrences any clearer. De la Rocha also uses allusion in the very beginning of the song: “They say that in war that truth/Be the first casualty.” (Lines 1-3, verse 1). Aeschylus, a Greek tragic dramatist, first said the first two lines said by and alluded to by de la Rocha: “In war, truth is the first casualty.” In terms of what how the phrase relates to today, de la Rocha explains how the government does not inform the people of America of what is happening in the Middle East and the reasons behind why America is actually in the war. Although the U.S. is in war due to what Americans seem as the reason (9/11 attacks, terrorism), de la Rocha believes that there are unspecific reasons as to why America actually went to war. Therefore, truth is the first “casualty” of war because the government will lie about war details. Not only is the phrase a cliché, but it is also an example of personification, as truth is a non-human object. However, the song “Wild International” is also filled with several examples of flamboyant imagery.

            Despite using allusions, de la Rocha also uses vivid imagery in the song “Wild International”. In the first verse, de la Rocha creates an image of a tongue dipped in arsenic (a poison): “Fly my s**t sever your neck/Wider than ever/With my tongue dipped in funk arsenic/Burn this illusion, this lie.” (Lines 5-8, verse 1).  The image of a tongue dipped in arsenic is very clear, and it is also expressed by to de la Rocha to explain that the arsenic will kill the lies that the government says. De la Rocha views himself as the person who exposes the false information spread by the government, using the arsenic, or the microphone in de la Rocha’s case, to expose these lies.  De la Rocha also uses imagery in the chorus: “Muhammad and Christ would life/Your body down/To a tune so wild international/In the desert full of bullets/Let your body rot.” (Lines 28-34, verse 2). In the chorus, de la Rocha describes an image depicting a battle, with bullets flying everywhere and dead bodies on the ground, rotting. This is a very intense picture due to depth in content and description.  As previously stated, de la Rocha’s comparison of air war and the flooding of the 9^th ward is also an example of imagery: “Air war was flooded like the 9^th ward/ On the AM, on the AM” (Lines 43-44, verse 3). Instantly, one can imagine a picture of airplanes and jets and helicopters in the air that are grouped together in large masses. De la Rocha uses imagery to his advantage to send out an image of not only the gruesome consequences of war, but also what is occurring in the Middle East as well.

            In the song “Wild International”, Zach de la Rocha of One Day as a Lion expresses his disgust with the American government and their actions in the Middle East mainly with the use of allusions and imagery. De la Rocha is an artist known for fearlessly expressing his opinion on world problems. In “Wild International”, de la Rocha does not miss a beat when it comes to exposing the government and expressing his opinion on the wars in the Middle East.