When
I first found out we were singing 'Man in the Mirror' for our classic rock
concert I was not very excited. It's not that I didn't think it was a good
song, I just thought it was not very interesting because the only lines I knew
were "I'm starting with the man in the mirror." However, as we have
learned it I started to pay more attention to the lyrics and became intrigued.
When I found the music video for the song a was really amazing. I think the
most intriguing part of the music video is that the artist, Michael Jackson
himself, is not in it! What the video does focus on is social problems from all
around the world, including malnourished children in small villages, homeless families
in the urban landscape, and black youth protesting racial discrimination. What I
think is really revolutionary about Michael Jackson’s video is that is includes
a lot of scenes from civil rights protests. Thanks to APUSH I know that the
majority of black civil rights movements took place in the 60s. The Man in the
Mirror music video came out in the late 80s. It is shocking to realize that the
music video came out only a little over twenty years later! Some of the civil
rights protest the music video captures are the march on Selma and police
brutality against African American protesters. I think the video does a great
job of noting how far society has come, but how it still has a much farther way
to go. Fair warning, the video is a little sad to watch, but presents a really
important message that there are problems in this world that are not going to
go away unless we all help.
I think it's important to realize that music and other forms of art are ever present in events such as this. During, and after, the events of the civil rights movement, music has become a way to cope and to remember, and even to unite. This was obviously a violent and tension filled period in american history, and it's amazing to see the music that was inspired by the struggle for basic human rights that a lot of our population didn't have. Try listening to Pete Seeger's "We Shall Overcome" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJUkOLGLgwg) and compare the tone to that of "man in the Mirror". Both songs have great and hopeful lyrics about positive change and making the world a better place for EVERYONE, which I personally think is especially important to us with the coming presidential elections.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Phillip because music is not just something to past the time, it speaks history to us. Music was always something that was mean tot be heard but at times it was supposes to be heard by people who never cared for others. In the civil rights movement, music was another way of peaceful protest and way fro people to be heard. I love music from the past. It speaks to me and it tells me stories about people who have lived before me and who have seen things we may never see again. History is important and so is music and you can learn both.
ReplyDelete