Chris Keller
English 102
February 8, 2009
Welcome to Jamrock
For my rhetorical analysis of a song, I chose to do Damian Marley’s “Welcome to Jamrock.” In this song there are many examples of rhetoric, even though it is written in Rastafarian-Jamaican English. The whole song is written with a Pathos view and is very emotional. Damian is trying to show people that the Jamaica they see on the beach resort commercials is not the real Jamaica. As soon as you get into a city, the only things around you are thugs, guns, and drugs. He wants people to change for the better and live much more peacefully like his father, Bob Marley did.
In the first verse he introduces you to his Jamaica with lines like “Two pounds of weed inna van back”, and “The smell a give yah girlfriend contacts.” The meaning of the first line is obvious. The meaning of the second line is that either the smell of the weed itself is very strong, or all the drugs manufactured in the ghettos have a strong smell. He then goes on to explain how tourists only see the nice beaches and don’t notice the people suffering in the ghettos. In the second part of the first verse, Damian explains how the police can’t do anything about the people getting killed.
According to him people aren’t safe in Jamaica at all, because the police have no real power. Nobody will listen to them, they all have guns of their own. The line “Funnyman get dropped like a bad habit” means that people commit violence against gays just because their gay. In Jamaica funnyman is a very rude term for a gay person. The whole verse has Pathos and Ethos views. It is Pathos because it makes you start to think how bad Jamaica might actually be. It is Ethos because he has his credibility because he grew up in Trenchtown, a neighborhood in Kingston where a lot of violence takes place.
In verse two Damian explains how some of the violence is over political matters. He explains how the politicians know that there are people suffering in the cities but they don’t do anything about it. The line “Them suit no fit me, to win election them trick me, Den them don’t do nuttin at all” explains this. The people involved in politics lie to the population to get into office for the money, and then when it comes time to fix the problems of the inner cities they act like there is no problem to be solved.
Most of the second part of the second verse sticks out to me more than anything in the entire song. It has more emotion than any other part in the song. I wasn’t convinced that this song had any Pathos views in it. Before reading the second verse, I thought that he is one of these gangsters who only want to hurt people and sell drugs. After reading the second verse I realized that he is trying to stop the gang wars, and stop kids from getting involved in them.
Come on let’s face it, a ghetto education’s basic
A most a the youths them waste it
And when them waste it, that’s when them take da guns and replace it
Then them don’t stand a chance at all
And that’s why a nuff little youth have up some fat matic
With the extra magazine inna them back pocket
And a bleach a night time inna some black jacket
All who not lock glocks, them a lock rocket
“Welcome to Jamrock” has many point of Pathos, Ethos, and rhetoric in it. The strongest one of these is Pathos because he is very emotional about it, and is trying to show the people outside of the ghettos of Jamaica how bad it really is. He has the credibility of Ethos because he grew up in the middle of all this, and knows firsthand, the dangers of drug and gang wars. The whole song is written with effective rhetoric because he is trying to convince people that the Jamaica they see on T.V. is only one very small part of the real thing.
Song Lyrics:
Welcome to Jamrock, camp whe' da' thugs them camp at
Two pounds a weed inna van back
It inna your hand bag, your knapsack, it inna your back pack
The smell a give yah girlfriend contact
Some boy noy notice, them only come around like tourist
On the beach with a few club sodas
Bedtime stories, and pose like them name Chuck Norris
And don't know the real hardcore
Cause Sandals a no 'back-to', da thugs Dem wi do whe' them got to
And won't think twice to shot you
Don't make them spot you, unless you carry guns a lot too
A bare tough thing come at you
When Trenchtown man stop laugh and block-off traffic
Then them wheel and pop off and them start clap it
With the pin file dung and it a beat rapid
Police come inna jeep and them cant stop it
Some say them a playboy, a playboy rabbit
Funnyman a get dropped like a bad habit
So nobody pose tough if you don't have it
Rastafari stands alone!
[Chorus]
Welcome to Jamrock, Welcome to Jamrock
Out in the streets, they call it murder!
[Verse 2]
Welcome to Jamdown, poor people a dead at random
Political violence, can't done! Pure ghost and phantom, the youth
Dem get blind by stardom
Now the Kings Of Kings a call
Old man to Pickney, so wave unno hand if you with me
To see the sufferation sicken me
Them suit no fit me, to win election them trick we
Den them don't do nuttin at all
Come on let's face it, a ghetto education's basic
A most a the youths them waste it
And when them waste it, that's when them take da guns and replace it
Then them don't stand a chance at all
And that's why a nuff little youth have up some fat matic
With the extra magazine inna them back pocket
And a bleach a night time inna some black jacket
All who not lock glocks, them a lock rocket
Then will full you up a current like a short circuit
Dem a run a roadblock which part the cops block it
And from now till a morning not stop clock it
If them run outta rounds a bruck back ratchet
[Chorus]
Welcome to Jamrock (Southside, Northside)
Welcome to Jamrock (East Coast, West Coast, huh, yo)
Welcome to Jamrock (Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey) Hey!
Welcome to Jamrock
Out in the streets, they call it murder!!!
[Outro]
Jamaica Jamaica! Jamaica Jamaica! Now!
Jamaica Jamaica! Yo! Jamaica Jamaica!
Welcome to Jamrock, Welcome to Jamrock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNnEuZglKrU
The thesis is fairly clear in this draft. "The whole song is written with a Pathos view and is very emotional" seems to be the thesis statement that surrounds the entire song. The theme of the song is emotion of the listener. The writer does not identify the argument used in the video, so that is something that he needs to go back and do. The draft does deal with rhetoric and subject matter. He uses direct examples of from the song to identify his argument. His argument is Jamaica is a tough place to live. He makes this very clear throughout his draft.
ReplyDeleteThe writer does provide many quotes from the song to support his argument on the issue. He does not provide many examples from the video though. The main theme that the draft revolves around is: the Jamaica that most people think of is not the Jamaica that the natives think of. The native people identify a much more violent and poor country. He states that "tourists only see the nice beaches and don’t notice the people suffering in the ghettos." The writer could add examples of what types of crime take place in Jamaica and things of that nature.
The writer uses good examples to support his argument in his writing. His examples support his thesis. He needs to provide more examples from the music video for more support. He talks about political issues, he could give more specific examples of political leaders. The writer overall has a good first draft.
The one thing that sticks with me from this essay is the way the artist speaks. He uses a very informal way to get his point across. The way he tells of the violent and struggling country stands out to me. The language transition is what makes this song unique to me.