draft

I chose to do a song by Brooks and Dun. It is one of my favorite songs of all time. To me it represents life in general. The song is about a guy who is born in a rural area on a red dirt road, and explains his story of life that is centered around this one place that he calls home. The song explains that not only people experiences good times in life but also hard or trying times in life.
I believe that the song also in a hinting way tells us as the listeners that as long as we are happy with the life that we are living that is all that matters. We can go out into the world and think that it is such a nice place to be in, but when it comes down to it in the end home is the best place to be. The song Red Dirt Road by Brooks and Dun is a song about life itself. We all grow up in a certain area, and do things that we will never forget. Because those things are so special in our hearts whether good or bad.
In the song Red Dirt Road by Brooks and Dun the singers and song writers use a lot of rhetoric, but the most significant form of rhetoric that I found in the song was pathos. Which is emotional appeals or appeals to the heart. Basically the whole choirs is nothing but pathos. The first part of the choirs says “It’s where I drank my first beer”. This statement to me is very appealing to the heart because most people are going to remember when and where they had their first beer. The second line says “It’s where I found Jesus.” This line is also very appealing to the heart. “Where I wrecked my first car.” is the third line of the choirs. This line is more on the imagery side of things than pathos. Everyone can look back in their lives and say yes, that was defiantly not a good experience that they went through, but it is something that happens in life.
“I learned the path to Heaven is full of sinners and believers.” is the fifth and sixth lines of the choirs which has a lot of logos behind it I believe. Not everyone is going to do the right things in life, but you have to choose whether to live an honest life or not. The seventh and eighth lines of the choirs are “Learned that happiness on earth, Ain’t just for high achievers”. This statement has a logos appeal. It states that yes, some people have to be the very best, and keep raising their bar or status in society. Yet, some people are perfectly content with what they have, and don’t need to keep raising their bar. They are fine with being normal.
In the first verse of the song the singers use a lot of imagery it basically sums up a boys child hood into his teenage years. The second verse of the song describes the boys childish love for the girl in the first verse. It shares what most of us did with our first loves. Once again this verse uses a lot of imagery and pathos. Where it says “I’d sneak out in the middle of the night. Throw rocks at her bedroom window.” I believe is the best example of those two rhetorical strategies in the verse. In the third verse it basically says that the boy left home and then came back eventually. He lost his girl, but got her back in the end. It is a strong example of pathos because it is very touching. Everyone likes to see a happy ending with a couple.
In the music video it shows a guy seeing this girl on the side of the road and they hit it off and start talking while they are walking down the road. This image to the listener/watcher would probably bring back memories about their first love. The music video allows the viewer to make that connection quite well. In the video there are numerous time that religion is brought up whether it be subtle like where someone is picking up the rear view mirror ornament with a cross and a heart, or the more significant point where the kid in the stream is getting baptized. Finding god is a very important part of life in the songwriters perspective, but on the other hand there are always the certain few who are going to be rebellious. Like I said in the introduction people are going to do what makes them happy whether they are with god or not in the writers view.
There is a part in the video where you see a guy and a girl on the hood of a jacked up truck in the middle of the night looking up at the stars and then start to kiss. This is all really emotionally appealing to the heart. Everyone who has really been in love can relate to this incident. It is a part of life and the writer incorporates this very nicely into the video. In the video like religion it shows people having fun such as swinging off of a rope into a stream, swimming, sitting out in the sun with the one you love. It’s saying that live life and have fun. You should be who you are and not let anyone dictate who you should be. You should be whoever you want to be. Like the text says “Learned that happiness on earth, Ain’t just for high achievers.” you don’t have to do much if you don’t want to just as long as you are happy.
So in conclusion this song to me represents life in general. First, people are going to be who they want to be whether good or bad it is up to them to decide. Secondly, love is a major part of life, as shown in the music video, it drives us to do some pretty crazy stuff sometimes like throwing rocks at a bedroom window and sneaking out in the middle of the night even though their parents don’t like you very much.
People do some pretty crazy things in life, whether good or bad. They fall in love, find god and so on, but in the end they live their lives exactly the way they want to. You know what that’s exactly what they wanted. So don’t be afraid to live your life and possibly come back where it all started home.

lyrics
I was raised off of Route Three, Out past where the black top ends.We'd walk to Church on Sunday mornings,Race barefoot back to Johnson's fence.That's where I first saw Mary,On that roadside pickin' blackberries.That summer I turned a corner in my soul,Down that red dirt road.It's where I drank my first beer.It's where I found Jesus.Where I wrecked my first car:I tore it all to pieces.I learned the path to Heaven,Is full of sinners an' believers.Learned that happiness on earth,Ain't just for high achievers.I've learned; I come to know,There's life at both ends,Of that red dirt road.Her Daddy didn't like me much,In my shackled up GTO.Oh, I'd sneak out in the middle of the night,Throw rocks at her bedroom window.We'd turn out the headlights,Drive by the moonlight.Talk about what the future might hold,Down that red dirt road.It's where I drank my first beer.It's where I found Jesus.Where I wrecked my first car:I tore it all to pieces.I learned the path to Heaven,Is full of sinners an' believers.Learned that happiness on earth,Ain't just for high achievers.I've learned; I come to know,There's life at both ends,Of that red dirt road.I went out into the world,An' I came back in.I lost Mary: Oh, I got her back again.An' drivin' home tonight,Feels like I've found a long-lost friend.It's where I drank my first beer.It's where I found Jesus.Where I wrecked my first car:I tore it all to pieces.I learned the path to Heaven,Is full of sinners an' believers.Learned that happiness on earth,Ain't just for high achievers.I've learned; I come to know,There's life at both ends,Of that red dirt road.