"Crying Shame"

RA: Song Lyrics, Word Count: 426

Emily Krebs

September 24, 2010

1.     Argument: The government is out of control because the war in Iraq is built out of fear and isn’t accomplishing anything.

2.     Audience: Anyone who will listen to Jack Johnson.  His audience is probably more earth-loving, government-hating Americans.

3.     Goal: To convince the American people that war is ineffective and that the American people should stand up for what they believe in. His goal could also just be to express his frustrations about the American government.

4.     How:

a.     Pathos: Jack uses mostly emotion in his song to trigger the American people to see the fallacies of war.  The emotions that he targets are: shame/guilt (i.e. “By now we should know how to communicate instead of coming to blows”) for supporting war, shame/guilt (“We could close our eyes its still there”) for being neutral, and empathy (“A number of people are numbers who ain’t coming home”) for lost soldiers.  He tries to draw attention to the idea of shame and guilt, even in the title.  In this way, he calls his fellow Americans to action, since he makes them feel guilty for either supporting or not caring about what is going on.

b.     Logos: Jack also uses logic to convince his audience that we should care more about what is going on in the world today.  He calls our government “a tired game” and that even though we call it “a war for peace, it’s the same old game.”  He asks a question near the end, “Who we gonna blame now?” which is poignant and logical.  He argues that war is an ineffective way to communicate or to improve our own situation. He calls attention to the number of people lost in the war and calls it “a terrific price to pay” for essentially nothing.

c.     Sufficient: Jack doesn’t provide any real evidence, while he alludes to real situations.  Almost no song quotes statistics or sources, which weakens their argument to a personal opinion. 

d.     Relevant: Jack’s argument and evidence is clearly relevant to his audience considering when this song was written (2005).  He focuses on war in general and the situation that America is currently in.

5.     Effectiveness: I think his argument is effective in it’s own way.  While he doesn’t use any real sources, it is heavily weighted in pathos, which works very well as a song.  He asks us to look at our own opinions and see what we can be doing better.  I think that as a rather lukewarm citizen, it could sway personal opinions and could call someone to action. 

 Crying Shame, by Jack Johnson

Its such a tired game
Will it ever stop
How will this all play out
Upside out of my mouth

By now we should know
How to communicate instead of coming to blows
We're on a roll
And there ain't no stopping us now
We're burning under control
Isn't it strange how
We're all burning under the same sun
By now we say its a war for peace
Its the same old game
But do we really want to play?
We could close our eyes its still there
We could say its us against them
We can try but nobody wins
Gravity has got a hold on us all
We try to put it out
But its a growing flame
Using fear as fuel
Burning down our name
And it wont take too long
Cause words are burning same
And who we gunna blame now?

And oh, Its such a crying crying crying shame
Its such a crying crying crying shame
Its such a crying crying crying shame, shame, shame

By now
Its starting to show
A number of people are numbers who aint coming home
I can close my eyes its still there
Close my mind be alone
Close my heart and not care
But gravity has got a hold on us all
Its a terrific price to pay
But in the true sense of the word
Are we using what we've learned?
In the true sense of the word
Are we losing what we were?
Its such a tired game
Will it ever stop?
Is not for me to say
And is it in our blood?
Or is it just our fate?
And how will this all play out
Upside out of my mouth
And who we gunna blame?
On and on
Its such a crying crying crying shame
Its such a crying crying crying shame