“This is America” by Childish Gambino is a great example of satire in music. He displays many messages through both the music video, and the song itself. The entire work is filled with critiques about race and gun violence.
“We just wanna party
Party just for you
We just want the money
Money just for you
I know you wanna party (yeah)
Party just for free
Girl, you got me dancin’ (girl, you got me dancin’)
Dance and shake the frame”
In the beginning of the song, he uses sarcasm to emphasize how people in the US with wealth follow a culture of partying, shifting their priorities. These lines represent parties with no consequences.
“Look at how I’m livin’ now
The image depicts a black man dressed in all white who was previously strumming a guitar, but is now tied and being executed from his back. This represents the amount of gun-violence, and how gun use is normalized. People feel like it’s necessary, and therefore use it to feel safe. In return, nobody feels safe bc everyone is carrying. He makes it sound cheery while critiquing the acceptance of weapons.
Police be trippin’ now (woo)
Yeah, this is America (woo, ayy)
Guns in my area (word, my area)
I got the strap (ayy, ayy)
I gotta carry ’em”
“I’m so dope like yeah (woo)
These lines represent how accepted and normalized gun use is in the US. He emphasizes the thought that people feel good about weapon use and often utilizing them.
We gon’ blow like yeah (straight up, uh)”
He is dancing with a bunch of kids in the midst of chaos and violence. They are all still smiling despite the dangerous situations surrounding them. This is a representation of how gun violence surrounds schools, and impacts youths.
Him shooting a church choir displays they way death and violence can impact the most innocent and unassuming groups. One man ended an entire group of people.
In this frame, he is being chased by police officers, replicating the fear between cops and Black men specifically.
“You just a black man in this world
Example of a black man being compared to animals in modern society. Being referenced as a barcode objectifies and dehumanizes him.
You just a barcode, ayy
You just a black man in this world
Drivin’ expensive foreigns, ayy
You just a big dawg, yeah
I kenneled him in the backyard
No, probably ain’t life to a dog
For a big dog”
Ben S
I never realized that this was an example of satire, and such a good one at that. You make a lot of great points and I never realized how his dancing despite the danger all around him was ironic until you pointed it out.