'The Nation' reviews Eminem's 'Mosh'

[G_j]

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041108&s=grahamfelsen


review | Posted October 27, 2004

Eminem Aims at Bush
by Sam Graham-Felsen

Has Eminem--the poster child of American disenchantment--become the new face of activism?

Those who are accustomed to Eminem's gay-bashing, gun-toting antics will hardly believe their eyes, as they watch his new video in which the top-selling rapper and his posse file into the voting booths, the words "Vote Tuesday, November 2" fading into the screen.


Mosh could well be one of the most overtly political pop music videos ever produced, and is easily the most direct anti-Bush cultural statement since Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. Although the video debuted just a week before the election, it could have an unprecedented cultural and political impact, coming from the top-grossing rap star in America, and one of the seminal pop icons of the last decade.

The largely animated video begins with a suited Eminem reading "My Pet Goat" upside down to a classroom full of children. Moments later, however, Eminem shifts from his usual mode of sarcastic critique to lyrics reflecting sincere political passion.

We see him shadowboxing in front of a wall plastered with newspaper headlines such as "Bush Knew," "Bush Declares War," "Congress OKs $87 Billion" and "Blechtell" . We see a soldier coming home from the war, only to find his wife holding out a letter stating "Private Kelly, You Have Been Re-Assigned to Iraq." When the soldier reads the notice, his eyes shift from shock, to fear, to outrage, as he emphatically mouths "Fuck Bush." Later, we see a woman opening an eviction notice while her children watch Bush talking about "tax cuts" on television.


..more..

[xultar]

1. Ahhhhhh! This Video will wake the sleeping youth! n/t

[metisnation]

2. go watch the video

http://boss.streamos.com/real/interscope/eminem/encore/video/mosh-rev/000_mosh-rev.ram



march through the mosh vote or die.

[Minstrel Boy]

3. No more blood for oil, we got our own battles to fight on our soil

No more psychological warfare to trick us to think that we ain't loyal
If we don't serve our own country we're patronizing a hero
Look in his eyes, it's all lies, the stars and stripes
They've been swiped, washed out and wiped,
And replaced with his own face - mosh now or die



Now, I can let myself believe Bush cannot steal this one.

[lightbulb]

4. "If I get sniped

you'll know why: because I told you to fight!"

[G_j]

5. pretty heavy stuff

doesn't leave much doubt where he stands with *.

[Nordic]

6. great, but isn't it too late to register?

:shrug:

[fortyfeetunder]

7. History repeating itself

Let me think of the anti-Establishment tunes from the (hee hee) last century, some excerpts:

"Has anyone here seen my old friend Abraham...he freed a lot of people, but it seemed so long...he was gone" (numerous artists)

"War..war isn't beautiful, absolutely not" (Edwin Starr)

"Whoa mercy mercy me, things ain't what they used to be...fish filled with mercury..don't trouble me with brutality, come talk with me so you can see, what's goin' on.."(Marvin Gaye)

"Ball of Confusion, that's what the world is today...and the beat goes on" (Temptations)

Eminem is only the next generation doing what his musical ancestors had done 30-35 years ago.

[oddtext]

8. ok maybe,

but it should be noted that there is A LOT more cynicism and rage in eminiem's piece than in your examples and anything i'm familiar with from mainstream pop culture. for me, this is shocking.

[fortyfeetunder]

9. It was the last century

All the songs posted were popular after the MLK/RFK assassinations. The mood in the country then was after massive riots following the MLK assassinations, and the sudden shock of RFK, not to mention the ongoing conflict in Vietnam, people weren't interested in violence. They wanted to just live in peace then. A more peaceful bunch.

Another distinct difference -- Violence was not glorified in the media either.

[StrongbadTehAwesome]

10. if you watch the video,

watch the tv closely when Bush is talking about tax cuts. It switches to a "terror alert," then shows Bin Laden on the TV. The wall behind bin Laden falls down, and behind it are Cheney and Rumsfeld.

I never thought I'd see the day Eminem accused the government of MIHOP.