Music Videos – Ghost Town and Letter to the Free

ghost town	LttF
– low angle – disruption – cultural codes – binary oppositions – cultural imperialism – marginalisation – diaspora -otherness	– disruption – cultural codes – binary oppositions – myth – cultural imperialism – marginalisation – diaspora -otherness
– non-verbal code of sirens at beginning – reference to social unrest and police brutality of 1980s – Low-key lighting, low angles: conventions of expressionist horror – creating a ‘ghost town’ – ‘cant go on no more’, ‘This town is coming like a ghost town’: conveys desperation of youth  – ‘Government leaving the youth on the shelf’, ‘No job to be found in this country’: places blame on government   – Horace Panter, bass player, claim the song captured ‘the zeitgeist’  – hybrid genre – British punk and jamacian ska	– released against a background of criminalisation of african americans – the song is his rally call against racism and the different forms of slavery still being used in America – ‘slavery’s still alive check ammendment 13’, ‘for america to rise it’s a matter of black lives’ – uses music as political protest  – hybrid genre – rap with african drums, jazz and piano – to embrace black culture  – Symbolic sign/ binary oppositions: black and white colour tones – reflects segregation between black people and white people  – ‘We ain’t seen as human beings with feelings’  – ‘prison is a business, america’s the company’
‘this town is coming like a ghost town’ ‘cant go on no more’ ‘government leaving the youth on the shelf’ ‘no job to be had in this country’	‘slavery’s still alive check amendment 13’ ‘we ain’t seen as human beings with feelings’ ‘prison is the business, america is the company’
Bathes: band driving through London (proairetic) – makes audience question where they are going (enigma) – yet when they arrive at River Thames and aimlessly throw rocks into it makes reader question the purpose of their journey. their action suggests they have no purpose, and therefore references the social and political unrest of 1980s (semantic, cultural) Todorov: does not fulfil three part structure due to depiction of social unrest of 1980s – constant disruption suggests reflect the depressing economic turmoil of 80s and the way in which there seems to be no hope Levi-Strauss: binary opposition between the government and the working class – ‘government leaving the youth on the shelf’ Neale: over time genres change and mix with other genres to form hydrid genres – british punk and Jamaican ska Hall:  Inclusion of lower class ideals, band members from Jamacia shows aims to disregard harmful stereotypes and prevent mis-representation – bring justice to those affected by ‘government’ by advocating their struggle ‘cant go on no more’ Gilroy:  aim to dispel racial hierarchy’s – multicultural background of the musicians leads to a new genre, 2Tone records, Rock against racism	Bathes: cultural code of ‘slavery’s still alive check ammendment 13’ challenges people’s perception of the authorities semantic code of monolith – common claims it represents the ‘infinite thing about blackness’ and how ‘blackness does not exist in time or space’ Todorov: Constant disruption – black struggle has not yet been resolved – ‘slavery’s still alive check ammendment 13’,    Levi-strauss – binary oppositions between black people and authorities – ‘prison is a business, america’s the company’ Neale: over time genres change and mix with other genres to form hydrid genres – rap with african drums, jazz piano Hall: Common uses song to challenge negative racial stereotypes and the positioning of black people as the ‘other’ – through lyrics ‘We ain’t seen as human beings with feelings’ Gilroy: Common attempts to disband notions of otherness directed at black people by exposing the perpetrators – ‘prison is a business, america’s the company’ – criticises institutions for imposing segregation

Stuart Hall claims that stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities of power and often results in the subordinate group being reduced to few simple characteristics and constructed as the ‘other’. This notion of ‘otherness’ is evident in Ghost Town and Letter to the Free in the sense they have been written to suppress notions of marginalisation and what Bathes would consider the myth regarding the criminalisation of the black community.

Written against a background of social unrest and political turmoil, Horace Panter, bass player for The Specials, claims the song captured ‘the zeitgeist’ – evident through the fast pace and chaotic camera movement. The song explores the the criminalisation of black youths as a result of Thatcher’s ‘Government leaving the youth on the shelf’, and is evident through the non-verbal codes of the sirens at the beginning of the music video, which references the Brixton Riots and the stop-and-search laws which encouraged the