They Don't Care About Us
The song and society
Introduction The artist that who composed this song in 1996 is none other than Michael Jackson. The song is called ’’They don’t care about us’’ and it’s one of the most controversial song that Michael has written. I personally was impressed and captivated by the unique content of the song and how the artist creates an agressive hip-hop environment which is directly related to many social ills. That’s why I’ve decided that this song is worthy of its own review.
Analysis An exact location where the song takes place is not mentioned in the lyrics. However the charachters are also not mentioned but it’s being understood that the artist talks about the affected or suffering people in general by creating a clearly ’’us’’ and by blaming ’’them’’ in the refrain ’’They don’t really care about us’’. The narrator of the song is the artist himself since he uses the pronoun ’’I’’ almost in every sentence for example ’’All I wanna say is that they don’t ....’’. However in my oppinion he is just representing the voice of many. The song doesn’t contain any metaphors or similes and I believe that it has to do with Michael’s seriousness and the desire for a straight and simple message to the listener. Nonetheless the artist uses some alliteration in the song for instance ’’Kick me, kike me!’’ or ’’Black male, black mail’’. In my perspective he creates the opportunity for us listeners to personally interpretate who the responsible one is for these social problems. Supposable it could be anyone for instance the gouverment: ’’Your proclamation promised me free liberty’’ or the police whom he mentions in the song ’’I am the victim of police brutality’’ and so on. The responsible one for these social ills is not so important for the artist. What Michael try to convey is the injustices to people and how society can wrongfully blame/acusse them.
That’s why he uses phrases like ’’jew me, sue me, don’t you black or white me’’ or ’’ I'm tired of bein' the
Introduction The artist that who composed this song in 1996 is none other than Michael Jackson. The song is called ’’They don’t care about us’’ and it’s one of the most controversial song that Michael has written. I personally was impressed and captivated by the unique content of the song and how the artist creates an agressive hip-hop environment which is directly related to many social ills. That’s why I’ve decided that this song is worthy of its own review.
Analysis An exact location where the song takes place is not mentioned in the lyrics. However the charachters are also not mentioned but it’s being understood that the artist talks about the affected or suffering people in general by creating a clearly ’’us’’ and by blaming ’’them’’ in the refrain ’’They don’t really care about us’’. The narrator of the song is the artist himself since he uses the pronoun ’’I’’ almost in every sentence for example ’’All I wanna say is that they don’t ....’’. However in my oppinion he is just representing the voice of many. The song doesn’t contain any metaphors or similes and I believe that it has to do with Michael’s seriousness and the desire for a straight and simple message to the listener. Nonetheless the artist uses some alliteration in the song for instance ’’Kick me, kike me!’’ or ’’Black male, black mail’’. In my perspective he creates the opportunity for us listeners to personally interpretate who the responsible one is for these social problems. Supposable it could be anyone for instance the gouverment: ’’Your proclamation promised me free liberty’’ or the police whom he mentions in the song ’’I am the victim of police brutality’’ and so on. The responsible one for these social ills is not so important for the artist. What Michael try to convey is the injustices to people and how society can wrongfully blame/acusse them.
That’s why he uses phrases like ’’jew me, sue me, don’t you black or white me’’ or ’’ I'm tired of bein' the