This song was released on June 3, 2003; however it was first worked on by Ron Fair, a Black Eyed Peas group member, in late 2001. “Where is the Love” has many contributions from very well-known artists. They are Fergie, Justin Timberlake, Ron Fair, and Will I Am.
What message are the artists trying to convey to their audience through this song? What issue or issues do you believe they are referencing? Are there any scenes in the video that stand out to you, why? What forms of repetition are used the most? Why do you think these forms were used? Is there one specific message that stands out to you, or multiple?
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The scene that stands out the most to me is when the drug deal is about to be payed for and the question mark lights up on the screen after it said "transmission delayed." This is a powerful scene because its such a problem in the united states today and something that I personally am extremely against. The question mark symbol also really sticks out to me because its almost as if the posters are asking people to re-evaluate their life and if they could change anything about it. It shows a lot of ideas that have become priorities to most americans such as the children playing video games and how violent they have all become. Very powerful song, even more so now that I have seen the video.
ReplyDeleteA scene that stood out to me was the little girl turning on the TV. This scene was powerful to me because children in America these days have so much access to negative images and negative role models. I feel that the lyrics of the song also tie into this theme of Americans not setting their priorities straight, and being a negative influence on others, especially the future generations. This song is very moving, a line that jumped out to me was the line about terrorists living here. This line was extremely powerful because it was a cry to government to fix the violence here before going overseas.
ReplyDeleteThe message I got through the song was how all the hatred, discrimination, and illegal actions done within our country define us as a country with "no love". The scenes that stood out to me were during every chorus, there were close ups of kids singing along with the song. I feel kids, or the younger populations, have to worry about the phrase "where is the love?" the most because its their generations that will be thriving in our country later in life. If situations in our country now are bad, how will they be when the kids grow up? One message that stood out to me was the reference of God, especially at the very end of the video where everyone is looking up into the sky. I took that as the people looking for answers and guidance from God. I assume God is what everyone is looking up to by the previous lyrics, "Father, Father, Father help us Send some guidance from above 'Cause people got me, got me questionin' Where is the love." I like how a popular song references God in a positive way, because a lot of the media does not.
ReplyDeleteThis song by the Black Eyed Peas has always been a favorite of mine. It's not often that you hear a pop music group sing about such a deep subject. Where is the love anymore? Bloods, Crips, KKK, terrorists, violence, discrimination, lying, violence, war, negatives of media... this song touches on so many important issues that need to be addressed in this country. The Black Eyed Peas use their popularity to get Americans to start asking questions, to start looking around and seeing everything that is wrong and what can be done to change the direction our nation and world is headed. The video shows the group running around LA placing question marks everywhere to initiate the process of reevaluation of our morals. I think the rhyme scheme of this song really makes it catchy and you really focus on the words they are saying. I think a really good line of this song is: "Overseas ya we tryin to stop terrorism//But we still got terrorists here livin [in the U.S.A.]." The United States is always preoccupied with solving other country's problems, but we've got a of dilemmas as it is. We need to work together and solve our problems so we can set an example for the rest of the world, learning to love one anther.
ReplyDeleteThis is a song I remember hearing on the bus way back in fourth grade. I really liked the beat and everything back then, but now, listening to the lyrics I can see that this is an extremely powerful song. The symbol of the question mark throughout the video stands out to me me because, like Jordan said, it seems to make people re-evaluate their thinking. The lyric that stands out to me the most is, "People livin' like they ain't got no mommas." This is at the very beginning at the song, but it perfectly describes how our world is changing for the worse these days. It's a silly thing to say, but if everyone treated everyone like their it was their mother, this country would be in a totally different situation.
ReplyDeleteThe blacked eyed peas are trying to question their audience why there are so many problems in the world, when ideally they shouldn't exist. The question mark posters are interesting in this video because they clearly relate to the questions being asked. It's sad to listen to this video because it makes you think why there really is so much unnecessary hate in the world.
ReplyDeleteThis is sort of expanding on alot of what already has been said. For me the questions marks were placed on everyday activities and social interactions throughout our daily live, posters, cars, magazines, bottles of soda. This in one way might lead us to question our interactions and choices in life, almost to ask "is this moral"? "or is this a loving act?". And in another way it sort of serves as a constant reminder to find the love, when the proped up CIA were following someone they received a message on their mobile device displaying a question mark, again sort of asking where is the love. I also noticed sort of a repetition regarding the cold treatment of others and acting in a cold way for a sheer profit.
ReplyDeleteIn this cold sense for large profit I feel is most relevant in light of modern events, as the population who hold the largest sum of money continue to take from others it really depicts the cold treatment of our own for profit organizations in America Today.
The part that really struck me was when they talked about the media and how all they ever show is bad stuff happening. Sometimes it seems like they go out of their way just to find horrible stuff to tell us about and leave out anything good because they know that fear is what sells. This idea ties back to the main subject of the song which is that people will do anything for money these days, whether its right or a good thing to do just doesn't matter most of the time.
ReplyDeleteThe message this video is trying to convey is pretty clear to me. The artists that created this song obviously believe drug dealing and violence are things this world needs less of. Most of the issues seemed to be centered around issues affecting mainly large cities such as street crime but other issues seemed to be addressed as well. Kids watching tv early in the video are shown later on outside in their neighborhood. People were lining the streets which to me represented people being part of a community. Going outside and mingling with neighbors rather than holing up in a house being pale and having their soul drained by the television/video game console.
ReplyDeleteThe lyrics synced up quite well with the video. The repeating question of “where is the love?” was always timed with a question mark appearing on something. Examples would be a drug dealer checking his text messages only to find a question mark, or violent video games being replaced with a question mark on the television screen.
What stands out to me is that this is just one more song of complaining with no offering of a solution. Even the name of the song is a question and they oddly enough don’t seem to answer it.
I feel that this brings the attention to a lot of the negativity that America still has. I feel that the song is not only referring the problems that are in the United States but the world as a whole. Some of the things that they do address is war and the secrecy as well as racism. I think that is a very classic song that addresses so many issues. I though putting the question mark on the gas price was really funny because there is definitely no love with the way prices are now. I also think that putting the question mark on top of the statue of liberty next to the immigration office was a great way to broadcast the message of "where is the love?"
ReplyDeleteAs some of the other people here have touched on, the song is referring to the 'me' complex that is arguably one of the most dominant thought processes in western culture -- particularly in the United States. Generations of people raised to only doing or supporting things that are in their own immediate interests.
ReplyDeleteBy repeatedly asking 'where is the love' and 'would you practice what you preach, would you turn the other cheek' seems to be directed at the religious people in our country that claim to be the 'good people,' while simultaneously ignoring the plight of the less fortunate.
Furthermore, as David pointed out, the video calls our attention to the fact that we, as human beings, seem to thrive off of fear. That the ideas of violence, the misfortune of others and the acts of the criminally insane are where we place all of our focus. The artist is making a plea to the people to ask themselves why they focus on these things and why they don't put others before themselves -- why they can't seem to love their fellow man - unconditionally.
The most obvious theme of repetition appears in the chorus, "Where is the Love?" Considering the context of this song (2001) changes the entire meaning. Even though the focus of the song doesn't necessarily focus on the events of 9/11, this is clearly a time period that would cause such questions to arise and cause artists to look to bigger questions such as the ones discussed in the song. There are several issues referenced in the song but what stands out the most to me is the line about fighting a war that we don't understand. This was the mindset of many Americans at the time the song was released. I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy the song, though at times it feels a bit preachy. Good message, good artists (at least up through this album).
ReplyDeleteThe part that really stuck out to me in this video is them really focusin on the media, and how much media affects our society. This really stuck out to me because I just finsihed up a paper, and part of my paper was talking about how the media affects soceity and only shows shows and things that aren't important to society eyes. The media only really shows the bad that goes on, and not the good. By only showing the bad society seems to be more focused and attention grabbed by the bad things the media shows instead of being happy to see the good. The media only shows the bad because the know more people rather watch that then what positive things that go on in society. Which then leads to the theme "where is the love?" Because it is true, where is the love for society for the good and to appreciate everyone?
ReplyDeleteThe message the artists are trying to convey in the song is that the world simply needs more love. They show how drugs, violence, war and addiction are weakening the bonds of fellow humans. What stood out to me most about the video was when they showed the children staring at the camera. This puts faces on the nameless victims of the negative things around them. Not only is this scene repeated multiple times but the lyric "Children hurt and you hear them cryin`" is as well. The general message of this song to me is that our society is corrupt and we need to have more positive images for our youth to follow.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite songs, I actually wrote my PSA about it. I do have a few questions about the video though. One is that there were three instances in which the "?" is placed somewhere that I did not understand the intention. The first is on the statue of liberty to replace the flame in the torch. Was there a specific purpose for this? I think it may be an attack on the US in general, as that is a national symbol. Another is over the Bible when the man is looking up to the sky, appearing as if he is preaching to the crowd. Was that question mark to question the love in the Bible? Or to question people and why we do not follow the Bible more closely. Judging by the lyrics it is probably the second one. Also, I thought the question mark in the field that looked like a crop circle was interesting. Not quite sure of the purpose for that either, but it was creative. I also wonder what it is that everyone is looking up at at the end of the video. They are all staring up at the sky. You expect the camera to go up and show you, but the video just ends.
ReplyDeleteAmerica is a fast growing nations with skyrocketd popularity, money and goods from all over the world. People living in a high speed society and have to face lots of issues such as racial descrimination, violence, drugs and their personal desire to the goods. From dealing with these issues all the times, we forget what is the love, we forget how to love each other. In this song, the repetition of "Where is the love" drags people back to the reality. Send people a message, for our next generation, we have to love each other and contend with these inequality above. To myself, one secene is really impressive to me. When girls turning TV, it appeard a big question mark. In modern society, we rely on mass media too much that we ignore what happend beside us. We should focus more on our life.
ReplyDeleteI think message that the artists try to convey to audience through this song is the love is somewhat different what we think about. There are interesting scenes in the video that stand out to me. Faces of children and older women are those. They might be affect almost every kinds of negative influence what people who have power do something wrong. This image repetition are used the most. I think the reason is creator who make this video want to convey the message that the love is respect what invisible.
ReplyDelete