Rise Against – Hero of War

Outline  Show the video and play the song  Summarize  Is it a Ballad?  Language analysis  Music analysis  Facts about the band

Summarize of the stanzas  1st : The father suggests his son, to go to the army, to travel around the world. He just has to carry a gun. There the son finds new friends and learns to fight.  2nd: The son is with his men in another country, to search a man. They get him and take him away from his family and his friends. They do horrible things with the caught man. First the son is against, gut later he does the same like his friends.  3rd: A girl walks in the battlefield (Schlachtfeld) to the son. He begs her to say, but she carries on. Now he lifts his gun and shoots in her direction (Richtung). She fells in the sand with a white flag in her hand.

Summarize of the Chorus  1st : The son wants to be a hero of war, with medals and stars. He wants that his family and friends are proud of him. He will carry his flag to the grave if he must. Because it’s the flag he loves.  2nd: There are just medals and stars and they’re all so proud of him. The flag stands in a corner in the flag gathers dust. But he still loves his flag.

Language analysis  What the song is about: The song is about a man that goes to the war and samples there horrible and cruel things.  Main tone: The song is played with an acoustic guitar. It’s a rock ballad and very sad and dramatic.

What function does the chorus have in this song? It explains why the son wants to the army and does all this horrible things. Does the chorus support the content of the song: Yes it does, because it helps to understand the whole song.

Is the song a ballad?  Of course it is, because there is told a sad story. And all things who must be in a ballad are in this song.

Music analysis Mood: What is the mood of the song? - very sad - ironical - helpless - realistic - it tells a story Sound: What is the main sound of the song? - played with just an acoustic guitar - a few accords repeating

Voice: Can you describe the voice of the singer? -man -rough -hard -ego perspective (Ich-Perspektive) Does it fit to the content of the song?  Yes, beacuse the voice just tells the horrible truth of war and what happens with the human that take part in it. It doesn’t beautify (verschönern) it in any way. You can imagine the son really tells his own story. Instrumentation: Which instruments do you hear? -an acoustic guitar

Are they appropriate to the song?  Yes, because there is just this guitar so you aren’t distracted (abgelenkt) of some intsruments and you can just listen to the text which is the most important thing in this son. Music in general(concerning the whole song): Does the music support the content of the song? I it appropiate?  Yes. The music isn’t as sad as the text in some pieces of the song but because of the song is ironical too it is okay. The song is about war so it’s goog that the music isn’t soft.

What do you think the musicians want to express with the music? What is the musicians’ intention?  I think the musicians want to show the world that war maybe sounds great. That you get there fame and glory, travel in other contries and become a “hero of war”. But in reality it’s a terrible thing which destroys young human. And when they come home from the army they’re not longer themself.

The Band ‘Rise Against‘  Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago  They’re also known for their advocacy of progressive organizations such as Amnesty International and It Gets Better Project.  The band actively promotes animal rights and all members are straight edge (excluding Barnes), PETA supporters and vegetarians.  Rise Against spent its first five years signed to the independent record label Fat Wreck Chords, on which it released two studio albums, The Unraveling (2001) and Revolutions per Minute (2003)

The Bandmembers Current members  Tim McIlrath – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (since 1999)  Joe Principe – bass guitar, backing vocals (since 1999)  Brandon Barnes – drums, percussion (since 2000)  Zach Blair – lead guitar, backing vocals (since 2007)

Former members  Toni Tintari – drums (1999–2000) (only in "Transistor Revolt")  Dan Lumley – drums (2000) (rehearsals only, no recordings or concerts)  Mr. Precision (Dan Wleklinski) – lead guitar, backing vocals (1999–2002)  Todd Mohney – lead guitar, backing vocals (2002–2004)  Kevin White – lead guitar, backing vocals (2002)[1]  Chris Chasse – lead guitar, backing vocals (2004–2007)

Timeline

The Band history  formed in 1999 by Tim McIlrath, Joe Principe and Tintari Toni and Dan Wlekinski.  The first name of the band was "Transistor Revolt"  The band changed its name to "Rise Against" in 2001 and released their first album,“The Unraveling”

Awards and nominations  2006: Ready to Fall was nominadet by the ‘MTVu Good Woodie Award‘  2008 the hole band ‘Rise Against‘ won the ‘Rock on Request Award‘  2009 the band won the award for the ‘Best Animal-Friendly Band‘  2009 the song ‘Re-Education (Through Labor)‘ was nominated for the ‘Much Music Video Award‘  Last year the song ‘Make It Stop (September's Children)’ was nominated for the ’MTV Video Music Award’

for listening