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Monday, November 01, 2004
Eminem's angst-filled video, 'Mosh,' spread rapidly on the Internet, might actually get youth to the polls
Contrast that with Eminem's genuinely angst-filled, finger-on-the-pulse "Mosh" video, which was leaked to the Internet last week and has since become another one of those spreads-like-a-virus online phenomena. Without the benefit of a publicity campaign, it could have a real effect motivating young people to get to the polls tomorrow.
"Mosh," part of Eminem's new album set for release later this month, first appeared on the Internet as an audio file two weeks ago. The 5 1/2 minute track features a slow driving beat, as the 32-year-old rapper, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, carves President Bush apart with years of pent- up anger.
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But the video version of the song, directed by Ian Inaba, is exponentially more jarring. It tells the animated story of a black youth hassled by police; a young soldier who's been assigned back to Iraq for another tour; and a Latina woman getting an eviction notice, as she watches Bush on television giving tax breaks to the rich. By the end, all of the characters don Eminem's trademark black hoodie, marching behind the rapper as they storm past Orwellian authorities led by Bush. The video appeared on Guerrilla News Network's home page last week, and e-mails linking the www.gnn.tv site quickly made the Internet rounds.
It's no coincidence that two of the most talked-about bits of pop culture in recent weeks -- "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart's evisceration of Tucker Carlson on CNN and Ashlee Simpson's lip-synching disaster on "Saturday Night Live" -- were spread the same way, as video clips that were passed online without the aid of advertising blitzes, product tie-ins or appearances on "Live! With Regis and Kelly." "Mosh" is proof that the Internet is a cheaper and more effective way of spreading ideas to young people, who clearly would rather choose their message than have it forced upon them.
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Eminem's method of making his point is much more viral than P. Diddy's -- it's the difference between a guerrilla gaining support from the hills and a show of military force rumbling through the town square. And while Sen. John Kerry will ultimately have P. Diddy, MTV's "Rock the Vote" campaign and others to thank if the youth vote swings the election in the Democrat's favor ("Mosh" leaked long after the deadline for voter registration passed), he may have to credit Eminem if young voters actually make it to the polls.
Not that Eminem will take his call. As of last week, the rapper hadn't even endorsed a candidate, stating only that he didn't support Bush. Much like Eminem pulled a Marlon Brando and didn't show up to accept his Academy Award for "Lose Yourself" in 2003, he's let the "Mosh" video mostly speak for itself. Some quotes from a forthcoming Rolling Stone issue were the bulk of his comments last week, while he avoided talk show appearances. (He performed on "Saturday Night Live" two days ago.)
That didn't matter to Eminem's fans, who bought more than 8 million of his last two albums and were dutifully logging in to check out his latest message. By last Friday, dozens of blogs and Web sites were linking "Mosh," with unscripted message board testimonial providing all the marketing the song needed.
"I got goose bumps when I watched it," an e-mailer who only identified herself as Samantha posted on www.waitingfordorothy.blogspot.com, after viewing the video. "I think it is very brave to come up with something that everyone is thinking but is too afraid to say (or) act out."
She was most likely responding to the end of the video, where Inaba makes it appear that the cartoon version Eminem has turned into a treasonous Pied Piper. Just as his forces seem likely to commit the kinds of violent acts that have become the rapper's stereotype, the journey ends at a polling place instead.
Eminem - Mosh Lyrics
[I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
And to the Republic for which it stands
One nation under God
IndivisibleE
peoplecthis is itcIt feels so good to be back..]
[Verse1]
Scrutinize every word, memorize every line
I spit it once, refuel, reenergize, and rewind
I give sight to the blind, mind sight through the mind
I ostracize my right to express when I feel it's time
It's just all in your mind, what you interpret it as
I say to fight you take it as Ifm gonna whip someone's ass
If you don't understand don't even bother to ask
A father who has grown up with a fatherless past
Who has blown up now to rap phenomenon that has
Or at least shows no difficulty multi task
And juggling both, perhaps mastered his craft slash
Entrepreneur who has held long too few more rap acts
Who has had a few obstacles thrown his way through the last half
Of his career typical manure moving past that
Mister kiss his ass crack, he's a class act
Rubber band man, yea he just snaps back
[Chorus]
Come along, follow me as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark, that we need to proceed
Kerry on, give me hope, give me strength,
Come with me, and I won't stear you wrong
Put your faith and your trust as I guide us through the fog
Till the light, at the end, of the tunnel, we gonna fight,
We gonna charge, we gonna stomp, we gonna march through the swamp
We gonna mosh through the marsh, take us right through the doors..cum
on.
[Verse2]
To the people up top, on the side and the middle,
Come together, let's all bomb and swamp just a little
Just let it gradually build, from the front to the back
All you can see is a sea of people, some white and some black
Don't matter what color, all that matters is we gathered together
To celebrate for the same cause, no matter the weather
If it rains let it rain, yea the wetter the better
They ain't gonna stop us, they can't, we're stronger now more then ever,
They tell us no we say yea, they tell us stop we say go,
Rebel with a rebel yell, raise hell we gonna let em know
Stomp, push up, mush, fuck Bush, until they bring our troops home come
on just . . .
[Chorus]
Come along, follow me as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark, that we need to proceed
Carry on, give me hope, give me strength,
Come with me, and I won't stear you wrong
Put your faith and your trust as I guide us through the fog
Till the light, at the end, of the tunnel, we gonna fight,
We gonna charge, we gonna stomp, we gonna march through the swamp
We gonna mosh through the marsh, take us right through the doors, come
on
[Verse3]
Imagine it pouring, it's raining down on us,
Mosh pits outside the oval office
Someone's trying to tell us something, maybe this is God just saying
we're responsible for this monster, this coward, that we have empowered
This is Bin Laden, look at his head nodding,
How could we allow something like this, Without pumping our fist
Now this is our, final hour
Let me be the voice, and your strength, and your choice
Let me simplify the rhyme, just to amplify the noise
Try to amplify the times it, and multiply it by six
Teen million people are equal of this high pitch
Maybe we can reach Al Quaida through my speech
Let the President answer on high anarchy
Strap him with AK-47, let him go
Fight his own war, let him impress daddy that way
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
If I get sniped tonight you'll know why, because I told you to fight
[Chorus]
So come along, follow me as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark, that we need to proceed
Carry on, give me hope, give me strength,
Come with me, and I won't stear you wrong
Put your faith and your trust as I guide us through the fog
Till the light, at the end, of the tunnel, we gonna fight,
We gonna charge, we gonna stomp, we gonna march through the swamp
We gonna mosh through the marsh, take us right through the doors
[Outro]
[Eminem speaking angrily]
And as we proceed, to mosh through this desert storm, in these closing statements, if they should argue, let us beg to differ, as we set aside our differences, and assemble our own army, to disarm this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president, for the present, and mosh for the future of our next generation, to speak and be heard, Mr. President, Mr. Senator
[End]
Posted at 04:29 pm by blog swarm
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