Song Essay Draft 1

Throughout history, people have told lies to gain an advantage for themselves. One lie that many of the younger generation is exposed to is propaganda. Every government or person in charge of an army has used propaganda to gain an advantage over their opponent. Propaganda can range from telling of atrocities committed by the opposing forces to making the reason why you are at war a more acceptable one. Serj Tankian’s song “Empty Walls” talks about the walls that the government has put up to make the war more acceptable to others. The music video for the song also has pre-school children acting out a war.
The song starts out with the words “Empty Walls.” As the song progresses and the artist eventually says that he wants the listener to “be left behind those empty walls.” This resembles the lies that some governments use to convince those in their country, or whoever is following them, that war is a good idea. One proven example of a war that was fought on a lie was the Spanish-American War, where America went to war with Spain because an American ship had blown up in Havana Harbor, though no one was exactly sure what had caused the sinking of the Maine.
Even though Captain Charles Sigsbee, the Captain of the Maine at the time of the explosion, insisted that it was a coal bin explosion that had sunk the Maine, the United States was looking for a reason to take Cuba from Spain, and a war was the best route (Rivero, The Lie of The Century.) The committee in charge of the investigation concluded that a Spanish mine had sunk the Maine, and because of Spanish failure to protect an American ship when they were not at war with each other, America went to war with Spain (Dyl). Though the war would not be the biggest battle America would fight, it was still a waste of lives because America did not gain Cuba at the end of the conflict, which was the main objective of going to war with Spain.
Another part of the song talks about seeing burning bodies and people dying. This is a pretty good indication that the song is about a war. There is no doubt that there are many people dying in Iraq who are not even combatants. There are at least 88,203 documented civilian deaths in Iraq since 2003 (Iraq Body Count). Many Americans are not aware that so many Iraqis have died in this war. The only number that we are exposed to is the number of dead American soldiers. It is sad that so many American soldiers have died, but they are there because they volunteered to be there. Many citizens in Iraq cannot escape the violence and many of the people who die in the suicide bombs that are supposed to be helping them are just trying to live and do not support the use of suicide bombing as a means of fighting.
Another part of the song is when the singer says “Taunt you to see from behind those empty walls.” This is a challenge to the listener to look beyond what we are being told. Some people who do not want to find out why their government would lie to them would accept the story that they are told, even if all of the pieces do not fit together. It is not wrong for them to believe the government, but they have to ask questions to make sure that their government is not lying to them. If a person gets away with one lie, they will usually try to get away with another, and if that person keeps getting away with them, then they will not stop. There would be no reason for them to stop. Why stop and tell the truth when you can just tell some story that makes everyone happy.
This relates to the Maine. When the Maine was initially sunk, there was an investigation into what had sunk the Maine. After about one month, the investigation concluded that a mine had caused the explosion that had sunk the Maine. While there was evidence to support this, there was also a lack of evidence, such as a lack of dead fish from the explosion. When the results of the investigation were released the majority of people, fueled by yellow journalism, believed that a Spanish mine had sunk the Maine. If more people had have demanded more evidence of a mine, the investigation might have continued, and might have discovered something else that might have led to the prevention of war.
Though the government might not have known that they were lying, they more than likely knew that not everything added up, and that if they investigated the explosion with more effort and time they might have found out that it was the explosion of the coal bin that fit the circumstances of the explosion better than that of a mine. But the Spanish mine theory fit their needs so they did not bother investigating more, and because no one demanded that they provide more evidence, they were able to go to war with any actual reason.The song “Empty Walls” definitely has an anti-war feel to it, and considering that the Iraq war was happening when the song was wrote, it probably applies to the war in Iraq as much as it does to previous wars. All of the circumstances have occurred in Iraq. The government, thought they may have actually believed that there was weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq when they invaded first, is wrong in that there is not any weapons, and we have been there for over five years now. Also the devastation mentioned could also be considered to represent the Iraq war. As was mentioned before, more Iraqi civilians than coalition forces in Iraq. Also, back when support for war was being built up with evidence of these weapons, it was considered to be unpatriotic to not believe the government. If more people had have asked, more time and care might have been taken to find these weapons.