War: A Failure to Communicate

Before I talk about this post, I want to explain why I chose to write about what I’m about to write about. Ever since my post about the American Civil war, the concept of a war has bothered me as I couldn’t fathom why or how war was even possible. Then, a couple of days ago, I heard a dorm-mate playing the Guns and Roses song, Civil War, and I felt like that song and the associated music video expressed my feelings very well.

Click to see a non official Guns and Roses video on "Civil War" and its lyrics.

First of all, I would like to look at the fan made video for this song which did a good job of capturing the confusing nature of civil wars. In this video, around 3:56, shows the chaos that is war. A man stumbles and the next thing he knows another soldier tries to skewer him. This gruesome scene, however, appears extremely sad when one notices the mournful, yet blank faces of the soldiers. This sadness, this disorder is compounded through the lyrics. The very first line describes the problem that causes war – miscommunication. Then the chorus speaks volumes about the persistent yet unnecessary state of combat by through the simple repetition of the word “look” and the rhyming of the words “fighting, crying, and dying” makes the song and its message particularly memorable. Finally, the song ends with the wonderfully witty question (in particular about civil wars) “Whaz so civil 'bout war anyway?”