The Rhetoric of U2

7/27/2019 The Rhetoric of U2

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The Rhetoric of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday"by Mike RiosU2 have always producedrhetoricallypowerful songs. From the spiritually driven "I Still Havent Found

What Im Looking For" to the blatantly sexual "If You Wear That Velvet Dress,"audienceshave beenpersuaded to examine their religious doubts as well as to give in to their emotions. Never a band

content in sticking to one style, their music has evolved and taken many forms. Their more recent songsshow a level of complexity so far unsurpassed in music, drawing heavily on theambiguityofparadoxin

songs like "So Cruel" while evoking sensory overload with the aid of theliststructure in "Numb." Butone of the most powerful songs dates back to their early years, when their style was Senecan-like,

seemingly simpler and more direct. "Sunday Bloody Sunday"stands out as one of U2s finest songs. Its

rhetoric is successful because of its simplicity, not despite it.

Written in part as a response to the events of January 30, 1972 when the Paratroop Regiment of theBritish Army killed 14 people and wounded another 14 during a civil rights demonstration in Derry,

Ireland, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" takes hold of the listener instantly. It is a song speaking against not

only the British Army, but the Irish Republican Army as well. Bloody Sunday, as it has come to beknown, was only one act in a cycle of violence claiming many innocent lives. The Irish Republican Armywas certainly contributing to the bloodshed. The song begins with Larry Mullen, Jr. beating his drums in

a martialrhythmthatconnotesvisions of soldiers, of tanks, of guns. Although not original, it is asuccessful use of musicalirony, enveloping a song of protest in the sounds usually associated with those

it is protesting against. The same can be said of its use in the cadence-like foundations of "Seconds" and"Bullet the Blue Sky." Having grabbed hold of the listeners attention, The Edge and Adam Clayton join

in with lead and bass guitars respectively. The riff is as close to concrete as sound can get. It is massive,almost solid. Then again, it has to be. U2 is endeavoring upon a subject andthemewide in scope. The

message carries a great deal of significance. They must connect with every ear, every mind, every heart.The pounding beat and the heavy riff transport the listener to the scene of the killings, appealing

topathos. A violin glides in and out to add a softer, delicate touch. Caught in the musical attack, itreaches out to the listener, letting him or her know that the songs grip will not strangle, but the firm

hold must be kept nonetheless.Before any words are sung, anethicalappeal has taken shape. Thepersonain this song is Bono himself.

The audience knows he and the rest of the band are Irish and that, although not personally familiar withthe event that gives the song its title, they have seen other acts of violence while growing up. Knowingthe bands nationality, the audience trusts them as they sing about the struggle in their homeland.
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Bonos first line makes use ofaporia. "I cant believe the news today," he sings. His words are the same

words spoken by those who have learned of yet another attack in the name of a great cause. Theyexpress the confusion such violence leaves in its aftermath. The murdered and the wounded are not the

only victims. Society suffers as some individuals continue to try and comprehend while others take armsand join in the so-called revolution, continuing the vicious cycle.

Epizeuxisis common in songs. It helps to make songs memorable. In "Sunday Bloody Sunday," epizeuxisis a necessity. It is necessary because the message against violence must be drilled into the audience.

With this end in mind, epizeuxsis is modified todiacopethroughout the song. It is found in threedifferent instances. The first is theerotesis"How long, How long must we sing this song? How long?" In

asking this question, Bono not only replaces the pronoun I withwe (which serves to draw the membersof the audience closer to him and to themselves), he also implies the answer. The instinctive reply is

that we should not have to sing this song any longer. In fact, we should not have to sing this song at all.But the second time he asks the question, we are not so sure of the answer. It ceases to be erotesis and

functions asepimone, again for emphasis. Furthermore, it is somewhat akin toploce, in that its essentialmeaning changes.

Before repeating the "How long?" question, Bono usesenargiato vividly recreate violence. The images of"broken bottles under childrens feet [and] bodies strewn across a dead end street" appeal to pathos in

an effort to disturb the listeners. They are not disturbing because they are too horrible to imagine; theyare disturbing because they do not have to be imagined. These images appear too often on television, in

newspapers. These images are real.But Bono cautions against acting solely based on the pathos of a situation. To keep his pathetic appealfrom working too well, Bono sings that he "wont heed the battle call." A metaphorfor refusing thetemptation to avenge the dead or hurt, this phrase conveys the strength needed in doing so. He

employsantirrhesisto support his statement. If he allows himself to be seduced into becoming a rebelfor the sake of revenge, his back will be put "against the wall." He will have no further choices in life.

Once he picks up a gun he will have to use it. It is also an appeal tologos, weighing the consequences ofhis actions beforehand. When he repeats "How long?" the audience realizes that it has become a real

question. People are still being killed. People are still killing. It is a fact made all too clear on November

8, 1987. As a crowd gathered at Enniskillen town in Fermanagh, Ireland, to observe Remembrance Day, abomb placed by the IRA was detonated killing 13 people. This sparked the nowinfamousdehortatioduring a performance of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" that same evening. "Fuck the

revolution," Bono declared, reflecting his anger and the anger of his fellow Irishmen at another senselessact of violence.

The second diacope is "tonight we can be as one. Tonight, tonight." Utilizinghysteron proterontoemphasize "tonight" and therefore the immediacy of the situation, U2 offers a solution, a way in which

peace can be restored. Clearly an appeal to pathos, it evokes the emotional comfort gained by humancontact. The paradox is easily dismissed by the hopefulness resonating in the words. Bono tells us it is

possible to become one, to unite. And we believe him--we need to believe him.The third diacope is also the major epimone in the song. "Sunday, bloody Sunday" is, after all, the

centralimage. The use of diacope differs in this phrase. By placing bloody within the twoSundays, U2demonstrates how significant this day is. To many, thinking of the date will forever be linked with

remembering the brutality inflicted on that date. Surrounding bloody with Sunday, U2 forces theaudience to experience, at least in some way, the link. In doing so, they provide a manner by which the

audience can further unite.U2 employs various otherfiguresto persuade their audience. In theerotesis, "theres many lost, but tell

me who has won?" U2 extends the battle metaphor. There is an example ofparonomasiain lost. Inrelation to the battle metaphor, which is now the struggle to unite, lostrefers to the losers, those who

have fallen victim to the violence by either partaking in it or experiencing it. Lost also refers to those
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who do not know whether to refrain or take part in the violence, and do not know which path to follow.

Paronomasia is used earlier in "dead end street." Here dead means physically the final portion of thestreet. It also means lifeless, like the bodies strewn across it. The two sides of these words express the

two sides of the Irish struggle. On one hand there is the idealistic cause for freedom and independence.On the other there is the result of trying to attain these goals through terrorism: bloodshed.

The battle metaphor continues when Bono sings "the trenches dug within our hearts." Appealing toemotion again, he compares souls with battlefields. The paronomasia of "torn apart in the next line

supports the metaphor by illustrating the casualties (both those physically torn and hurt by bombs andbullets, and those torn and separated by allegiances to the revolution). Thelistof victims is displayed as

atricolonto suggest no importance of one over any other. "Mothers children, brothers, sisters," they are

all equally cherished. They are all also equally vulnerable, likely to fall victim to the often random

attacks.Finally, the last stanza contains a variety of rhetorical devices. Like the paradoxical solution suggested in

the opening stanza, the paradox of fact being fiction and television reality is not difficult to accept. Tothis day there remains controversy over the shootings that occurred more than twenty-five years ago.

And with both major protagonists in the violence distorting the truth for their own sake, fact iscertainly capable of being manipulated into fiction. The terrible images of lines 5 and 6 support the

television paradox. This phrase and theantithesis"we eat and drink while tomorrow they die" add to thesense of perplexity and urgency. There is also a trace of irony in enjoying basic human elements while

the next day someone else dies. It causes the listener to ask him or herself, who are they? It causes himor her to wonder if it could be a neighbor, or a friend, or a family member that dies next. Many

probably think of those who have died as statistics, numbers in a growing list of murdered.Thejuxtapositionofwe and they confronts the tendency to distance oneself from unknown victims. It

asks that they be considered as people, not numbers. Another opportunity for unification is thuspresented. Besides uniting with each other, we must also unite with the memories of those slain.

As the song heads towards the closing diacope, one last metaphor is employed. "To claim the victoryJesus won," sings Bono. The words immediately connote the blood sacrifice particular to so many

cultures. The listener hears "victory," but also remembers that Jesus had to die in order to achieve it.

This makes an appeal to pathos, stirring religious emotions. Bono wants the listener to know that it isnot an easy journey he is pleading for them to embark on. It is difficult, but well worth the price. Thefinal metaphor also appeals toethosby linking their struggle to that of Jesus, and therefore making it

morally right.

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" remains as powerful today as it was when U2 first performed it. The irony of

its longevity is that it is still relevant. U2 would no doubt rather they did not have to sing it anymore.As it stands, they will probably have to continue singing it.
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The Rhetoric of U2