This week’s highlighted song is Elvis’s “In the Ghetto.” A
song about hardship in Chicago’s poor neighborhood. It chronicle the life on a
poor man’s life from birth to death. Below is a photo of tenements that half of the city's poor black children lived in.
photo credit: Wayne Miller/ Magnum Photos
The America Elvis describes is
one of poverty with no means of relief. Once again, Elvis sings a song of compassion. The song attributes the lawlessness of the young man's life with his situation and the environment he is exposed to. I believe this problem is still alive today, and many people in need are exposed only to negative lifestyle choices and do not know how, or are not even able, to make better life decisions. As in my last post, we shouldn't judge a man until we walk a mile in his shoes. For some people struggling, there does not appear to be a way out. The song closes with “and another
little baby child is born in the Ghetto, and his momma cried.” This America has
no way out for the poor. The cycle is doomed to perpetuate itself. The American Dream is dead.
video credit: ramonda
Hi, I love your unique blog theme. I've always enjoyed listening to Elvis too, mostly because of my parents. But the first time I actually heard this song was on one of my favorite shows, "New Girl." As silly as the scene was, the song and its compassion-filled messages were evident nonetheless. I agree with you that the American dream is in fact dead in the traditional sense of the term that guarantees success, wealth and happiness simply by working hard, unfortunately. Oftentimes, issues of wealth and financial security of those in lower classes are ignored because people are expected to simply work harder regardless of more and more children being born into situations that they can't control. Great content.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment! That's funny about how you first heard the song! I think comedy can be a great way to make a point about something that people have a hard time having a serious conversation about.
DeleteI definitely agree that working harder doesn't guarantee success. Many people work multiple jobs at minimum wage and still are impoverished. It's easy to say just get a better job, but there are only so many higher paying jobs out there. Otherwise, there wouldn't be minimum wage jobs! If there were an abundance of open higher paying jobs, nobody would work for minimum wage, and minimum wage would have to increase to compete. It's just not as simple as blaming poor people for being lazy.
The American dream was founded on the oppression of the lower class. Someone has to flip our burgers, mow our lawns, and they apparently don't deserve much.