Songs with Polical or Social Events.
Andres Torres
10/29/09
Mus. 104
Paper #2
There are many rock songs that portray a social or political event. One of those songs is from my favorite rock band Sublime. The title of the song is April 29, 1992. It is a song talks about the riots that broke out in Los Angeles on April 29th. 1992. after four white police officers were acquitted by a largely white jury for beating an African American named Rodney King. It became one of the biggest riots in U.S history.
On March 3, 1991 an African American by the name of Rodney King was driving at excessive speeds on the 210 freeway. He was chased for about 20 minutes by a California Highway Patrol car. When he finally stopped and pulled over he was confronted by four white LAPD officers. Three of the officers brutally beat him with metal batons as the fourth officer just watched. George Holliday, a resident of that neighborhood videotaped the incident. He was recording as the officers struck Rodney King over fifty times.
On April 29, 1992, about a year after Rodney King beating. The LAPD officers who were involved in that incident were acquitted in a Simi Valley court room by an all white jury. This sparked many tensions against the police and racism against whites. Within hours of the jury’s verdict, the streets of Los Angeles erupted into chaos. Many people gathered on street corners around Los Angeles enraged at the jury’s verdict. A riot began on that night, many people looted the streets. Many businesses were broken into or burned down. Many people were also beaten and killed as the riot went on. Three days later, when the riot finally stopped, 54 people had lost their lives, over 7,000 were arrested, and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property had been destroyed. (Linder, 2001).
In the song April 29, 1992 by Sublime, the singer, Bradley Nowell talks in first person in a literal style about being a looter in the riot. The song starts with an actual police radio recording off an officer
10/29/09
Mus. 104
Paper #2
There are many rock songs that portray a social or political event. One of those songs is from my favorite rock band Sublime. The title of the song is April 29, 1992. It is a song talks about the riots that broke out in Los Angeles on April 29th. 1992. after four white police officers were acquitted by a largely white jury for beating an African American named Rodney King. It became one of the biggest riots in U.S history.
On March 3, 1991 an African American by the name of Rodney King was driving at excessive speeds on the 210 freeway. He was chased for about 20 minutes by a California Highway Patrol car. When he finally stopped and pulled over he was confronted by four white LAPD officers. Three of the officers brutally beat him with metal batons as the fourth officer just watched. George Holliday, a resident of that neighborhood videotaped the incident. He was recording as the officers struck Rodney King over fifty times.
On April 29, 1992, about a year after Rodney King beating. The LAPD officers who were involved in that incident were acquitted in a Simi Valley court room by an all white jury. This sparked many tensions against the police and racism against whites. Within hours of the jury’s verdict, the streets of Los Angeles erupted into chaos. Many people gathered on street corners around Los Angeles enraged at the jury’s verdict. A riot began on that night, many people looted the streets. Many businesses were broken into or burned down. Many people were also beaten and killed as the riot went on. Three days later, when the riot finally stopped, 54 people had lost their lives, over 7,000 were arrested, and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property had been destroyed. (Linder, 2001).
In the song April 29, 1992 by Sublime, the singer, Bradley Nowell talks in first person in a literal style about being a looter in the riot. The song starts with an actual police radio recording off an officer
Cited: Linder, D. (2001). An account of the police officers ' trials. Retrieved from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/lapdaccount.html. Mike, L. E. (n.d.). April 29, 1992 by Sublime Songfacts. Retrieved from www.songfacts.com.