Musical Appeals

            The music video elastic heart, by SIA illustrates the chaotic environment inside of the artist’s brain. The turmoil she feels and expresses in her music are beautifully displayed in a tasteful, yet slightly unusual music video.

            She appeals to the emotions (Texas A&M appeal to pathos)of the audience by using a young girl to display here childhood and a scruffy man (Shia Lebouf) to display how she feels right now. Lyrics like “I’m like a rubber band till you pull to hard” illustrate her emotional state. Stable yet flexible at the same time, but the turmoil in her head as displayed through the music video displays how she’s in a state where the rubber band is being stretched, her emotions caged up but if they are to escape then the rubber band might just break. This is highlighted as well by the girl actually escaping the cage. Too me this shows how she could no longer contain her inner child and this is expressed by lyrics such as “ you did not break me I’m still fighting for peace.” The music video is a metaphor for her life, and how she’s conflicted between the cage of adulthood and her childhood. This appeals to an audience of people who can relate to this struggle. The type of person who feels lost and trapped inside; this relatable theme also helps to establish her credibility toward her audience. By singing and performing on topics everyone can openly connect with it adds meaning and depth to her lyrics, and furthermore the topics add to her credibility and stature as an audience.

            Her childhood yet innocent in appearance is the cause of her turmoil; this is translated through the violent and erratic dancing displayed in the video. The song depicts how sia is trying to regain control of her mind and body. The kid represents a violent and unruly upbringing, which controls how she acts as an adult as the violence that she experienced haunts her every move. This troubled upbringing also appeals to the emotional feelings of the audience (appeal to the audience like the BYU rhetoric article) , the vulnerable state that sia displays appeals to the audience’s sympathy. How she is just a poor misunderstood girl, looking for a way to break out of the cage without first breaking herself. The repetition of the phrase “you did not break me” in her lyrics really drives her point home. The you referring to her violent childhood, she’s telling herself that she cant be broken by the thoughts of the past, though the ideas still cloud and consume her thoughts. This “troubled” image really appeals to both her emotional connection with the audience while adding to her credibility by displaying herself as just an innocent child who’s trapped and haunted by the struggles of her past.  

            In the end sia’s wonderfully and uniquely crafted music video,  clearly and successfully appeals to anyone that has ever felt troubled or trapped in their life, held in by the cage of their own emotions.

Burton, Gideon. "Basic Questions for Rhetorical Analysis." Basic Questions for Rhetorical Analysis. BYU. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.

           

Sia - Elastic Heart feat. Shia LaBeouf & Maddie Ziegler (Official Video).
     YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/
     watch?v=KWZGAExj-es>.

"Sia - Lyrics." Sia. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015. <http://siamusic.net/
     lyrics>. 

"University Writing Center - Rhetorical Analysis." University Writing Center - Rhetorical Analysis. Texas A&M University, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015. <http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/Students/Handouts-Guides/Guides-(What-Are-You-Writing-)/Academic-Writing/Analysis/Rhetorical-Analysis>.