I had a hard time deciding on a music video, but once I thought of this one I was settled. I chose “Wrong Side of Heaven,” by Five Finger Death Punch because it is not only powerful, but also highlights a huge problem that we have in our country today. The video opens with flashes of several people dressed in military uniform explaining that they are fighting for us, for those that they care about, so that we don’t have to. It goes on to explain the growing problem of military veterans becoming homeless as it flips between images of the streets and soldiers.
The video goes on following a group of soldiers as they fight, intermittently flashing to these same soldiers singing the lyrics and looking forlorn. This serves to evoke sympathy and highlight the felling in the lyrics of the song. As the video progresses we flash between combat and the soldiers suffering upon their return home. One scene cuts to a soldier sitting on the street looking at a picture of his daughter. A young girl gives him a flower, but is pulled away by her mother, reinforcing the idea that we are turning our back on the veterans.
The flashes of text in the video help to explain the issue in detail as well as provide some explanation as to why things in the video are occurring. At 4:10 the video flashes text that explains “The Veterans administration have resources to serve only a fraction of our veterans.” The idea is further enforced when we see one of the military veterans well off and dressed in a suit stopping when he sees one of his fellow veterans sitting on the street, homeless and looking disheveled. The end of the video highlights the prominence of suicide by veterans and then provides several organizations for their support for about 2 minutes.
The video is trying to educate its audience about the issues of homelessness and suicide amongst military veterans. It highlights the prominence of these issues through explaining that during the video thousands of veterans are sleeping on the street of committing suicide. The flashes between combat and issues that the soldiers face post-war are effective in showing how much they gave to receive nothing in return. The video shows the focus of the song on our veterans and the struggles they face during and after war. Although the song is hard rock bordering on metal the video doesn’t evoke feelings that one would normally associate with the genre. Instead of making the viewer feel amped up and powerful it evokes feelings of sympathy and sadness. I am a firm believer in that if a video or song can make you feel something, really pull at your emotions, then it is outstanding. This video certainly satisfies that for me.
Writing on Music, Summer 2015 