My Ordinary Life by The Living Tombstone by Claire Bliese - Grade 11 https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0 Rhetorical Analysis by Claire Bliese en-us 2023-05-01 19:41:48 UTC 2023-05-08 20:04:47 UTC hello@padlet.com 4004985 https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2575719991 "My Ordinary Life" by The Living Tombstone is a commentary on the effects of fame on a person. Although the song doesn't have a direct speaker, we can assume the person narrating is someone in a position of fame, popularity, or power. There is also no specific occasion that I could identity within the lyrics or video. 
The audience that this song could be directed at are other people in positions of fame/popularity who could relate to the message, or common people who admire a famous person and put them on a pedestal. The Living Tombstone could be using this song to inform the public about some struggles and thoughts that their idols may be dealing with.  
I think the purpose that is being explained in the lyrics is a commentary on the problems that come with fame and idolizing people to an extreme level. It lets people in on the mental struggled that can come with a high status and many fans. This correlates with the subject of the song, which is fame and disillusionment. The tone of the lyrics is lonely and desperate, which contrasts with the tone of the video, which is playful and childish.

]]> 2023-05-02 20:01:19 UTC https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2575719991 4004985 https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2575720097 The Living Tombstone attempts to inform the audience about the issues of fame. They use the appeals of uses logos and pathos in their lyrics, and the appeals of ethos and pathos in the video. The song works to comment on the subjects of fame and disillusionment. The Living Tombstone uses things like metaphors, emotion, and facts to get their message across. All of this is contrasted to the playful and childish cartoon music video that goes on in the background commenting on the non-serious nature that a lot of famous people are treated with because of their status. The Living Tombstone was effective in getting their message and commentary about fame across using logos, pathos, and ethos.

]]> 2023-05-02 20:01:27 UTC https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2575720097 4004985 https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2575739400 PATHOS – When analyzing the lyrics of “My Ordinary Life” we can see that The Living Tombstone effectively uses lots of emotion in their wording to show the impact that fame has on the speaker. In the lines “Loosing sleep while I lose my mind” the phrase “lose my mind” let us know their mental state. Paired with the words “Losing sleep” show us the physical impact that it is having on them and how far they have “lost their mind.” In another line showing us the literal emotion of the speaker in the lyrics, the line “It hurts me to think and I don’t do pain,” we see more examples of negative emotions shown in the song. It hurts them to think, most likely referencing their relationship with their fans or their declining mental health under the pressure of fame. They avoid thinking about it because thinking about it causes them to spiral in pain, and they “don’t do pain.”]]> 2023-05-02 20:24:33 UTC https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2575739400 4004985 https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2575741208 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_6JU6vJMS0]]> 2023-05-02 20:26:39 UTC https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2575741208 4004985 https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2575741484 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zj0JOHJR-s]]> 2023-05-02 20:27:02 UTC https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2575741484 4004985 https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2576140329 LOGOS – Continuing on the theme of disillusionment and fame, “My Ordinary Life” uses literal phrases and logic to explain situation of the song. These literal and logical statements help us better understand the mind of the speaker narrating their experience. The literal meaning of these lines conveys a more direct approach to their struggles with the status in fame as well as the fanbase that comes with it.
In the line “They tell me they’re below me, I act like I’m above,” they mean in a literal sense that as more people praise them, their ego gets higher, so they act as though they are above everyone else. Another line that shows a literal meaning with LOGOS is the line “The people bleed together but I would be lost without their love.” In this line, they mean that all the people who are fans of their bleed and blend together like one mass, indistinguishable from one another. They see this mass of fans as distant and inhuman but realizes they without the support and “love” of the fans, they would fail. 

]]> 2023-05-03 03:39:43 UTC https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2576140329 4004985 https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2576197362 The music video uses some obscure video game references to give us hints  before the big reveal at the end that the whole video was someone playing a video game. Video games connect to my argument about fame and disillusionment as many people find videogames as an escape. The speaker is using these cartoonish video games as an escape to try and take their mind off of the weight of the feelings and emotions they are having.
My first example was the "PRESS START" text flashing in the first scene. This is an obvious reference to videogames and their tendency to have a "press to start" option on a main menu. 
My second example is where the car swerves off of the road because of a rock. This requires some prior knowledge from the widely known videogame, Mario Cart, where a big part of the game is making other players slip off of the race track using banana peels. 
My third example where we see a police car with stars on the side chasing after the 3 main characters. This could be a obscure reference to GTA, where the amount of "stars" you have when being chased by the police determines your "wanted" level within the video game. 

]]> 2023-05-03 04:44:06 UTC https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2576197362 4004985 https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2576200858 YouTube, YouTube, 23 Nov. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zj0JOHJR-s. Accessed 4 May 2023.

YouTube, YouTube, 3 Oct. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_6JU6vJMS0. Accessed 4 May 2023.

“The Living Tombstone (Ft. Sam Haft) – My Ordinary Life.” Genius, https://genius.com/The-living-tombstone-my-ordinary-life-lyrics.

Frost, Anna. “Meaning of My Ordinary Life by the Living Tombstone.” Blimey, 22 Oct. 2022, https://blimey.pro/meaning-of-my-ordinary-life-by-the-living-tombstone/. ]]> 2023-05-03 04:48:05 UTC https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2576200858 4004985 https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2577269647 The music video of “My Ordinary Life” uses visual effects, colors, and symbols to portray emotion where the cartoonish and childish characters cannot. 
My first example of this is in the first sequence of scenes where the colors are bright and cheerful, and the environment represents a sunny summer day. This is shown by a grassy landscape with bouncing flowers. We get clues of a relaxed and carefree scene by the lion lazily laying down with its eyes closed. 
The second example of emotion portrayed with the visuals in the video is when the lion is swallowed by the whale. The lion is unable to escape and gets angry. The color scheme then changes to red and impact lines show up on the edges of the screen. The lion shows an angry expression and bites the whale, displaying the emotion of anger. 
The third example of emotion in the music video is during the car chase scene. We can see the feeling of intensity and excitement shown in the chase. It starts out with the camera shaking and jumping as they step on the gas. We then see lots of impact lines and camera shaking as they are chased by the cop car. 

]]> 2023-05-03 20:09:13 UTC https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2577269647 4004985 https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2577278372 The lyrics within "My Ordinary Life" use many appeals to portray and image of someone struggling with the weight of fame and how this has affected their image of themselves and their mental health. The music video used along with the lyrics of the song are interesting because there is not a direct connection between the two. For the music video, a more childish and carefree approach is taken, with cartoonish visuals that contrast the serious and darker message that the lyrics tell us. I think the purpose of this is a commentary on how no matter the problems that a famous person is dealing with, they will still be put on a pedestal and often times treated like everything is fine. And the use of video games shows us that the speaker is trying to find an escape from the weight of their own emotions. ]]> 2023-05-03 20:20:02 UTC https://padlet.com/4004985/6mykh88hvo7jehq0/wish/2577278372