This is America Song analysis by

Irony

br1209067 — 2025-01-31 15:42:18 UTC

The irony in the song "This is America" is based on being a black man in America, man being used for humans. However it talks about the social injustice in an upbeat song to disguise the reality. In the song Childish Gambino sneaks in the topic of gun violence, "guns in my area, I got the strap, I gotta carry 'em".(genius, 2018) which shows the fear carried in black communities where gun violence is prevalent.

-Erin Brooks

references:

genius. (2018, May 6). Childish Gambino- This is America. Genius. Retrieved January 31, 2025, from https://genius.com/Childish-gambino-this-is-america-lyrics

Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2022, October 12). Discrimination against Black people in Canada. Statistics Canada. https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/1986-discrimination-against-black-people-canada

song video and lyrics

br1209067 — 2025-01-31 16:05:51 UTC

ChildishGambinoVEVO. (2018, May 6). Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY

genius. (2018, May 6). Childish Gambino- This is America. Genius. Retrieved January 31, 2025, from https://genius.com/Childish-gambino-this-is-america-lyrics

the figurative language

br1209067 — 2025-01-31 16:50:03 UTC

The figurative language used in the song is euphemism and symbolism. The song overall is the euphemism because it uses upbeat instrumentals to talk about the problem in the country. The symbolism is "not slippn' up" due to the country being run by worker bees, which he is stating this from the point of view of someone with lots of power.

-Erin Brooks

Theme

chyannewallace25 — 2025-01-31 17:39:12 UTC

This Is America by Childish Gambino is about the problems in American society, especially racism, gun violence, and how people get distracted by entertainment.One big theme is gun violence in the video, people are shot, but the guns are carefully handled, showing how America values weapons more than our lives. Another theme is media distraction while chaos happens in the background, Gambino and the dancers stay focused on performing, representing how society pays more attention to entertainment than real issues.

-Chyanne Wallace

Audience

faithfulgordon — 2025-02-02 22:50:46 UTC

In the song "This is America" by Childish Gambino the audience is everyone in America white, black, Asians, young people, older adults, and whoever else wants to really pay attention and listen. Guns and senseless violence play a big part in what's going on in America. Not only do we have police killing our black men we also have mass shootings in schools, grocery stores, churches and many more places. In the end Gambino wanted everyone in America to be more inform by creating these knowledgeable lyrics and a high beat video that everyone would pay attention to.

-Dajia G