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Kaitlyn Husic

Charles Freeland

ENG 1201.509

21 Feb 21

Lean on Me

“Lean on Me” is an encouraging song that was written by Bill Withers. The lyrics are

simple and easy to understand, yet they contain a powerful message of asking for help in time of

need. The “Lean on Me” videos by Club Nouveau and Michael Bolton share the same

encouraging lyrics and theme; however, emotionally they are distinctively different. Club

Nouveau’s video has an upbeat style with people dancing, whereas Michael Bolton’s video is

depressingly solemn.

The song “Lean on Me” contains positive and encouraging lyrics for listeners. The song

begins with the words “Sometimes in our lives we all have pain, we all have sorrow” and then

indicates that you should lean on others in time of need. Later in the song, the lyrics indicate that

one day the favor may be returned by stating, “Or it won’t be long til I’m gonna need someone to

lean on.” The overall message of the song is to encourage people to lean on someone for support

when they are struggling and need help.

The video by Club Nouveau is encouraging and upbeat. The video quality is black and

white and opens with dancers swinging their partners around having a good time. Kids are

holding hands, leaning on each other for support, and helping each other to safely cross the road.

A skater is performing stunts outside and enjoying himself. Members in the military are leaning

on each other swinging back and forth, smiling and giggling. The video uses instruments as
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props for the singers and dancers. Overall the mood of the video is uplifting as compared to

Michael Bolton’s version of the video.

The “Lean on Me” video by Michael Bolton is depressing and sad. The video

continuously flips scenes with different people to go along with the different verses. For

example, when the lyrics say “Lean on me when you're not strong,” the video shows two males

sitting on a rock communicating and helping each other out. For the lyrics, “And I’ll be your

friend” the video shows an older girl holding her younger sister, who looks sad. This video

includes no props to lighten the mood. There is no upbeat dancing or people giggling in the

video; instead the video contains scenes of people crying and feeling heavy-hearted. 

Both videos share the same encouraging lyrics and theme. The main claims of both

videos are to encourage people to lean on others when they are in time of need. The song has a

broad appeal because anyone can relate to the words, so the audience for both videos is people

around the world across many demographics. Although the videos have similarities, there are

some differences.

The biggest difference between the two videos is the music style. The Club Nouveau

rendition of “Lean on Me” is more inspiriting because it has a rhythm and blues music style.

Their soulful version of the song has a fast beat and uses numerous instruments including

cowbells, trumpets, trombones, and drums. The lyrics “We be jammin” are repeated several

times during the video and the characters in the video look like they are releasing their pain by

dancing. In contrast, Michael Bolton’s rendition of “Lean on Me” has a soft rock music style.

The composition features Michael Bolton’s powerful voice with a choir singing in the

background. Bolton’s rendition is softer and uses instruments such as a piano, guitars, and

tambourines. At the end of the video, Bolton repeats “Lean on me” until his voice gently fades
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away. Even though the two videos have different music styles, they both have the same

rhetorical appeal.

The videos both use pathos to appeal to the audience's emotions. The video by Club

Nouveau shows people laughing and having a good time and depicts “Lean on Me” as an

uplifting song, while the song by Michael Bolton appeals to pathos because it shows a girl

crying, a building broken into pieces and a hospitalized patient hugging a friend. When watching

these heartwarming clips, they appeal to the emotions of the viewers.  

“Lean on Me” is an encouraging song to listen to and reminds people it is okay to let your

guard down and trust others with your sorrow. Both videos have the same overall message and

the audience is directed towards all people around the world. Although both videos use pathos,

they are emotionally different. The video by Club Nouveau is cheerful and lively, while the other

video by Michael Bolton is characterized as sorrowful and sad. 

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Works Cited

Bolton, Michael. “Lean On Me - Michael Bolton (Lyrics) HD.” YouTube, 17 May 2015,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_UN68JfvYY. Accessed on Feb. 2021.

Club Nouveau. “Club Nouveau - Lean On Me (Official Music Video).” YouTube, 20 Oct. 2018,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbyjaUJWWmk. Accessed on 13 Feb. 2021.