Rhetoric in Music: Northern Fires (Guernica)

To: Professor Laura Wilson

From: Nathan S Thomas
Date: 09/25/2022
Subject: Rhetorical Analysis of Northern Fires (Guernica)

INTRODUCTION
Rhetoric is as pervasive as the air we breath or the sound waves that echo through our ears.
One of the most heavily consumed forms of media in the modern world—music—is wrought
with rhetoric, soaked to its core. No matter the weight of the tone or the gravity of the subject,
lyricists and musicians and composers wield rhetorical strategies to connect their audiences to
their music. Effective rhetoric is memorable, but like a footprint, so too will it leave the listener
with a lasting impression. That’s why we might feel like music “speaks” to us, or why a song
might get stuck in our head. Northern Fires (Guernica) by American metalcore band Silent
Planet is one such song. Its lyrical finesse and emotionally charged rhythms envelope the
listener in all its frustrations and rage. A link to the song is provided below:
https://youtu.be/fOPXQlXURpY

DESCRIPTION
Silent Planet has never shied away from politics. In 2018, they released Northern Fires
(Guernica), a fast-paced, rage-filled antiwar commentary. The song is assumedly directed to
fans of the metalcore genre—a combination of modern metal and hardcore punk music—as
people unaccustomed to the cacophonous nature of the genre could have a hard time
approaching it. The title is actually referring to the famous Guernica, a 1937 painting by Pablo
Picasso created after the tragic bombing of Guernica. 1 Much like the painting, Northern Fires
(Guernica) espouses antiwar sentiments, however doing so from the perspective of someone
experiencing the atrocities of the Spanish Civil War.

ANALYSIS
Silent Planet uses rhetorical appeals to connect their audience with their song, which can be
examined through its lyrical content and general sound. The events that the song is inspired by
are real, but they are not the focus; in lieu of concrete narrative details to shape a story in the
lyrics, the band takes a more artistic, evocative approach to its rhetoric, opting to appeal to
emotion above logic. The music is seeking to inspire the listener to see a similar perspective on
the horrors of war, to stir them through powerful diction and an incessant din of hard-rock
sound.

Ethos
Our ability to trust the speaker in this context is influenced by very few factors. Obviously, the
speaker and the singer are separate entities, so we must decide if the singer is reliable from the
language of the music as opposed to the validity of their experiences. The lyrics are verbose and
make great use of figurative language and wordplay, demonstrating a strong command of the

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English language. When listeners recognize this, they are likelier to trust the intelligence and
reliability of the speaker. In the official lyrics of their songs, the band includes annotations, a list
of references from which they drew influence from while writing the song. These references
include the works of John Donne, Leo Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, Margaret Atwood, George
Orwell, indicating that the band is well-read and further bolstering the reliability of the
speaker/songwriters.

Logos
Monday, April 26, 1937. Blitzkrieg. On behalf of future dictator Francisco Franco, leader of the
Spanish Nationalists, Nazi forces fire-bombed the Basque city of Guernica during the Spanish
Civil War. The hellfire killed hundreds and wounded countless more.2 This tragedy is the
namesake of Northern Fires (Guernica). The horrors of war that the speaker preaches about are
not theory or fiction. The Bombing of Guernica was a major historical event, internationally
recognized as one of the worst wartime attacks on civilians in history, as well as one of the first
major catalysts for World War II. By anchoring this song to a real event, the antiwar case is
much stronger and those familiar with the history of the Spanish Civil War will feel further
compelled to view war negatively.

Pathos
Two emotions clamor above the cacophony and fervor of Northern Fires (Guernica): anger and
sorrow. In tandem they emulate the kind of rage that makes your vision blurry, frustration
peaking to the point of tear-shed. Chunky guitar riffs, fried vocals, and rapid blast-beats
communicate this in the sound of the song, but so too do the lyrics mirror these emotions. The
speaker is frustrated with his lack of agency as atrocities unfold around him:
Bury me with my name in an unmarked grave/Another casualty to the vanity of
history/The war marches on after the killing ends/Take our lives, colonize our minds/I’ve
been digging through timelines, historical bylines/I find the fatal flaw in our design
lies/Between thoughts we had and words we knew/Between what we’re told and what
is true/ Who fuels the fascist? A classist, inculcating the masses in passes/Under the
contrived countenance of contrition.3
In the first lines, the speaker refers to himself as a “casualty to the vanity of history”, another
poor soul crushed by the cogs of war, of history. Even after he dies—after everyone dies—the
war does not stop. Even if the fighting ceases and the bloodshed slows to a trickle, there is a
war of culture. A battle for individuality, for self-sovereignty. The nationalists and the foreign
fingers that play war-games with real human lives do not stop at the land or the towns or the
homes. They do not stop at you, or your body. They want your mind, your way of thinking and
way of life. The colonization is violating. The speaker then points out how history is cyclical: this
sort of atrocity happens time and time again because there is a disconnect between the
people’s thoughts and their ability to voice them. The oppressors keep the language of
revolution out of the mouths of the oppressed. The speaker is enraged by this divide, enraged
by the hand that keeps the tools of dissent just out of reach. The tools that can break the war
machine. The tools of freedom.

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EVALUATION
Silent Planet make effective use of rhetorical appeals to make their listeners think, to draw
them into the turbulence of music and war and force them to confront the horrors of the
battlefield. The only real shortcoming the song has is its lack of range: because of the specific
genre of music that it falls under, the potential audience is limited. However, the elements of
the genre that the song incorporates—the fast pace, the harsh vocals—are part of its emotional
appeal, and I would not separate that from the whole. As much as it limits the audience, it is
too important to the overall rhetorical scenario to be amputated.

REFERENCES
1. “Silent Planet – Northern Fires (Guernica).” Genius, June 15, 2018.
https://genius.com/Silent-planet-northern-fires-guernica-lyrics.
2. “The Bombing of Guernica: Could WW2 Have Been Stopped That Day?” Sky HISTORY.
Accessed September 25, 2022. https://www.history.co.uk/article/the-bombing-of-
guernica-could-ww2-have-been-stopped-that-day.
3. Russell, Garrett et al. Northern Fires (Guernica). Solid State Records, 2018, Accessed
September 25, 2022. https://open.spotify.com/track/47qK8dzOf0b1WfMI78qhb1?
si=052378d78dc740f4

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