A Theme Songs Meaning is Greater Than What You May Think

In the beginning of film history, no voices, sound effects, or theme songs could be heard by the audience. The only sound the audience could hear was a live orchestra playing certain songs to certain parts of the movie. The music played at these parts would make a scene even more dramatic, romantic, or intense. Since the beginning of film, music has had a significant impact on the meaning of a move. Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” in Spike Lee’s movie Do the Right Thing, was no exception to this. Lee uses different parts of the song to create a different meaning to each scene. Lee demonstrates how the different parts of the song can symbolically show that African American’s should fight back against the power structures that hold them back from equality, work together, and to be proud that they are African American.

The movie’s opening scene plays the entire song “Fight the Power.” It featured a woman doing a very powerful dance to the music. It almost seems as if she is fighting something from the very beginning of the song. It later goes on to show her wearing a boxing outfit and punching gloves. At the point when the woman was boxing the camera, the chorus continues to say, “Fight the Power.” Spike Lee plays the chorus at this part, because it simply states the message he is trying to bring across at this point. He wants African Americans to fight and to fight aggressively. He has the woman box the camera also at this point to let the African American audience know that they were the ones who have to fight. As journalists Laura K. Warrell put it, “Not only did `fight´ epitomize an alienated nation frustrated by class conflict and lack of social progress, it told us what to do. It told us to revolt” (Warell 8). Many African Americans felt the same way at the time this movie and song was released.

The song has a second little part to the chorus which was, “fight the powers that be” (Public Enemy 3). Spike Lee uses this part of the song in a couple scenes to let the audience know exactly what power to fight. Lee first uses this part of the song when Radio Raheem walks across the street where part of the community was playing around a pried fire hydrant. The white police officers arrive soon after Radio Raheem leaves and turn off the fire hydrant. Lee purposely has the white officers come in to break things up after Radio Raheem leaves. This let the viewer know that the police were one of the powers to fight. Lee not only means the police in this scene, but also the law system itself. This is also the writer Chuck D’s, original meaning when he wrote the song. He states that, “when I was talking about what to fight I didn’t mean the person in front of you, but rather the power structure behind them” (Vericks 5). Chuck D and Spike Lee both knew that the actual systems and power structures were what had to be fought if African Americans were going to gain Equality.

Lee used the song “Fight the Power,” to emphasize that people have to unite for a stand against the power to work. Lee chooses to play the part of the song were Public Enemy shouts out, “Brothers and Sisters, Hey,” just before Radio Raheem squared off with a group of Puerto Ricans to see whose boom box is better. Public Enemy is calling out to all the people who are unaware to pay attention and unit. The Puerto Rican’s Boom box in this scene is not loud enough to keep up with Radio Raheems. The Puerto Rican then turns his down and shakes his head at Radio Raheem to signify that he understood. Lee does not place this here to signify that the Puerto Rican understood that his boom box wasn’t as loud as Radio Raheem’s. Lee places this part of the song here to symbolize his point that a stand doesn’t work out when people try to do their own thing. They both couldn’t have been playing their boom box at the same time. It only worked out if one of them turned it down. He wanted to clearly state that “brothers and sisters” have to stand together and unite. If they stand together for a common purpose, they will achieve a lot more.

Lee also uses the title song to intensify his point that African American’s should be proud of who they are. He chooses to emphasize this point when Radio Raheem walks into Sal’s Famous Pizzeria playing his boom box so loud that people have to shout in order to hear each other. Radio Raheem is there boycotting Sal’s Pizzeria because he feels that Sal has mistreated him and because there are no pictures of African American’s on Sal’s wall of fame. The part of the song Lee chooses to use in this scene make it obvious that he is trying to convey the message that Radio Raheem is proud to be African American and so should everyone else. Lee plays the lyrics, “Cause I’m Black and I’m proud, I’m ready and hyped plus I’m amped” as Radio Raheem walks into Sal’s (Public Enemy 3). Lee is letting the viewer know that Radio Raheem is ready to be heard and it is time for Sal to listen because he was taking a stand. Lee was encouraging the audience to take a stand and be heard like Radio Raheem.

In the same scene Lee expresses this point with the use of a different line from the song. When Radio Raheem first walks into Sal’s his boom box plays, “Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me” (Public Enemy 3). Lee uses this line here to address that white people were still famous but they shouldn’t necessarily mean anything to African Americans. As Chuck D states, “Those heroes did nothing for me or my people and all the advantages they had created was never enjoyed by blacks” (Warrell 17). Chuck D and many other African Americans couldn’t see why they should have to appreciate white icons that have done nothing for their people.

Lee tries to convey many messages in his movie Do the Right Thing. He uses many methods to try to get his message across to the African American community, but one of the methods that seems to be most influential is music. Lee is able to build more suspense with the use of the song “Fight the Power,” but he is even more importantly able to create a deeper meaning to every one of his scenes. With the help of music, Lee was able to include strong messages in his scenes such as African Americans need to fight back against the power structures that hold them back from equality, stand united, and be proud that they are African American.