The Specials - Ghost Town

Background and historical contexts

Read this excellent analysis from The Conversation website of the impact Ghost Town had both musically and visually. Answer the following questions

1) Why does the writer link the song to cinematic soundtracks and music hall tradition?

It has a nod to cinematic soundtrack and music hall traditions whilst reflecting engendering anxiety as it was written in E♭.

2) What subcultures did 2 Tone emerge from in the late 1970s?

It emerged from the subculture of Mod and Punk in the late 1970s.

3) What social contexts are discussed regarding the UK in 1981?

In 1981, England was hit by recession and away from rural Skinhead nights, riots were breaking out across its urban areas. Deprived, forgotten, run down and angry, these were places where young people, black and white, erupted.

4) Cultural critic Mark Fisher describes the video as ‘eerie’. What do you think is 'eerie' about the Ghost Town video?

The Ghost town music video was seen as eerie through the mysterious, strange and even unexpected narrative portrayed and instruments played. The wasy they used camera shots to film scenes in the car cramped together with the mix of scenery and even times of day confused the audience. Including this, the music was seen as to not match us with the videos portrayed and even the fact that the song had no chorus but just some repeated lines.

5) Look at the final section (‘Not a dance track’). What does the writer suggest might be the meanings created in the video? Do you agree?

The writer suggests that  It’s just a cry out against injustice, against closed off opportunities by those who have pulled the ladder up and robbed the young, the poor, the white and black of their songs and their dancing, their futures. Drive round an empty city at dawn. I agree with this as i believe that they made the song as a sort of protest against how they have no where to go and are getting lost in their lives.

Now read this BBC website feature on the 30th anniversary of Ghost Town’s release. 

1) How does the article describe the song?

The article describes it as a depiction of social breakdown that provided the soundtrack to an explosion of civil unrest.

2) What does the article say about the social context of the time – what was happening in Britain in 1981?

In June 1981 there was a continuous rise of unemployment, the songs blend of melancholy, unease and menace took on an entirely new meaning when Britain's streets erupted into rioting almost three weeks later 

3) How did The Specials reflect an increasingly multicultural Britain?

The bands record label gave its name to which fused ska, reggae and new wave and, in turn, inspired a crisply attired youth movement. Their gigs attracted the hostile presence of groups like the National Front and the British Movement.

4) How can we link Paul Gilroy’s theories to The Specials and Ghost Town?

We can see from the music video that the band is racially diverse as Gilroy states and that  its musical genre of ska, a style which could be read politically in the context of a racially divided country.

5) The article discusses how the song sounds like a John Barry composition. Why was John Barry a famous composer and what films did he work on?

John Barry was a famous composer for providing the musical scores for more than 100 motion pictures and television programs and worked on the James Bond films.

Ghost Town - Media Factsheet

Watch the video several times before reading Factsheet #211 - Ghost Town. You'll need your GHS Google login to access the factsheet. Once you have analysed the video several times and read the whole factsheet, answer the following questions: 

1) Focus on the Media Language section. What does the factsheet suggest regarding the mise-en-scene in the video? 

The factsheets talks about it using the style of British social realist films and genre is characterised by sympathetic representations of working-class men through the hopeless environment. It talks about the low budget shoot that reflects both social and political nature  whilst the ending scene of the river Thames is seen as very powerful and nihilistic.

2) How does the lighting create intertextual references? What else is notable about the lighting?

Ghost towns lighting borrows a style from expressionist cinema where placed are eerily lit by limited light. There is also a highly effective low budget filmmaking technique used from the low angle to suit its aesthetic. The harsh yellow reflections and hints of light that pass over the members faces shows 'natural light' although there is a play with time which is disorienting for the audience playing with time play lighting.

3) What non-verbal codes help to communicate meanings in the video?

The non-verbal codes seen are where they are singing of the song with expressionless faces and direct

mode-of-address communicating zombie-like, stiff body movements are suddenly relaxed in the manic middle section.

4) What does the factsheet suggest regarding the editing and camerawork? Pick out three key points that are highlighted here.

Handheld, disorienting camerawork with whip pans and canted angles reinforces a frenetic feel that distorts the sense of day and night. Most of the shots are seen as on-boards travelling shots as the band are usually together to empathise the relationship between them.

5) What narrative theories can be applied to the video? Give details from the video for each one.

Todorov's theory of equilibrium is seen where its starts with them driving around to a disequlibrium of the dark and eerie streets when at the end they emerge to the river as the new equilibrium. Barthes action codes can be seen through how they are travelling in the car location to another.

6) How can we apply genre theory to the video?

A gender theory of performance can be shown with how the band are all together in the car portrayed to be performing their own song by lip syncing.

7) Now look at the Representations section. What are the different people, places and groups that are represented in the Ghost Town video? Look for the list on page 4 of the factsheet.

The city during the start is portrayed with  tall skyscrapers and buildings from a low angle view to give them power. They continue to drive around in the day time passing by different buildings that represent London and its streets. As the scenes turn to night, we can see and even feel the eeriness and clutter as we approach a different side of London. We are now exposed to the the real emptiness that London truly is. There was a reflection of the struggle for the young men of London in the past, especially the urban youth. When it comes to race, the band is a mix of colour showing how they intended to move away from traditional ideologies of discrimination. Their inclusion and acceptance can show how they don't follow society. Theres not much shown on masculinity just how they portray it in their own way. However, they do reinforce some stereotypes by their emotional less faces where they refuse to show feelings to the reckless driving around the streets.

8) How can Gauntlett's work on collective identity be applied to the video?

Collective identity can be applied through the shared experience of male collective identity and negotiated identity offering a safe space for men to see their problems when it came to times of economic deprivation as well as traditionally masculine jobs disappearing.

9) How can gender theorists such as Judith Butler be applied to Ghost Town?

Judith Butlers gender theories are applied as she suggest gender was formed through a collection of behaviour by members  of biological sex. This can be influenced by society and certain expectations that were seen to be ‘performing’ the structures of patriarchy.

10) Postcolonial theorists like Paul Gilroy can help us to understand the meanings in the Ghost Town music video. What does the factsheet suggest regarding this?

It also suggests that postcolonial theories use the idea of in-groups, powerful and influential people of society. It says that out group are seen to have less power, the video is seen to challenge these ideas by the mix of race and ethnicity focusing more on musical taste and social class.