Listening Framework
War Isn't Murder - Jesse Welles
Instruments Used
- Vocals (lead, layered & backing vocals)
- Acoustic Guitar
Vocal or Instrumental
- Vocal
Acoustic or Electronic
- Acoustic
Performance
- This song is performed live on video, creating a more authentic feeling and establishing a sense of connection with the performing artist.
- Although not hugely instrumentally dynamic, the intense vocals and the instrumental breaks throughout the song make the song incredibly engaging.
Music Theory
- The song is notably less dynamic in the verse than the chorus, made clear by the vocals; and features parts where the guitar goes silent and the vocals come through, encouraging the listener to pay attention to the latter.
- The tempo slightly varies throughout the song as there are no drums or percussion instruments to keep time. The unsteady tempo also creates a very personal feeling, almost as if you were hearing someone singing this around the campfire.
- The vocal melodies are very catchy and follow the chords throughout the song. 'War Isn't Murder' is a very upbeat and almost happy-sounding song despite discussing very controversial and serious topics. The use of such upbeat melodies while discussing serious topics can be attributed to multiple famous folk singers, like Bob Dylan and John Prine.
- 'War Isn't Murder' has a very basic song structure which allows the lyrics to shine through, similar to songs like 'Blowing in the Wind' and 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' by Bob Dylan.
- The song is in the key of Eb major, and most notably uses the e major scale.
> The chords in the verse include Eb (I), Cm (vi), Bb (V) and Bb7 (V7). The final chord is an outlier as it is non-diatonic and creates tension before the chorus to make it more impactful.
> The chords in the chorus include Ab (IV), Ab7 (IV7), Eb (I), C7 (vi7), F (iimaj), F7 (ii7) and Abm (IVm). The use of non-diatonic 7th chords perfectly reflect the meaning of the song - war isn't nice, it isn't pretty, so why should this song be so perfect? They also create tension which fits the atmosphere very well. The move from the IV to the IVm (Ab to Ab minor) is a common move where the composer borrows from the parallel minor key. This change creates a very bittersweet and usually emotional sound.
+ Chords referenced from multiple different sources within ultimate-guitar.com.
- The song is in the time signature 4/4.
- 'War Isn't Murder' has a very catchy rhythm in the verse and parts of the chorus - however, there are some strange changes and pauses which are used to highlight the lyrics.
- As you may infer from the title of the song, this is a folk protest song written about the currently ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. The lyrics are very emotional, and Jesse Welles uses direct references to politicians, locations and modern-day influential figures which is highly unusual and may have been done to connect more closely with the listener. You may also notice the semantic field of death and war portrayed throughout the song, most apparent in the chorus.
Technology
- This particular performance of the song seems to have been directly recorded and uploaded, however the studio version of the song features much more instrumentation. Both versions use analogue technology to capture the sincerity of the song.
Historical Context
- 'War Isn't Murder' was written very recently (early 2024) and became popular throughout social media for its profound message, musical ingenuity and lack of censorship. Jesse Welles obviously wanted to convey his feelings on the ongoing Israel-Palestine war, and does so by using emotive language, figurative speech and real-world references (Benjamin Netanyahu, Jared Kushner, Tom Hanks).
The harsh nature of the lyrics are directly contrasted with occasional humour and sarcasm which also reflect the song's sincerity.
When I say this song is uncensored, I mean uncensored. You can tell Jesse Welles doesn't really care about sugar-coating the message of the song. Here are some of my favourite lyrics:
- 'War isn't murder, they're called casualties' - mocks the way humans are treated like statistics, and that their deaths are labelled more like natural causes than murder. It implies that these deaths were non-preventable, when in reality, they never needed to happen.
- 'Hell even Kushner agrees, it's free real estate' - the direct reference to US Senator Jared Kushner and his insane proposal of Gaza waterfront properties is really effective here. It also shows that Jesse Welles is knowledgeable about the topic, giving him credibility.
- 'Ask Netanyahu / He's got a psalm for that / And a bomb for you' - This is a very controversial political reference to make. It provides commentary on the weaponisation of religion in war and accuses Benjamin Netanyahu, Head of Government of Israel, of doing just that.
- 'So in a short 20 years / When you vacation the strip / Try not to think about the dead / And have a nice trip' - These 4 lines are extremely powerful as they discuss how, despite the conflict, the terror, the violence and the life-altering impacts that the innocent populations of both countries must endure for the rest of their lives, this entire war will be swept under the rug and forgotten about in just 20 years.
- 'War isn't murder / We should all give thanks / I saw it all in a movie / Give it up for Tom Hanks' - these lines reference the movie Saving Private Ryan, wherein Tom Hanks stars as the main character. It targets the glorification of war in media that has manipulated millions, perhaps billions of people worldwide.
- 'War isn't murder / Ain't a river of blood / Stretching all through time / And raining down in a flood' - Finally, to end off the song, Jesse Welles uses this incredible analogy to emphasise the violence of war and its never-ending reign of terror on humanity.
> Lyric meanings referenced from online forums such as reddit.com and then researched further.
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