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?
The writer link the song to cinematic soundtrack and music hall tradition due to gaining that idea that it relfects and engenders anxiety by producing a "mood music".

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

The subcultures that the 2 Tone emerge from in the late 1970s are the Mod and Punk subcultures and its musical roots and the people in it, audiences and bands, were both black and white. Ska and the related Jamaican Rocksteady were its musical foundations, sharpened further by punk attitude and anger. 

3) What social contexts are discussed regarding the UK in 1981?
The social contexts that are discussed regarding the UK in 1981 are the fact that England was hit by a recession and away from rural Skinhead nights, riots were breaking out across its urban areas. People were deprived, forgotten, run down and angry, these were places where young people, black and white, erupted. In these neglected parts of London, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool the young, the unemployed, and the disaffected fought pitch battles with the police. The song was used to refelct the mournful sound of the riots. 

4) Cultural critic Mark Fisher describes the video as ‘eerie’. What do you think is 'eerie' about the Ghost Town video?
I think what is 'eerie' about the video is the use of the instruments such as the "Hammond organ’s six ascending notes". The background music creates a sense of enigma and what audiences would normally hear in a hammer horror or horror film. Also, the fact that throughout the whole video they used a low-key and under-key lighting which allows shadows on the features of the characters. Also, linking to the title "Ghost Town", the setting is empty, there's no people around and the idea that at the start of the video, there were buildings in London that seemed to be faceless, highlighting the idea of enigma codes and the fact that it also seemed depressing.

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 the meanings created in the video could be 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. I agree as the lyrics reinforce these ideas such as “government leaving the youth on the shelf” and “people getting angry”, which is a reference to riots.

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

1) How does the article describe the song?

A blend of melancholy, unease and menace. 

2) What does the article say about the social context of the time – what was happening in Britain in 1981?
Britain was at the peak of its riots - which were fuelled by the discrimination against black individuals and immigrants. The song and band was created as a way to break the racial tension going on.

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

The band consisted of black and white members and their music was a hybrid of West Indian and British/American genre conventions (post colonial ideas). 

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

Gilroy suggests that there is liquidity to identity which is shown through The Specials as we see how both black and white members embrace each others cultures but also how black diasporic identity finds its place in music.

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?

He composed music for 11 bond films and was a famous composer for his unique, electronic styles in his compositions. 


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 mise-en-scene of the Ghost Town video uses the style of British social realist films. This genre is characterised

by sympathetic representations of working-class men, the highlighting of bleak (often urban) environments and a sense of hopelessness. The video’s low-budget shoot, the social and political nature of the subject-matter of both video and song all reflect the codes and conventions of this film genre. 

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

key lighting creates intertextual references to horror and film noir genres. Shadows and darkness make the video feel mysterious and threatening. The lighting is also uneven and gloomy, reflecting the bleak mood of Britain in 1980s.

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

Facial expressions and their body language communicate seriousness, disorientation and frustration. 

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

Tracking shots of the car moving through Coventry create a journey through urban decay - Close-ups of band members emphasise emotion and intensity - Slow editing pace reflects the slow, haunting rhythm of the song

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

Lévi-Strauss use of binary oppositions between lively past vs empty present and community vs isolation

Barthes with the use of enigma codes for a sense of mystery when exploring the city 

Todorov because the video shows a disrupted equilibrium because Britain is represented as chaotic and unstable

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

The use of hybridity reflects Neale’s idea that genres change and blend over time

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 video represents unemployed young people, multicultural urban communities, working-class Britain, a sense of isolation for people, sense of decay in humanity

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

David Gauntlett argues that the media helps audiences construct identities. The music video allows audiences to feel fit in with multicultural identites and explore isolation and fill its void.

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

Judith Butler argued that gender is performed through repeated behaviours and styles and reflects social and cultural contexts of its time period. In Ghost town,masculine identities are performed through fashion, posture and attitudes associated with ska and punk subcultures which subverts most stereotypes from the 1980s.

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?

The factsheet suggests the video reflects multicultural Britain and the influence of Caribbean culture on British identity. Gilroy’s ideas about hybridity and the Black Atlantic can be applied because the music combines Jamaican ska with British social commentary