No Church in the wild

1. No church in the wild – Kanye
West
By Matt Morphy

2. ‘No Church in the Wild’ has some interesting implications. The lyrics are up for
interpretation, the title of the song itself is a figurative way of saying that
religious institutions such as the Church are unnecessary human constructs
that are not found in nature which is interesting as the whole video is set in
some sort of city of town and there is no sign of wild life or trees or anything
like that.

3. The video starts off with a guy lighting up a
Molotov cocktail whilst walking done a
street, in front of him are riot police.
Shortly after we are rite in the middle of a
confrontation between police in riot gear
and young rioters. There is no explanation
and the rioters have been given no noble
cause to defend, even if they do, the
viewer is not made aware of it, this to me
reminds me of the news and how people
are shown senseless violence.
The video features several other dramatic
shots of sculptures. Sculptures are often
used for symbolism, in the context of this
video, showing these stone monuments
implacably overlooking the chaos that is
happening on the street level is a reminder
that the elite are seeing this and approving
of it as they are the ones that are
responsible of the making of these
sculptures in the first place.

4. Later on in the video, it turns night time and strobe lights appear, the kind you
usually see in clubs or raves, these events are associated with young people and its
seems that they are being omitted by the rioters, this might suggest that it is the
youth fighting against the police with may represent the government.
At the end of the video nobody truly wins or loses. Rioters fight back and appear
triumphant while police still stand their ground. In other words, nothing has changed
and status quo is preserved. An elephant make an appearance in the street
reminding the viewers that the ‘wild’ in question is in fact society, where people act
like animals and the strongest one wins, survival of the fittest in other words. In this
wilderness, there is no Church, no respite from the savagery, just the stone gaze of
statues overlooking the violence. These sculptures represent the puppet masters,
those who pull the strings on both sides in order to advance their agenda of a more
controlled and repressive society.