A Comparative Analysis: Peter Gabriel's 'Biko' vs. Edwin Starr's 'War'

This essay provides a detailed comparison and contrast of two powerful protest songs: 'Biko' by Peter Gabriel and 'War' by Edwin Starr. 'Biko' is a eulogy dedicated to the anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, focusing on the injustices faced by black Africans and the enduring spirit of revolution, while 'War' is a more universal protest against the futility and destructiveness of war, advocating for world peace. The essay examines the songs' lyrical content, musical styles, and the impact they had. It explores how both songs, despite their different approaches and contexts, share common themes of loss, suffering, and the need for peace, while also highlighting their differences in focus, tone, and intended audience. The analysis includes the use of tribal instruments, colloquial phrases, and powerful refrains used in both songs. Ultimately, the essay concludes that both songs are impactful, but 'War' has a more profound effect due to its universal message against war.

Running head: COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY
Compare and Contrast Essay
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1COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY
I mean the truth untold,
The pity of war, the pity war distilled (Owen, Strange Meeting).
Poets, writers and activists have advocated the futility of war for many decades now.
The large scale destruction of life, property and peace that the world saw during the two great
wars deconstructed the traditional notion of the greatness of war. The world saw many more
wars that shattered the peace of the world for the next half century. Two such examples are
‘Biko’ by Peter Gabriel and ‘War’ by Edwin Starr. Separated by only by a decade both of
these songs talk of lives lost in struggle for freedom. Gabriel penned the song in 1980 in the
memory of Steve Biko, an Anti-apartheid activist who died in police custody in 1977 (Hill).
‘War’ on the other hand was originally written by Norman Whitfield though it became
popular when Edwin Starr released it as a single. It talks about the futility of war and the
importance of peace in general. Thus, this paper will compare these two songs and contrast
them to analyse the impact they could create and the treatment of war in each of them.
‘Biko’ by Peter Gabriel is a eulogy that has an extremely personal note. The poem
opens with the interrogation incident of Steve Biko at Port Elizabeth police room which
finally led to his death due to internal injuries (Eide). The song mourns Biko’s death and
describes the world without the leader as bleak. As the writer says, ‘With only one color
dead’ he implies the atrocities that has been committed by the white minority government on
the black majority population as one color here denotes the blacks. The writer calls to the
spirit of the dead leader as he believes that his death id extremely unjust. In the latter part of
the song, the writer goes on for a more universal approach instilling hope among the
followers of apartheid movement. He claims that the flame of revolution, once it catches,
cannot be extinguished by anybody (Hook). Thus, the death of the leader, though unfortunate,
is not going to curb the movement for which Biko and many other leaders sacrificed their

2COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY
lives. It is the duty of the followers to continue the movement and take it higher so that their
leader’s death does not go to vain. The writer repeatedly invokes the spirit of Biko through
the phrase “Yihla moja” which literally means “come spirit” to emphasize the atrocities faced
by black Africans (Gabriel). The song uses African drums to create a hypnotic effect. The use
of vocal delivery by Gabriel is clear throughout the song. It signifies the lyrical massage that
the singer wants to impact upon the audience.
War has been considered as destructive and horrific and a futile way to attain freedom
by Africans for a long time now (Ellison). War has been denounced by most singers, be it
Africans or Americans as it is harmful for mankind and never helps in establishing peace.
The similar sentiment is projected in the song ‘War’ by Edwin Starr. Throughout the song it
is evident that it is a protest song. The background is of the Vietnam War and the American
intervention in it (Kaiser). The song goes straight to claim that war is neither good nor bad for
anything. It is only a weapon used by the political achievers to meet their ends. It causes
unrest and loss for mankind. Thousands of mothers lose their sons, the dreams of many
young men gets destroyed. His repeated use of “absolutely nothing” with regard to the
importance of the war negates the imposed importance of war by politicians (Ernst). The
song finally advocates the importance of world peace and cooperation in today’s world.
Throughout the poem war has been argued to be “heartbreaker’ and a good for nothing idea.
The exclamation used by Starr with phrase like ‘good God y’all’ shows his intensity of
rejection of war. Though the song takes Vietnam War as its backdrop, it is much more all-
encompassing (Kelly). The singing technique is extremely compelling. Repetition of same
lines and ideas enforces the writer’s views and denounces war completely.
The two poems have similarity in many ways. Both the poems deal with war some
way or the other. In both cases they talk about the futility and losses that war brings with it.
The effects that common men face due to war, the problems that the nations might face are

3COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY
also there in both songs. Both the songs have powerful refrains that help establish the central
themes of the songs. The use of tribal instruments and colloquial phrases in both songs
creates a sense of belonging with the tortured. It also gives both the songs a local edge for
which they became extremely popular all over the world. Both the songs lead the charts for
weeks and are still considered as great contribution when it comes to deconstructing the
notions of war (Ellison). Both of the songs make use of the chorus to create the effect that the
common man is incorporated into the experience. Both the piece convey a strong political
anti-war massage but their style and approach is different. Both are extremely popular music
in their own genre and have had profound impact on listeners worldwide.
In spite of all these similarity, the two songs stand apart from each other in several
aspects. First, “Biko” is a eulogy that addresses a particular person and how his death has
affected the poet, the countrymen and the national movement. The sentiment there is private
and it is possible that many may not share the same intensity of feelings. The bloodshed and
torture that took place in Africa in the name of governance evoked pity and sympathy from
most people in the world and the song is powerful in that context (Kärki, Hill and Drewett). It
specifically talks about revolution and the eternal power of a flame of revolution might hold.
“War” on the other hand is much more universal, promoting the idea that world peace is the
need of the hour. The singing style is also different in both the songs. “Biko” is a lament song
thus is slower, pronunciations are clear whereas, “War” is a song that strongly denounces war
as a novelty and the rap style, use of pop phrases justify just that. The latter half of “Biko” is
much more commanding in tone. There is a movement from command to defiance (Drewett).
The use of native instruments like drums in “Biko” is a little presumptuous as they seem to be
a representation of how the singer, a white, perceived African culture. The bagpipes have also
been used to create an anthem like quality. Gabriel’s voice delivery is powerful and the lyrics
of the song are extremely apt. “War” on the other hand has much more impact on people. It is

4COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY
evident as the song has been remade several times and used by many singers. The massage
delivered by the song is very powerful and clear. It is the message delivered that matters
rather than the appeal of the song (Ashton).
From the above discussion it can be concluded that Biko” by Gabriel and “War” by
Starr are both powerful songs and deliver a strong massage. In spite of that “War” has a more
profound effect and is much more universal than “Biko”. The song is sung from a common
man’s perspective and appeal is made to humanity to fight against the atrocities of war.

5COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY
Works Cited
Ashton, Chris. "Social Impacts of Popular Culture During the Vietnam War." (2018).
Drewett, Michael. "The Eyes of the World Are Watching Now: The Political Effectiveness of
‘Biko’by Peter Gabriel 1." Peter Gabriel, From Genesis to Growing Up. Routledge, 2017.
99-112.
Eide, Marian. "Stephen Biko and the Torture Aesthetic." Ufahamu: A Journal of African
Studies 38.1 (2014).
Ellison, Mary. "Black Music and the Vietnam War." Vietnam Images: War and
Representation. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1989. 57-68.
Ellison, Mary. "War—it's nothing but a heartbreak: Attitudes to war in black lyrics." Popular
Music & Society 10.4 (1986): 29-42.
Hill, Shannen. "Iconic autopsy: postmortem portraits of Bantu Stephen Biko." African
Arts 38.3 (2005): 14.
Hook, Derek. "Retrieving Biko: A black consciousness critique of whiteness." African
identities 9.01 (2011): 19-32.
Kaiser, David E. American tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the origins of the Vietnam War.
Harvard University Press, 2000.
Kärki, Kimi, Sarah Hill, and Michael Drewett. "Peter Gabriel: From Genesis to Growing
Up." Peter Gabriel, From Genesis to Growing Up. Routledge, 2017. 21-32.
Kelly, Debra. "War! What is it good for? The work of the Group for War and Culture
Studies." Journal of War & Culture Studies 1.1 (2007): 3-7.

6COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY
Gabriel, Peter. Peter Gabriel - Biko. 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=luVpsM3YAgw. Accessed 13 Apr 2019.
Ernst, Georg. War - Edwin Starr (Original Vinyl). 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=dpWmlRNfLck. Accessed 13 Apr 2019.