Rhetorical Analysis on “Tears in Heaven”
Rebecca Yu
English Composition
Aiden Yeh
3 June 2015 Yu1
Rhetorical Analysis on “Tears in Heaven”
Eric Clapton, one of the most influential guitarists and songwriters, composed the song "Tears in Heaven" which won him three Grammy Awards. This song carries his sorrow and love for his son, and through the making of the song, he learns to heal and carry on with life. Clapton showed his despair and pain through the lyrics, looking forward to the day when they may finally unite again in heaven, and it touched the hearts of the listeners. "Tears in
Heaven" is a personal song written by Eric Clapton expressing the most genuine and tragic love, and it also brought peace to those people who had also lost their loved ones.
Eric Clapton is a guitarist, songwriter and a singer, and he was a huge influence not only to many famous guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen and Gary Moore, but also an important figure in music. In his career, he had won a total of 18 Grammy Awards and ranked high in “Greatest Guitarists of All Times” in many magazines, including Rolling Stone and
Times. His success and contribution in music has given him fame into making his music more widely known.
Eric Clapton wrote the song “Tears in Heaven” out of grief after the tragedy that happened to his son. In the year 1999, his son died at the age of four, when he accidentally fell through the window from the 53rd floor in building in New York City. For the following months, Eric Clapton grieved for his son and disengaged himself with the outside-world. He then decided to write “Tears in Heaven” which he dedicated to his boy. He collaborated with
Will Jennings, who is known for writing the lyrics to the song “My Heart Will Go On”, for he admired his work and hoped that he could help him complete the song for his son. Will
Jennings had declined the request at first since he felt that the connection of the song between Yu 2 father and son was too personal; nevertheless, he still completed the last two verse lines of
“Tears in Heaven.”
Eric Clapton establishes ethos with his own story and true emotions; the song has showed the pain he was undergoing when being forced to accept the fact of his son’s death.
The lyrics he wrote came from the bottom of his heart, with the most sincere love and grief for his boy. Eric Clapton also wrote “The Circus Left Town” which also talks about the memory he had between his son, the night they had spent together before the tragedy occurred. He showed ethos for he had written these songs in the memory of his son, and the lyrics were so genuine and heartfelt it got the empathy of the listeners. They could be able to feel what he expressed through the song, his agony and his love for his son.
Eric Clapton inaugurated pathos with the way the music was played, different from his previous songs, “Tears in Heaven” is softer and has a sad tone to the melody. The song was acoustic, and was played using musical instruments without electrical amplification. This emphasizes the vocals; Eric Clapton has a raspy voice which adds the taste of sorrow to the song and lyrics.
Pathos is used right from the beginning of the song to the very end. The title of the song “Tears in Heaven” points out the meaning of the song. The heartbreak Eric Clapton suffered from when he lost his son. The feeling of sadness and sorrow so deep and intense it would bring tears to heaven.
Pathos is clearly established in the lyrics of the first two verses when his uses the first person point of view asking his son the questions, “Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven ? Would it be the same if I saw you in heaven?” and “Would you hold my hand if I Yu 3 saw you in heaven? Would you help me stand if I saw you in heaven?” (Eric Clapton, Tears in Heaven) It shows his eager to end his life and join his son, and he imagines the day when they will finally meet again in heaven. Having written the lyrics in the first person point of view makes it even more real, and it gets the listeners to imagine the picture of the father talking to the son when they finally meet each other again.
In the third and fourth lines of the first and second verses, also wrote in the first person point of view, he starts telling himself, “I must be strong and carry on” and “I’ll find my way through the night”(Eric Clapton, Tears in Heaven). The two verse lines shows that
Eric Clapton knows that he has to stay strong, not only for his family, but also for his son. It effectively touches the hearts of the listeners, to see see a man trying hard to pull himself together after going through the hard times. Moreover, it encourages those who had also lost their lost ones to heal and carry on in life. And then Eric Clapton ends the first and second verse by writing, “Cause I know I don’t belong here in heaven” and “Cause I know I just can’t stay here in heaven”, as if waking up from a dream and realizing that it will never come true (Eric Clapton, Tears in Heaven). Eric Clapton wanted to stay in heaven where he could be with his son, and here it shows that he has gradually accepted the death of his son.
The third and fourth verse was written by Will Jennings. He depicts the pain Eric
Clapton is through, how people undergo the process of losing a loved-one. In the third verse,
Jennings talks about how life and death can struck one so unexpectedly and tear one apart, leaving them hopeless, not knowing why things are the way they are.
In the fourth verse, Jennings wrote that no matter how difficult life gets, there is always hope to navigate one through the tough times. The last line, “And I know there’ll be Yu 4 no more tears in heaven.” is a respond to the title of the song that one day, someday, everything will be okay (Eric Clapton, Tears in Heaven). The use of pathos brings comfort and hope to the people who are suffering from the same pain.
Logos is not obvious, but is clearly established throughout the whole song, weaving the fatherly love into the words. By using the simplest questions and sentences, Eric Clapton had created an atmosphere of sorrow. He poured his love for his son and sorrow into the song, and the genuineness has touched the hearts of the listeners.
While it has been years since the song was first released, up till now the song is still a classic popular among people. It still reminds people of the tragic accident, and Eric
Clapton’s beloved son, the love that was too late to express and turned into a song. "Tears in
Heaven", Eric Clapton dedicated this song to his son, expressing the most sincere and heartbreaking love. Yu 5
Works Cited
Grassi, Tony “Tragedy Inspires Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven” June 24 2011. guitarworld.com June 3 2015.
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