Billy Joel and Hell

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the late post. But school has been hell for me so far. Speaking of hell, I was on Youtube the other day and as I was going through my extensive list of songs saved on my playlist, I stumbled across a music video by Billy Joel called "River of Dreams"




Before this class, I would have never noticed all the Christian symbolism in the video, but now, I realize that this video is a essentially a journey from hell to heaven through rebirth. First, the video is shot in a reddish hue with a visual effect similar to a heat wave, bring to mind an environment similar to hell, which in popular culture, is always portrayed as a hot and fiery place. There is also the constant image of the lone boatman on a river, which brings up images of Charon ferrying souls across the river Styx. However, as the video progresses, water become less of a metaphor for the underworld, rather, it becomes an image of rebirth, or rejuvenation. This idea of water as rebirth is epitomized at 3:32 in the video when a pastor baptizes a person in the river. The metaphorical journey from hell to heaven is complete as a choir sings in front of a church during the last scenes of the video. But all imagery and metaphors aside, it is a very catchy song.

Benny