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Charles Groom

Doctor Cassel

English 1201

13 June 2020

Context and Rhetorical appeals: Talk is Overrated

Context is an integral part of any conversion and with the rise of technology,

conversations are even easier to have. But, why is context so important? To examine this

question, one could look at a variety of different evidence. However, this essay will focus on

dissecting two music videos, both of Jeremy Zucker’s “Talk is Overrated.” In the original version,

Zucker is hanging out with his friends and having a good time while touring around the United

States. The video is light and happy and uses pathos to give the audience a sense of euphoria.

On the other hand, the stripped version focused solely on Zucker and his guitar and features

fewer instruments. The more personal feeling of this video draws more attention to the words

and uses pathos to give the song a more depressing feel. The subtle differences between how

the two versions of Jeremy Zucker’s “Talk is Overrated” use context to reinforce the rhetorical

appeals of the videos show the importance of understanding and applying context to different

situations.

The original version of Jeremy Zucker’s “Talk is Overrated” provides images that

represent the lyrics a certain way that might not have been seen without the video. The lyrics

themselves seem to depict a story of a man who, for whatever reason, is lonely and angry. This
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is evident when Zucker says “‘Cause I’ve been on my own for a f--- while” (Zucker 3). Not only

does Zucker feel lonely, but his use of profanity also suggests that he bitter about this fact.

However, in context within the original music video, this takes on a new meaning. At this part,

the music video shows short clips of Zucker having fun with his friends on a road trip. Now, the

line: “‘Cause I’ve been on my own for a f--- while” takes on a new meaning (Zucker 3). Because

the audience can clearly see that Zucker is not actually alone in the video, this line becomes

somewhat relaxed. Zucker is saying that he was lonely but that is no longer the case and

because of this he can finally relax and have a good time. This line is able to change meaning is

because of the video. The images of Zucker hanging out with his friends change the pathos of

the line from sad to happy. Another important instance of this is in the titular line where Zucker

says: “Talk is overrated, let’s just vibe/ and love is overrated in my mind” (Zucker 12-13). In the

music video, Zucker is seen driving with his friends and having fun. In that context, this line

becomes lighthearted and fun. As if he is saying that he does not want to talk about anything

serious and he is focused on his friends. The pathos of this line changes in the stripped version

to something that is very similar in meaning but has a different appeal. Although subtle, the

context of a video can change the way the lyrics of a song are perceived by an audience.

Similarly, the stripped version of Jeremy Zucker’s “Talk is Overrated” uses context to

change the pathos associated with certain lines which give the song a new meaning. Because of

the more authentic feel, the stripped version allows the lyrics to take over the rhetorical appeal

and their original meaning comes out. A good example of this is when Zucker says: “I don’t

wanna smoke, I don’t need a drink/ Just tell me how you feel, tell me what you think/ ‘Cause

I’ve been on my own for a f--- while/ and I don’t need a girl, I just wanna smile” (Zucker 1-4).
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Zucker opens the song by admitting that he wants to remain sober. He also says that he’s lonely

and does not want a girlfriend. All of this has to do with not running away from his problems

but facing them. The meaning is visible because it is not being masked by happy videos of

Zucker and his friends on tour. The real meaning is exposed when juxtaposed with the titular

line. Imagine a man sitting in a room talking about his feeling with someone you cannot see

when all of a sudden he says: “Talk is overrated, let’s just vibe/ And love is overrated in my

mind” (Zucker 12-13). Zucker admits that he does not want to run away from his problems, yet

here Zucker says he just wants to be in the moment and not have to deal with love. This

contradicts the first line of the song and because of this, it is now clear that Zucker is painting

the picture of a man who is conflicted and this is only shown because of the context.

The differences in rhetorical appeal between the two versions of Jeremy Zucker’s “Talk

is Overrated” can be attributed to the contextual differences supplied by the music videos.

Context can completely alter the pathos of a text. This can be seen when looking at one quote

from the two perspectives established in the previous paragraphs and is evident when Zucker

says: “Talk is overrated, let’s just vibe” (Zucker 12). In both cases, Zucker is talking about not

wanting to get serious and ruin his mood. However, in the original version, he is saying this

because he is caught up with his friends. Similarly, in the stripped version, Zucker does not want

to talk about his feeling but he is using this as escapism, and given what he said previously he

appears conflicted. The videos are not that dissimilar, they are both about Zucker, they both

feature the same song and the same words excluding Blackbear’s rap in the original. The reason

that they change in meaning so much is because of the context. Understanding context is

important because it can change the meaning of conversations that happen every day. At a
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conversational level, this might not deplorable, but at a professional level context can make the

difference between a successful idea and an unsuccessful one.

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Work Cited

Zucker, Jeremy. “talk is overrated ft. blackbear (Offical Video).” Youtube, featuring Blackbear,

11 Sept. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q01G4te-Ng. Accessed 13 Jun

2020.

Zucker, Jeremy. “talk is overrated (stripped).” Youtube, 2 Feb. 2018,

https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=56eamJK-BHE. Accessed 13 Jun 2020.