Ghost town

• "Ghost Town" is an important commentary on social injustice in the early 1980s, especially the tremendous dissatisfaction many young people felt towards politicians and their economic policies
• Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative government were blamed for the terrible rise in both unemployment and taxation
• The deep recession seemed to be leaving an entire generation without work and few opportunities
• Spending three weeks at the top of the UK charts, the unsettling and grim depiction of urban rot in "Ghost Town" certainly reflected that mood of despair and the desperate desire for change
• Music video


  • Consists of two important structural elements: the band's unnerving performance intercut with shots of the bleak urban landscape
  • The narrative seems to be straightforward. The Specials are dressed for the weekend, but they drive aimlessly through the streets of London looking for somewhere to go
  • The futility of their journey is confirmed by closing shot of the group throwing stones into the Thames
• Music video genre


  Hybrid because it mixes the conventions of performance and narrative modes
• Performance mode


  • Typical of the performance style of music videos, the band members perform the song to the camera and look straight into its lens
  • The hypnotic chanting of the line "this town is coming like a ghost town" expresses a nightmarish vision of the world and the wailing chorus suggests we should be incredibly frightened by the prospect of this dystopian future
  • The tone of despair is supported by the band's performance inside the car
  • The madness in the band's faces during the hellish chorus is an appropriate signifier to convey the anger and sense of insanity felt by young people who were abandoned by the uncaring elite
  • The way they are crammed uncomfortably into the car probably connotes their struggle to find a place in society beyond the confines of the vehicle
• Narrative analysis


  • The dismal sound of the wind, which was created on a synthesiser, so it seems unnatural
  • The shots of tower blocks are taken from a worm's eye view, making the observer appear insignificant and powerless against the menacing architecture
  • The brutalist grey concrete and glass set against the flat grey sky helps connote the uninviting society which built this harsh landscape
  • The green traffic light signifies the start of our journey with the band through the deserted streets of East London
  • The frenzied series of whip pans and canted angles focusing on the car careering out of control signify the emotional and economic turmoil of the early 1980s
  • The bridge section changes to a major key and the lyrics "remember the good old days" of the "boomtown" offer an obvious contrast to the depressing reality of the present
  • The story shifts to night and the visual style changes to a more expressionist approach to filmmaking where the emotional and psychological states of the characters are more important than a realist portrayal of their actions
  • The low-key lighting of the interior shots creates a scary chiaroscuro effect, adding to the threat
  • The emotional turmoil and chaos of the last chorus fades to a dub reggae baseline, which is the song's coda
• Black Atlantic identity


  • Race was intercultural and transcended national borders
  • The Specials are a good example of this complex cultural exchange because their fusion of Jamaican ska and punk rock created a new musical expression
• Two of the band members were born in Jamaica, and the original drummer was from Barbados
• "Ghost Town" reflects the social and cultural context of 1981, providing the soundtrack to the economic hardship and racial tensions
• Instead of a thriving and vibrant cityscape, the band travel around the lifeless and bleak streets, representing the social collapse caused by the decline of car manufacturers and other industries in the UK
• Police sirens connote law and order, but in the context of the song, they become a signifier of social unrest and police brutality, especially the implementation of stop-and-search powers which disproportionately targeted young black men
• "Ghost Town" positions the audience to sympathise with the band members who are struggling to survive in the deep recession and "can't go on no more"