ipl-logo

Analysis Of Howlin 'Wolf's Smokestack Lightning'

837 Words4 Pages

The first scene I am going to analyse shows one of Stratton Oakmont’s typical and excessive Office Parties, which are looking more like huge orgies, than a lunch break at a multi-million dollar company. The scene begins with a chapel playing march music and continues with a dozen prostitutes running towards each other. Simultaneously an edited version of the song “Smokestack Lightning” by Howlin' Wolf starts to play. The Song is about a train going by and he sings about watching its sparks coming out of the smokestack. Wolf said he learned all he needed when working on the fields of Mississippi, where he grew up. For him that train represented gold, freedom and the world passing by, as he was stuck in Mississippi (Nightlysong). „Smokestack lighntnin', Shinin' just like gold. Why don't ya hear me cryin'? A-whooo-hoooo-ooo“ The director uses multiple wide shots and a tracking shot, which might resemble the train in the previously mentioned song. But the Urban dictionary …show more content…

Maybe it is even both and Scorsese uses the scene to show that you cannot get rich through hard work, but that getting rich has a certain price. If you take his statement about how this behavior is even being encouraged in the United States, into consideration, you could assume that he wants to show his viewers the ridiculousness of someone being able to exploit hard working people without facing any consequences. He might also want to show, that today people can do anything they want if they have enough

Open Document