For centuries, writers of both poetry and prose have sought to entertain and educate their readers as well as evoke specific emotions by detailing events from the human experience to which they can relate. Similarly, composers have sought to do the same albeit through the combination of music and lyrics. In his 1982 release, “Goodnight Saigon,” singer/songwriter Billy Joel, through the use of sound, imagery, symbolism and the juxtaposition of opposites, brings images of the Vietnam War to the forefront and in so doing, provides his audience with insight into the human experience.
Unlike his musical contemporaries like Bruce Springsteen and Bono from U2, Billy Joel stayed away from writing songs which showcased his political views and never served in the military himself. Consequently, when he was approached by veterans to
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write a song about the Vietnam War, he was reluctant to do so. Inspired, however, by these men’s determination to pay tribute to their fallen comrades and their reassurances that they would “help him write it”, he agreed to it. Phil Ramone, who produced the song, said: "We never thought it would be a hit, but we knew it meant a lot to Billy Joel and to the people we lost in Vietnam.” Ironically, “Goodnight Saigon”, remained at No. 57 on the Billboard charts for seven weeks and was hailed by many critics as one of “the most intense” songs of his career CITE A SOURCE. In the opening lines of “Goodnight Saigon”, the audience is introduced to Parris Island--a marine recruit station in South Carolina where the newly enlisted are sent for six weeks of military training.
It is at this point that Joel begins to use the juxtaposition of opposites to “allude to the fruitlessness of the American efforts in Vietnam” (CITE A SOURCE) and to illustrate the general feeling of powerlessness felt by the soldiers stationed there. For example, when they initially arrive at Parris Island, the soldiers describe themselves as “soulmates”. Upon leaving Parris Island to embark on their tour in Vietnam, however, they describe themselves as “inmates from an asylum”. In addition to long hours in a military classroom, a soldier’s basic training on Parris Island consisted of learning how to march, dig foxholes, use various weapons such as firearms, bayonets and explosives, and practice hand-to-hand combat CITE A SOURCE. All this compounded by the fact that this was probably the first time that many of them were away from their home and their families, most likely left them feeling lonely, confused, and frightened by what lay
ahead.
The Vietnam War was a controversial conflict that plagued the United States for many years. The loss of life caused by the war was devastating. For those who came back alive, their lives were profoundly changed. The impact the war had on servicemen would affect them for the rest of their lives; each soldier may have only played one small part in the war, but the war played a huge part in their lives. They went in feeling one way, and came home feeling completely different. In the book Vietnam Perkasie, W.D. Ehrhart describes his change from a proud young American Marine to a man filled with immense confusion, anger, and guilt over the atrocities he witnessed and participated in during the war.
In conclusion the soldiers use dark humor, daydreaming, and violent actions which all allow an escape from the horrors they had to go through in Vietnam. These coping mechanisms allowed the men to continue to fight and survive the war. They wouldn’t have been able to carry on if it wasn’t for the outlets these methods provided. Without humor, daydreaming, and violent actions, the war would have been unbearable for the men, and detrimental to their lives going forward.
The soldiers that fought in the Vietnam War had to endure many incredibly horrifying experiences. It was these events that led to great human emotions. It was those feelings that were the things they carried. Everything they carried affected them, whether it was physical or mental. Everything they carry could in one way or another cause them to emotionally or physically break down.
In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien the author tells about his experiences in the Vietnam war by telling various war stories. The quote, "It has been said of war that it is a world where the past has a strong grip on the present, where machines seemed sometimes to have more will power than me, where nice boys (girls) were attracted to them, where bodies ruptured and burned and stand, where the evil thing trying to kill you could look disconnecting human and where except in your imagination it was impossible to be heroic." relates to each of his stories.
The impact of the Vietnam War upon the soldiers who fought there was huge. The experience forever changed how they would think and act for the rest of their lives. One of the main reasons for this was there was little to no understanding by the soldiers as to why they were fighting this war. They felt they were killing innocent people, farmers, poor hard working people, women, and children were among their victims. Many of the returning soldiers could not fall back in to their old life styles. First they felt guilt for surviving many of their brothers in arms. Second they were haunted by the atrocities of war. Some soldiers could not go back to the mental state of peacetime. Then there were soldiers Tim O’Brien meant while in the war that he wrote the book “The Things They Carried,” that showed how important the role of story telling was to soldiers. The role of stories was important because it gave them an outlet and that outlet was needed both inside and outside the war in order to keep their metal state in check.
Bruce Weigl’s work gives readers an accurate glimpse of what took place in Vietnam. His poetry reveals a harsher reality of the war that goes beyond the raw number of people who perished. The idea that real human beings are casualties in war is a burden Weigl and fellow Vietnam War poets share. To this day American’s simply see the fallen as just names and bodies, nothing further. Weigl serves as a forefront example of just how painful and disturbing the war was and his poetry is greatly influenced by it in nearly every facet. Moreover, it’s a reminder that the images he witnessed are unforgettable and are completely ingrained in his mind to the point where horror is the focus and projecting it as beautiful if his main goal.
In Tim O'Brien's Story "Enemies," one sees several signs that explain the aspects of the Vietnam War, and the actions of two soldiers that snapped under the pressure built up by the war. These pressures caused little tiny things to create tension not only in the minds of soldiers, but also between two soldiers. For example, conflicts grew between Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen.
And as we see, when the Captain boards a boat to get to his designated mission, the crew, who has been there for about 18 months, still has the spirit of a newly deployed soldier. They have not yet realized the cruelty of the war, because they have probably never been in any real combat. That was soon about to change, as they sail deeper and deeper into the North Vietnamese Army’s territory. As many other soldiers, they now go through an experience, that completely ruins their view of the war. They get so stuffed with all the terrible things they have seen, friends that have died, commanders that does not realize, that some mission just are not winnable, but they will still attempt, as it will give them promotions, thus the loss of hundreds or thousands of their own soldiers. They get so full of negativity, that they will begin to feel completely hollow inside. Like their lives has no meaning to it, as they will probably die anyways. The Poet, T. S. Elliot has written a piece of poetry named “The Hollow Men”, which tells the thoughts and feelings the soldiers had. Being so stuffed, that it is completely hollow. “Our dried voices, when we whisper together are quiet and meaningless, as wind in dry grass”. No matter what they say, or when they voice their opinions, no one will listen to
After examining the lyrics to Billy Joel’s song, “Goodnight Saigon,” I realized that it does not directly relate to my topic about the sentiment towards Vietnam veterans. However, it does provide a clear insight into the way the soldiers felt while they were fighting in Vietnam. At first I was unsure about the lyrics sin...
Throughout time, music has been an influential part of society. As a form of entertainment and expression, its impact has always been felt both economically and emotionally. During the Vietnam war, music evolved into more a form of expression rather than pure entertainment. Emotionally charged songs became a method to oppose the war, and vent frustrations. While many songs opposed the war, numerous others focused on peace and happiness. They provided a positive perspective in an otherwise depressing time. Along with incorporating passion into music, cultural diversity increased in music greatly. Black artists became progressively more popular and accepted in the musical scene. This respect carried over to society slowly but surely. During the Vietnam war, music played a crucial role in the societal evolution into a state where emotions fueled actions, more emphasis was put on equality, all opinions counted.
The year is1965, 8 years into the Vietnam war and 2 years in the shadow of a presidential assassination, marked the inception of an artistic vision, cut to Vinyl. Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 revisited is a testament to the state of America in the 1960s, using poetic devices, and engaging rock and roll music to capture the imagination of a breadth of people, unwittingly, it would seem, brought change to the minds of Americans. Opening their eyes to what was happening and inflicting a sense of new found justice in their hearts, Living vicariously through Bob Dylan’s intense imagery, due to the events unfolding in that period, People latched on to Dylan’s lyrics and imposed their own expression and feeling onto his songs.
In this topical essay, I will be comparing and contrasting three popular and unique songs. These songs are Woody Guthrie's "Pretty Boy Floyd", Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff", and Body Count's "Cop Killer.” Even though these songs are different in a number of ways, all of these songs musically illustrate a violent altercation between a citizen and representative of government/law enforcement. This is important to note as because each song evokes different emotions from the listener. The two things that make each of these songs different is that they are all from different genres and different time periods. They are all very similar because they tell a story either from either a first person perspective or a third person perspective.
The soldiers feel that the only people they can talk to about the war are their “brothers”, the other men who experienced the Vietnam War. The friendship and kinship that grew in the jungles of Vietnam survived and lived on here in the United States. By talking to each other, the soldiers help to sort out the incidents that happened in the War and to put these incidents behind them. “The thing to do, we decided, was to forget the coffee and switch to gin, which improved the mood, and not much later we were laughing at some of the craziness that used to go on” (O’Brien, 29).
Coming to terms with war and its moral consequences is burdensome. War is filled with death, pain, bullets. Tim O'Brien, a military veteran and author, believes that the “nightmare of Vietnam” was not the bullets and the bombs, but the failure of nerve and consciousness. I believe that the failure of consciousness means that you act before you think, as shown in Ambush and Of Mice and Men.
Evaluate how a poem and lyrics to a song from different historical periods convey changing attitudes towards war.