Charlie Boy Essay

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“Charlie Boy”
Popular folk band, The Lumineers, composed a song, “Charlie Boy,” to remind the audience of a terrible and appalling part of America’s past, the Vietnam War. During this time period many men were killed in combat because their president, John F. Kennedy, made them believe that they could win a disastrous war without many casualties. One of the members of The Lumineers had a personal connection with someone who fought in this dreadful war. Wesley Schultz, the lead singer of the band, attempts to remind Americans that the Vietnam War is a critical and unfair part of our history that many people have forgotten. The Lumineers adopt a use of a warm melody, repetition, and album placement in order to convey …show more content…

During the Vietnam War, Wesley Schultz’s uncle, Charles Schultz, was a second lieutenant who fought and died for his country. His family lived in Metuchen, New Jersey, while Schultz was deployed to Vietnam with the democratic belief and support for John F. Kennedy running through his mind. He believed in Kennedy’s request to ask what you could do for your country, he felt as if his country needed him, and in his early twenties he joined the USMC and was deployed to Vietnam. Schultz was killed in action and after the war had ended his home town of Metuchen built a monument in memory of the three residents who gave their lives in the war ("Charlie Boy, The Lumineers”). The Vietnam War began because communism was spreading throughout Indochina and the U.S. wanted to use a policy called internationalism to stop it from spreading. Many citizens during …show more content…

This melody makes the song “Charlie Boy” much easier to listen to even though it is about an event that happened 36 years ago. The band appeals to American’s heartfelt emotions by using only an acoustic guitar and cello, which makes the tone of the song sound very humble. The passive melody is used in order to express what he is saying in an understandable tone. It is not demanding, yet it captures people’s attention with its sweet use of acoustic instruments. When the band uses this melody his audience gives in to what he is saying more than they would if it was being forced upon them with a powerful, assertive melody. Without using a commanding melody The Lumineers still convey their point to their audience. To help deliver their message The Lumineers use another rhetorical device called

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