he song, “Rich Man’s War” by Steven Earle describes some reasons why people go to war. The song tells the brief tale about three young men and why they are involved in the war in the Middle East. The song looks at the war from diverse perspectives. Steve Earle sings about the different motives which caused the soldiers to join their ranks. Earle also echoed the theme in the chorus which depicts the disputes between the world’s wealthy people. Earle teaches us it is the upper class and their greed which led to bloodshed between the poor men who do the fighting. The song shows how this has occurred from the Iraq War to the Afghanistan War and other conflicts where the less fortunate were affected. In some cases, the people fighting did not even know why they are fighting each other. The external forces in this song cause these young men, …show more content…
The song is not about the macro topic in the war; Steven Earle goes into the micro levels and sees the battle they are fighting personally. It is more than the large battle that we hear about in the media; he sings about the struggles and hardships of the war. The way Steve Earle sang the song “Rich Man’s War” is juxtaposed the lyrics; the lyrics illustrate all of the horrors of war. He sang the song the way someone might sing a nursery rhyme. The song is relaxing and it is meant to make the listener think about war and the real consequences involved in war. The song has regular stress it monotone which has a calming effect on a person while still being able to gravitate the sincerity of the There is a metaphor are the three different characters Bobby, Jimmy. “.Rollin' into Baghdad wonderin' how he got this far” (line 5)” Chasin' ghosts in the thin dry air.” Bobby, Jimmy, Ali are not able to tell who is really the malicious person they all are either trying to make a better life for themselves or trying to receive
Over many centuries, Poetry and song has been a way for people to explore their feelings, thoughts and questions about War & Peace. Rupert Brooke's “The Soldier” and Cold Chisel’s “Khe Sanh” provide two different insights into the nature of war. . “The Soldier” conveys a message of bravery for soldiers to go into war and fight while “Khe sanh” conveys a message about post-traumatic stress and the horrible factors of coming back into civilization after war.
about the war and his lack of place in his old society. The war becomes
It was a way for the United States to recruit soldiers to send to Europe, as the United States was short on soldiers and even passed conscription acts to draft people into the army. In addition, Americans still held anti-war sentiments, as Wilson was reelected campaigning on not going to war. This patriotic song helped ease American fears and provided confidence that US troops would be able to end the war swiftly. On a global scale, the song is tied to the American entry into World War I, an event that solidified the Allied victory, shaping the history of the world leading to World War II. On the national level, the song gave the people hope because it reflected the belief that the United States’ troops would be able to dominate Europe and come home safely. By the end, however, the death and destruction left by the war became apparent. The trust in Wilson’s grandiose ideals and the patriotism faded as the people began seeing US involvement in the war was a mistake, taking up Harding’s offer to return to “normalcy” (Brinkley, 530). As a result, this song is also firmly situated in a change of eras as the United States moved past World War I and into the Roaring
This song reminisces about the loss of Private Rodger Young and reminds soldiers to push forward through the loss. Since death was something typically seen on the battle field Losser took this sad moment and turned it in to a rally together moment to get the job done. Loesser reflects the idea that America is tired of the war and are ready to keep progressing in life. While this song may not have been the most popular of the time period, Life magazine at the time felt like it was vital to print the music in the worlds for all to
Springsteen wrote “Devils & Dust” during the Iraq War. He has been openly against the war and has been quoted saying to Rolling Stone, “As the saying goes, "The first casualty of war is truth." I felt that the Bush doctrine of pre-emption was dangerous foreign policy. I don't think it has made America safer.” The song itself could be interpreted as a soldier’s point of view about the war but overall it stands as a critique on our society betraying its own principles. The first couple of verses in the song already evoke the image of a soldier stuck in a war. “I got my finger on the trigger / But I don’t know who to trust” could be understood as a soldier’s experience in war but it could also have a deeper meaning. It could also signify that our society has to make these important choices that will end up affecting people’s lives but it is all too ambiguous, there just isn’t any certainty. We are left with the desperate feeling of not knowing what to do, not knowing wh...
The song "War Pigs," by Black Sabbath, argues the fact that, during the Vietnam War, politicians were willing to start wars and cause destruction because they were not the ones in danger of losing their lives or being injured. The song suggests that the politicians of the 1960's and 1970's started a war for fun, treating soldiers in America's army as "pawns in chess." By the end of the song, the lyrics say that those men and women will get what they deserve when their day of judgment comes.
...s, demonstrated through the author's talent, are denouncing the authority figures who were supposed to guide his generation into adulthood but instead turned the youth against each other in the pursuit of superficial ideals. The soldiers were simply the victims of a meaningless war.
While the songs written for the American Revolutionary war were somewhat speculative, and depending on the song, poked fun at their enemies. The songs written and sung about the war in Iraq were anything but. They outlined the issues and say everything that they feel is true regarding the situation the United States is in. For example in the song written by Neil Young "Lets Impeach the President." The lyrics in this song are deep and correlate directly with the feelings of many American citizens. For example “Let 's impeach the President for lying and misleading our country into war” (YouTube) these lyrics as well as the video depict a propaganda style. Following life changing events, such as a new life experience or a national crisis, songs are written to show and demonstrate its impact. Whether it is in the 18th century or the 21st century the premise is still the same and can be seen throughout the
This song talks a lot about the baggage of the past that people hold onto instead of letting it go. All that baggage is only going to end up hurting you more and more instead of helping you in any way possible. An example is the opening
When watching this I caught on to the meaning of the storyline, and how yeah everything may be all happy and nice because everyone got what they wanted in the end, but that only fixed their problems, not the world, not the reality of what was really happening behind all the glitz and glam that was occurring in their own world. Throughout the song the scene shows American soldiers getting shipped off to war and everyone is so happy and proud that America is in the war and going to win, it then changes to the soldiers marching in the rain trying to stay strong and hold on for dear life as they get battled down. Eventually those who have made it out through the war alive, they become veterans with medals that don’t do much justice to recognize the sacrifice they have made and then turn into forgotten men of the war. I found connections with the economy and war which showed how the president failed his country even with bringing in ideas such as The New Deal that clearly did not work out according to plan. Poverty was a common thing during the depression, and reflecting back to the girls in the scene where they are in their conjoined beds due to lack of furniture and stealing milk from neighbors and soldiers
The 1960’s was a time of war and fear for the United States and many people were turning their accusations towards the government. “Masters of War” was written by Bob Dylan in late 1962 and early 1963. The focus of this song is a protest against the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis that was happening during the early 1960’s. The song is protesting on the American government having its citizens live in fear of a constant attack and hiding behind their shroud, unaffected by anything that would happen to the people. It shook the nation with its fierce and angry tone against the “military industrial complex.” Dylan’s lyrics stated that it was not contained by declaring a pointless war and not taking responsibility for the problems it was causing. “Masters of War” is a powerful song against the government and the military. The protest song “Masters of War” by Bob Dylan highlights how the looming aspect of the Cold War affected the people of the United States and demonstrates Dylan’s view on the governments involved.
The song 21 guns is by Green Day, and the song is about the iraq war. However, the song has a lot of humanness in it and they think the war is very bad. One reason the song is biased is because it uses no statistics. This source may not use statistics, but instead uses your sympathy to make you feel bad about the war. For example, the instrument style uses volume to make you feel bad about the war by making the sound low and sorrowful.
This lyric reaches out to the mothers of soldiers, and provokes the unbearable emotions experienced by families of soldiers. As seen in this lyric, Starr efficiently captivates the feelings of anti-war individuals, allowing a connection to develop with the song. Another lyric within the song is,”War is an enemy to mankind...war has caused unrest in the younger generation, induction then destruction, who wants to die?” This line again not only aligns with the hatred against war by labeling it as an “enemy to mankind,” yet it uses another rhetorical device. Starr asks, “who wants to die?” and makes listeners elaborate on the death’s and severity of war.
In just these few phrases, Darryl Worley makes an obvious separation between those that are pro-war (which includes him) and those that are anti-war. Through the use of the words ‘you’, Worley separates himself from the anti-war protestors, but by using ‘we’ in the second line he reminds them that the people lost in 9/11 effects all Americans and tries to bring the protestors to see and agree with his point of view. Although the song was successful in reaching it’s main goal, to bring Americans together to support the Iraq war, it reinforces that “signaled patriotism and attempted to quell dissent as the country went to war, it also continued to reinforce administration claims tying the Iraq or Saddam Hussein were linked to the attacks” (Schmelz, 138). This is the objective violence that remains from this song. It turns the people against Iraqi people in general — not just the terrorists that live in Iraq, such as Bin Laden and the