"I FEEL LIKE I'M FIXIN' TO DIE RAG” was written by Country Joe McDonald. It also calls “The Fish Cheer", and it is a song by the American psychedelic rock band Country Joe and the Fish. I FEEL LIKE I'M FIXIN' TO DIE RAG” remains one of the most popular Vietnam protest songs from the 1960s. "I FEEL LIKE I'M FIXIN' TO DIE RAG” was one of the popular protest songs against the Vietnam War, and it recognized by many Americans. It used dark humor and satire for its topic. It is a classic of the counterculture era. Lyrics of this song are about passing the buck to the US politicians, senior military officials, and industries and enterprises started the Vietnam War. In 1965 summer, McDonald’s compose "I FEEL LIKE I'M FIXIN' TO DIE RAG”. It became a
shining star during that time, and it was strongly opposed by the younger generations. It expressed dissatisfaction with the recruitment process. It used the black humor, and ultimately reflected in the war casualties. In lyrics we can see it hinted in the satirical invitation to "be the first one on your block, to have your son come home in a box". And we also can see on “ And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for? Don't ask me I don't give a damn Next stop is Vietnam. And it's five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates, Well there ain't no time to wonder why, Whoopie! We're all gonna die!”
The story of the "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" is no typical Vietnam war story. It is a story that involves no bloods, guts or glory. This story isn't so much about the physical damage caused by war as much as this story is about the emotional changes that effect not only the males. This is a story that with it's elaboration and ornamentation shows the destruction of innocence. This story is about an impossible that came true.
The reason they turn to drugs is because they cannot handle the mental and physical pain of returning from Vietnam and not being accepted by their own country. Today, I think people turn to drugs for the same reasons as back then. Maybe today the reasons aren't as good, but basically they are the same reasons. People get hooked on these drugs because they cannot deal with problems and then it ends up leading to more problems for themselves, their families, and people in their everyday lives. When the song was saying, "there's a hole in daddy's arm and that's where all the money goes", you see ( ) so many people wasting all their money on drugs and ruining their families. When I heard this song, I think of the sad things in life like when someone dies because this is what is happening to his father in the song. I also think about how horrible it must have been to come home from all this violence and not even have your own countries support. This is what I felt like when I listened to the song "Sam Stone."
In the short story, “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” by Tim O’Brien, the author shows that no matter what the circumstances were, the people that were exposed to the Vietnam War were affected greatly. A very young girl named Mary Anne Bell was brought by a boyfriend to the war in Vietnam. When she arrived she was a bubbly young girl, and after a few weeks, she was transformed into a hard, mean killer.
Exposing the Truth in Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong "Dear Mom and Dad: The war that has taken my life, and many thousands of others before me, is immoral, unlawful, and an atrocity," (letter of anonymous soldier qtd. In Fussell (653). Tim O'Brien, a Vietnam War vet, had similar experiences as the soldier above. Even though O'Brien didn't die, the war still took away his life because a part of him will never be the same.
The Vietnam War is a strange and unexplainable event in American history. The controversies surrounding the American involvement in Vietnam and the need for Vietnam veterans to tell their stories of the war are prevalent in the post-Vietnam culture of America. "The stories that will last forever are those that swirl back and forth across the border between trivia and bedlam, the mad and the mundane"(89). The story of the sweetheart of the Song of Tra Bong explains this quote of the veteran stories never make exact sense, but they are stories from a war that never quite made exact sense either. The story of "Sweetheart of the Song of Tra Bong," involving a young girl coming to Vietnam for her boyfriend, becomes a metaphor for the rite of passage that a young soldier would experience during his service in Vietnam.
The Vietnam War is one of the most controversial issues in American history. It is no secret that the American public was not in favor of this war, which is why the government’s decision to keep the US involved for over ten years created such a disconnect between America’s people and their government. In the third verse the Temptations sing, “People all over the world are shouting 'End the war.'” The Temptations bravely attack the government, addressing their continuation of a war no one wants. Although The Temptations avoid explicitly naming the war, or the government as the guilty party, it is evident that this is a criticism, or at least an acknowledgement of a predicament America found itself in.
In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner comments on how death affects individuals differently and how sanity is not defined by a mental state but rather by a community of people. Varying viewpoints in narratives, allow the reader to gain insight into the character's thoughts. However, he uses perspectives outside of the Bundren family in order for the reader to create some sort of truth.
The most mysterious and unusual for of death, that is intended to end the life of a person with his suffering leading to inestimable amount of suffering for the people around the deceased. People say that death is the last state of life and ending the last state of life though an uncommon end is a bit odd. In 1996 in the Los Angeles Roxanna Roberts wrote “The Grieving Never Ends” and has expressed that how much people around the deceased had to suffer after the suicide. The word “Suicide” is a selfish act committed by people that are blinded by their own suffering and don’t realize the pain they will bring to others around them. Ending the life in such a manner will not only disturb peace in one self but also bring destruction on others in
To the persistent individual, though, there is a body of music in existence that merits regard. It is powerful music written by the youth of America, youngsters who did have a stake in the Vietnam War. There can be little question about the origins of the power which American protest music conveyed: those who wrote such music lived each day with the real knowledge that they were losing friends in, and could possibly be forced themselves to go to, Vietnam. One such group, Creedence Clearwater Revival, made its contribution to this genre near the end of the Vietnam War.
Humanity as a whole is complex. Every experience and action that has happened creates and forms a person’s identity. People’s childhood memories and the environment they are born and raised into are the building blocks in creating the character of an individual. The environment that shapes youth will have a lifelong impact. This is shown in Under the Ribs of Death by John Marlyn in Sandors life, living on Henry Avenue in Winnipeg’s North End, through the restriction of ones upbringing, emotions associated with, and the memories attached to an environment.
Watt, Bob. “TO EVERY THING THERE IS A SEASON AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNDER THE HEAVEN – A TIME TO BE BORN AND A TIME TO DIE.1 NATURAL LAW, EMOTION AND THE RIGHT TO DIE.” Denning Law Journal 1.24 (2012): 89-115. University of Buckingham
And he’s your thrill sergeant. Gonna keep you on your toes, cause Uncle Jam wants you, To do what you’re supposed to do, and join his army! The playfulness in this song can express the point but at the same time people can have a fun time doing it as well. This specific song came out in the mid-seventies but still is a prime example of how Parliament Funkadelic played of the Black Revolution and appealed to Popular Culture.
“But it is not the fear, observe, but the contemplation of death; not the instinctive shudder and struggle of self-preservation, but the deliberate measurement of the doom, which are great or sublime in feeling” (John Ruskin). Human beings never stop making efforts to explaining, understanding and exploring the meaning of the death, and death became an important topic in human’s literature. According to the scientific definition “death is the state of a thermodynamic bio-system in which that thermodynamic system cannot obtain non-spontaneously energy from the environment and organize non-spontaneously the energy obtained from the environment” (Nasif Nahle). Which means that all human beings fundamental biological systems are stop working after
In Wislawa Szymborska’s poem, “On Death, without Exaggeration”, the idea of Death is assigned characteristics of Deaths waged war against numerous quantities of emerging life that, itself, destroys life. Szymborska grew up in Poland during the Second World War, she was surrounded by Death, in addition, the experiences she had helped her to cope with Death and remain hopeful. The poem seems to make the reader think Death is an inevitable part of life and in order to appreciate life one must accept Death. However, if you read closely in the last line of the second stanza, “which is always beside the point” (7), Death is revealed to be indifferent, not accepting. Szymborska uses persona, irony, and personification to create rich
"I hope some day you will join us, and the world will live as one" Simplicity combines with deep meaning when John Lennon expresses his thoughts in his song "Imagine." This song was a huge hit in the 70’s, the time in which the Vietnam War was occurring. John Lennon’s “Imagine”, was a protest song that questions the morality of war, shows anti-war statements and emphasizes the importance of world peace. In America, every civilian has the Freedom of Speech. For this, artists have every right to compose a protest song. Even if the government is not fond of it, anyone could potentially write a song going against his or her beliefs, which is exactly what Lennon did with "Imagine," in a peaceful way. At the time Lennon’s song went against most beliefs, for people believed that violence in war was the answer to everything. Amongst passive resistance, the refusal to cooperate with legal requirements, strikes and angry mobs, Lennon chose the much calmer approach and simply composed a protest song. A protest song is simply a song that argues a point and tries to encourage one thing against another. In his song "Imagine", Lennon protest that the World should live in peace; keep in mind the Vietnam War was occurring at the time. It was then that protest songs were created to try and make points across, without the actual violence of rioting in protest.