Introduction & Context
For my last blog post, I decided to go with another '80s song - the 1984 hit "Forever Young," by Alphaville. I love this song, probably mostly because of the '80s feel. And no, I do not like this song because it was on Napolean Dynamite; actually, I first remembering hearing it on "Lizzie McGuire." ;)
Anyway, this song was written in the midst of the Cold War and its nuclear "issues." Before I listened to it in regard to this blog and actually paid attention to the lyrics, I really had no idea what Alphaville was saying beyond the familiar refrain, "Forever young; I want to be forever young. Do you really want to live forever, and ever, and ever?" Imagine my surprise when I saw it on the list of songs about war, and read a line pointed out by songfacts as referring to the Cold War: "Hoping for the best but expecting the worst - are you gonna drop the bomb or not?"
With that in mind, here's the video.... it's very strange and.... '80s-looking. ;) I don't really talk about it in my commentary, so feel free to leave a comment about it if you want!
Commentary
Songfacts.com explains, "On the surface, this is a hopeful song celebrating the virtues of youth, but a closer listen reveals a fear of aging and death." I definitely agree. The singer seems to think that being old is pointless ("It's so hard to get old without a cause"), but that being young is really living. I get the impression that he doesn't want to die at all, but if he can't always live as a young person, he would rather die before he gets old: "Let us die young or let us live forever." It also seems like he feels that if he can just stay young, he won't ever die: "Youth's like diamonds in the sun, and diamonds are forever."
I also think that this fear of death is certainly connected to the arms race. Take the very first stanza - "Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies." You can imagine someone looking anxiously out his window every day, wondering if a nuclear missile is going to end his life in that very moment. Then, take this stanza:
"Can you imagine when this race is won?
Turn our golden faces into the sun,
Praising our leaders, we're getting in tune.
The music's played by the madman."
The "race" obviously (in my opinion, at least) refers to the arms race. The singer pictures the nuclear problems ending and the populace celebrating the country's leaders who ended them. He says that by doing this, "we're getting in tune." But then he adds, "The music's played by the madman." I believe that these chilling words speak of the leader as a madman, as someone who put them through the arms race in the first place, putting the fear of death into their hearts for so many years - and probably putting an end to the lives of so many, as I assume that he "won" the race by destroying others.
The thing that really gets me, though, is that very familiar line: "Do you really want to live forever, and ever, and ever?" That's a long time, as the repetition emphasizes, and the singer seems to be second-guessing himself. For all his fears, he asks (and I believe he is asking himself), "Do you really want this?"
I'm forever grateful that because of Jesus I don't have to fear death, and one day I will live eternally with Him in Heaven - whether I die because of a bomb or because of old age. :)
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anti-war_songs
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=9021
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1TcDHrkQYg
Monday, June 27, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
The Vietnam War: "Goodnight Saigon"
Introduction
First, I just have to say - man! It has been a LONG time since I last listened to this song! :)
Okay, now that I got that out of the way.....
Ironically, this was probably the first song I knew I would write about on this blog. Billy Joel is my all-time favorite singer, and when I realized that one of his songs would fit my blog theme, there was really no question that I would do a post about it. This is a beautiful, emotional song about the Vietnam War, and I think there's a lot for us to get out of listening to it.
Context
As you already know, this song is about the Vietnam War, and it was actually released in the early '80s. In the song, Joel mentions Parris Island a couple of times, so I decided to look it up and see exactly what/where it was. Turns out, it's a marine training place in South Carolina.
There are also two quotes I found from songfacts.com that I think are really meaningful and helpful to understanding the song:
"Saigon is a city in Vietnam where major combat operations took place during the Vietnam war. Joel wrote the song as a tribute to many of his friends who had served in the war."
"Phil Ramone, who produced this 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. Then later, when he does it once in a while in a show, the place just comes apart. I think that happens a lot that we don't think something will be as powerful and it turns out that it does come out powerful.'"
It is definitely a powerful song. Keeping these things in mind, here's the video:
Commentary
There are a few things that really stick out to me from listening to this song. The first is the contrast between when the soldiers started out and when they left Vietnam. The lines "We met as soulmates on Parris Island; we left as inmates from an asylum" show the mental effect the war had on them. Then Joel sings, a little regretfully, "And we were so gung-ho to lay down our lives." What happened to them? Another haunting line later on explains: "They left their childhood on every acre."
Another thing I think this song does a really good job at is showing us the day-to-day, real life of the soldiers. We see how the spent their time - "and played our Doors tapes." We see the difficult things they had to do - "and shot on sight." We also see the companionship of the soldiers and how they really banded together. You can hear it from the first line of the song, but it really jumps out at you as Joel belts out, "And we would all go down together...." They also remember individual names, showing how each person was important ("Remember Charlie, remember Baker"). These soldiers only had each other - they "had no home front." They became a family.
I don't think Joel was trying to make a political statement with this song, whatever his personal feelings were about the war. He points out, "And who was wrong? And who was right? It didn't matter in the thick of the fight." I think he was simply trying to celebrate the brave men who sacrificed so much for America.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anti-war_songs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjzjhl-QztE
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=7694
http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil/
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=Parris+Island&cp=5&qe=UGFycmk&qesig=K3buac4GfetnQ_Ai2_p-bw&pkc=AFgZ2tnOdgc77KW6OyuZhT7vyFWcyswXMYik3gfMrBCshFlcBoMNtUSLha4Czw-dE-knAyzZv_Zag-DRD32cTIu1W7NAYiDfRA&pf=p&sclient=psy&site=&source=hp&aq=0&aqi=&aql=&oq=Parri&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=1888dea5ef986e52&biw=1024&bih=453
First, I just have to say - man! It has been a LONG time since I last listened to this song! :)
Okay, now that I got that out of the way.....
Ironically, this was probably the first song I knew I would write about on this blog. Billy Joel is my all-time favorite singer, and when I realized that one of his songs would fit my blog theme, there was really no question that I would do a post about it. This is a beautiful, emotional song about the Vietnam War, and I think there's a lot for us to get out of listening to it.
Context
As you already know, this song is about the Vietnam War, and it was actually released in the early '80s. In the song, Joel mentions Parris Island a couple of times, so I decided to look it up and see exactly what/where it was. Turns out, it's a marine training place in South Carolina.
There are also two quotes I found from songfacts.com that I think are really meaningful and helpful to understanding the song:
"Saigon is a city in Vietnam where major combat operations took place during the Vietnam war. Joel wrote the song as a tribute to many of his friends who had served in the war."
"Phil Ramone, who produced this 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. Then later, when he does it once in a while in a show, the place just comes apart. I think that happens a lot that we don't think something will be as powerful and it turns out that it does come out powerful.'"
It is definitely a powerful song. Keeping these things in mind, here's the video:
Commentary
There are a few things that really stick out to me from listening to this song. The first is the contrast between when the soldiers started out and when they left Vietnam. The lines "We met as soulmates on Parris Island; we left as inmates from an asylum" show the mental effect the war had on them. Then Joel sings, a little regretfully, "And we were so gung-ho to lay down our lives." What happened to them? Another haunting line later on explains: "They left their childhood on every acre."
Another thing I think this song does a really good job at is showing us the day-to-day, real life of the soldiers. We see how the spent their time - "and played our Doors tapes." We see the difficult things they had to do - "and shot on sight." We also see the companionship of the soldiers and how they really banded together. You can hear it from the first line of the song, but it really jumps out at you as Joel belts out, "And we would all go down together...." They also remember individual names, showing how each person was important ("Remember Charlie, remember Baker"). These soldiers only had each other - they "had no home front." They became a family.
I don't think Joel was trying to make a political statement with this song, whatever his personal feelings were about the war. He points out, "And who was wrong? And who was right? It didn't matter in the thick of the fight." I think he was simply trying to celebrate the brave men who sacrificed so much for America.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anti-war_songs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjzjhl-QztE
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=7694
http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil/
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=Parris+Island&cp=5&qe=UGFycmk&qesig=K3buac4GfetnQ_Ai2_p-bw&pkc=AFgZ2tnOdgc77KW6OyuZhT7vyFWcyswXMYik3gfMrBCshFlcBoMNtUSLha4Czw-dE-knAyzZv_Zag-DRD32cTIu1W7NAYiDfRA&pf=p&sclient=psy&site=&source=hp&aq=0&aqi=&aql=&oq=Parri&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=1888dea5ef986e52&biw=1024&bih=453
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
World War II: "Red Sector A"
Introduction & Context
I felt bad not doing a World War II song in all of this, but I had not been able to find a good one until today. I was going back over the Wikipedia list I've been using, and noticed "Red Sector A" by the band Rush (2009). I had a friend previously recommend this band to me, so I went to check out the song. It's definitely a terror-filled look at WWII, because its focus is on the Holocaust and those taken to the camps. Here's a video a fan put together of pictures/video clips that fit with the song (so if that kind of stuff really bothers you, just listen to the song without watching the video).
Commentary
I am going to do this commentary a little differently. Instead of talking about sections of the song or the song as a whole, I'm going to take lines in the lyrics that stand out to me and discuss them individually.
-------------------------------
"All that we can do is just survive.
All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive."
Last semester for one of my classes I read two autobiographies by Holocaust survivors, which gives me some background in my thoughts on this song. What they had to go through was beyond anything we could imagine. These lyrics show that desperation they must have felt, that struggle just to make it through another day - another minute! If you think about it, essentially everything was stripped away from them - life was about all they had left.
"Ragged lines of ragged grey,
Skeletons they shuffle away."
The "skeletons" line really got to me because I think it could be seen in two ways. The first is heightened by the picture shown at this point on the video: there were skeletons of dead bodies that the guards or whoever had to "shuffle away." Here, the "they" refers to those who took care of the bodies. The second case is much more poetic, even as it is horribly tragic. The people in those camps were skeletons - moving groups of bones seemingly without purpose and without identity. Here, the "they" refers to the "living" victims.
"Sickness to insanity,
Prayer to profanity."
I think this part is really sad, because it shows how much the people in the camps were affected emotionally and spiritually by what happened to them. Some of them started out sick and went insane. Some of them started out (at least supposedly) with faith in God, but lost it along the way. This happened in one of the autobiographies I read, Night (by Elie Wiesel). He was a devout Jew at the beginning, but that all changed during the Holocaust. I think this is one of the most tragic parts of the Holocaust, and I'm thankful it didn't happen to everyone (for example, the girl in the other Holocaust book I read).
"Are we the last ones left alive?
Are we the only human beings to survive?"
This emphasizes just how cut off from everything the people in the camps were. They didn't know what was going on beyond their own little world. They didn't know if their family members were still alive, they didn't know how the war was progressing. Sometimes, if I remember right from one of the books I read, they could figure things out, but from what I recall they were generally pretty isolated from the outside world.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anti-war_songs#World_War_II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkiqxc9p_jE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WSJZ4wsM50
Night, by Elie Wiesel
I Have Lived a Thousand Years, by Livia Bitton-Jackson
I felt bad not doing a World War II song in all of this, but I had not been able to find a good one until today. I was going back over the Wikipedia list I've been using, and noticed "Red Sector A" by the band Rush (2009). I had a friend previously recommend this band to me, so I went to check out the song. It's definitely a terror-filled look at WWII, because its focus is on the Holocaust and those taken to the camps. Here's a video a fan put together of pictures/video clips that fit with the song (so if that kind of stuff really bothers you, just listen to the song without watching the video).
Commentary
I am going to do this commentary a little differently. Instead of talking about sections of the song or the song as a whole, I'm going to take lines in the lyrics that stand out to me and discuss them individually.
-------------------------------
"All that we can do is just survive.
All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive."
Last semester for one of my classes I read two autobiographies by Holocaust survivors, which gives me some background in my thoughts on this song. What they had to go through was beyond anything we could imagine. These lyrics show that desperation they must have felt, that struggle just to make it through another day - another minute! If you think about it, essentially everything was stripped away from them - life was about all they had left.
"Ragged lines of ragged grey,
Skeletons they shuffle away."
The "skeletons" line really got to me because I think it could be seen in two ways. The first is heightened by the picture shown at this point on the video: there were skeletons of dead bodies that the guards or whoever had to "shuffle away." Here, the "they" refers to those who took care of the bodies. The second case is much more poetic, even as it is horribly tragic. The people in those camps were skeletons - moving groups of bones seemingly without purpose and without identity. Here, the "they" refers to the "living" victims.
"Sickness to insanity,
Prayer to profanity."
I think this part is really sad, because it shows how much the people in the camps were affected emotionally and spiritually by what happened to them. Some of them started out sick and went insane. Some of them started out (at least supposedly) with faith in God, but lost it along the way. This happened in one of the autobiographies I read, Night (by Elie Wiesel). He was a devout Jew at the beginning, but that all changed during the Holocaust. I think this is one of the most tragic parts of the Holocaust, and I'm thankful it didn't happen to everyone (for example, the girl in the other Holocaust book I read).
"Are we the last ones left alive?
Are we the only human beings to survive?"
This emphasizes just how cut off from everything the people in the camps were. They didn't know what was going on beyond their own little world. They didn't know if their family members were still alive, they didn't know how the war was progressing. Sometimes, if I remember right from one of the books I read, they could figure things out, but from what I recall they were generally pretty isolated from the outside world.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anti-war_songs#World_War_II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkiqxc9p_jE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WSJZ4wsM50
Night, by Elie Wiesel
I Have Lived a Thousand Years, by Livia Bitton-Jackson
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
War (universal): "Just a Dream"
Introduction
The next song I'm writing about is Carrie Underwood's "Just a Dream" (2007). It's definitely a more current song than any of the other ones I've done. The music video is also very beautiful. I don't want to spoil too much of it by explaining the full context now, so watch the video and then I'll write more.
Context
Okay, so now that you've figured out what's going on in this song, here's where the idea came from: "Hillary [one of the writers] had this thing in her head, 'Wouldn’t it be great to write a song about a woman where you think through the song that she’s getting married but then you suddenly realise [sic] she’s actually going to her husband’s funeral.' That’s how it started" (Wikipedia).
The Wikipedia entry that lists songs about war classifies this song under "General Peace." My opinion, however, is that it should be classified with current events, like the war in Iraq, because of when it was written. It doesn't specifically say anything in the song about the time period, but it was released in the context of what's currently going on. However, I do think it applies to pretty much all seasons of war.
Commentary
I think this song is great because it really allows you to feel the emotion that the woman in the song is going through. Especially watching the video, this comes across very strongly. I can clearly imagine that feeling of something so terrible happening, something that can't be taken back. No wonder she wants to think that it's "just a dream" - she hopes it's only a nightmare that she'll wake up from. You can hear and see her desperation as she sings, "This can't be happening to me." But underneath her denial she knows it's true.
This song reminds me of the Dolly Parton song I wrote about ("Daddy Won't Be Home Anymore"). The big difference, though, is that in Dolly's song, she and her husband had already been married for years, had kids, etc. They already had spent part of their lives together. In Carrie's song, she's not going to be able to experience that ("now I'll never know"). They either just got married or are still engaged, and all she has left are dreams of what they could have had.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anti-war_songs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_a_Dream_(Carrie_Underwood_song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLntFKtR66g
The next song I'm writing about is Carrie Underwood's "Just a Dream" (2007). It's definitely a more current song than any of the other ones I've done. The music video is also very beautiful. I don't want to spoil too much of it by explaining the full context now, so watch the video and then I'll write more.
Context
Okay, so now that you've figured out what's going on in this song, here's where the idea came from: "Hillary [one of the writers] had this thing in her head, 'Wouldn’t it be great to write a song about a woman where you think through the song that she’s getting married but then you suddenly realise [sic] she’s actually going to her husband’s funeral.' That’s how it started" (Wikipedia).
The Wikipedia entry that lists songs about war classifies this song under "General Peace." My opinion, however, is that it should be classified with current events, like the war in Iraq, because of when it was written. It doesn't specifically say anything in the song about the time period, but it was released in the context of what's currently going on. However, I do think it applies to pretty much all seasons of war.
Commentary
I think this song is great because it really allows you to feel the emotion that the woman in the song is going through. Especially watching the video, this comes across very strongly. I can clearly imagine that feeling of something so terrible happening, something that can't be taken back. No wonder she wants to think that it's "just a dream" - she hopes it's only a nightmare that she'll wake up from. You can hear and see her desperation as she sings, "This can't be happening to me." But underneath her denial she knows it's true.
This song reminds me of the Dolly Parton song I wrote about ("Daddy Won't Be Home Anymore"). The big difference, though, is that in Dolly's song, she and her husband had already been married for years, had kids, etc. They already had spent part of their lives together. In Carrie's song, she's not going to be able to experience that ("now I'll never know"). They either just got married or are still engaged, and all she has left are dreams of what they could have had.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anti-war_songs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_a_Dream_(Carrie_Underwood_song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLntFKtR66g
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Vietnam War: "Last Train to Clarksville"
Introduction
Yes, I am doing yet another Vietnam War song. :) I read about this song in my class's textbook (33 Revolutions Per Minute), and as soon as I saw that it was a Monkees song I knew I had to blog about it. I'm going to put the video first, before I explain what the song is about, because I think it would be interesting for you to watch it twice - once before you have the full context and once afterwards.
Context
I told my mom (who loved the Monkees) that they did a song about a war, and she was very surprised - the kind of reaction I would expect after reading about the song in my textbook. Here's what Lynksey had to say about it:
"Some antiwar comments came from unexpected quarters.... the Monkees released 'Last Train to Clarksville,' a veiled account of a draftee who wails, 'I don't know if I'm ever coming home.' 'We couldn't be too direct with the Monkees,' explained cowriter Bobby Hart. 'We couldn't really make a protest song out of it. We kind of snuck it in subtly.'"
Now, watch the video again if you want to, and with all of that in mind, I'll make some comments of my own.
Commentary
I think it's interesting that people were trying to make statements - without really making them - even with bands like the Monkees. I suppose it shows just how big a deal the war was. The writers could have easily said, "No, this doesn't really have anything to do with who the Monkees are, so we're just going to leave it out." However, the war was a big enough deal that they wanted to write about it even if they weren't going to publicize that fact.
If you just listen to the song, it would be easy to miss the war context of it. It would be easy to see it as just a love song, with the guy about to leave town - for whatever reason. However, if you really think about it, listen to the lyrics, and put the song in the context of the times - 1967, in the middle of the Vietnam War - it's not that hard to pick out what the words are referring to.
I think this song also shows something that I've been realizing since I first started this class - it is very important to pay attention to the songs you listen to. Did the hundreds of pre-teen and teenage girls that listened to this song realize what it was about? Probably not - at least not all of them. But they still sang along. We have to pay attention to what we listen to so that we don't send a wrong message to those that learn of our music choices.
"Take the last train to Clarksville
And I'll meet you at the station.
You can be there by 4:30
'Cause I've made your reservation
Don't be slow.
Oh no no no, oh no no no....."
Sources
33 Revolutions Per Minute (Lynksey)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ihJWjVDdvs&feature=fvst
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2840 (lyrics)
Yes, I am doing yet another Vietnam War song. :) I read about this song in my class's textbook (33 Revolutions Per Minute), and as soon as I saw that it was a Monkees song I knew I had to blog about it. I'm going to put the video first, before I explain what the song is about, because I think it would be interesting for you to watch it twice - once before you have the full context and once afterwards.
Context
I told my mom (who loved the Monkees) that they did a song about a war, and she was very surprised - the kind of reaction I would expect after reading about the song in my textbook. Here's what Lynksey had to say about it:
"Some antiwar comments came from unexpected quarters.... the Monkees released 'Last Train to Clarksville,' a veiled account of a draftee who wails, 'I don't know if I'm ever coming home.' 'We couldn't be too direct with the Monkees,' explained cowriter Bobby Hart. 'We couldn't really make a protest song out of it. We kind of snuck it in subtly.'"
Now, watch the video again if you want to, and with all of that in mind, I'll make some comments of my own.
Commentary
I think it's interesting that people were trying to make statements - without really making them - even with bands like the Monkees. I suppose it shows just how big a deal the war was. The writers could have easily said, "No, this doesn't really have anything to do with who the Monkees are, so we're just going to leave it out." However, the war was a big enough deal that they wanted to write about it even if they weren't going to publicize that fact.
If you just listen to the song, it would be easy to miss the war context of it. It would be easy to see it as just a love song, with the guy about to leave town - for whatever reason. However, if you really think about it, listen to the lyrics, and put the song in the context of the times - 1967, in the middle of the Vietnam War - it's not that hard to pick out what the words are referring to.
I think this song also shows something that I've been realizing since I first started this class - it is very important to pay attention to the songs you listen to. Did the hundreds of pre-teen and teenage girls that listened to this song realize what it was about? Probably not - at least not all of them. But they still sang along. We have to pay attention to what we listen to so that we don't send a wrong message to those that learn of our music choices.
"Take the last train to Clarksville
And I'll meet you at the station.
You can be there by 4:30
'Cause I've made your reservation
Don't be slow.
Oh no no no, oh no no no....."
Sources
33 Revolutions Per Minute (Lynksey)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ihJWjVDdvs&feature=fvst
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2840 (lyrics)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Vietnam War: "The Sandman"
Introduction/Context
Well, I'm back with another Vietnam War song! This was definitely a time period that had many songs written about it, and today's is a 1972 release by a band named America - "The Sandman."
I will be honest that much of this will be speculation and my interpretation of the lyrics, because I could not find a lot of concrete information. My uncle is actually the one who sent me some information on this song (and a couple of others), and told me that it was written concerning the Vietnam War. He also explained that the sandman is supposed to be death. This makes sense, because "Traditionally [the sandman] is a character in many children's stories, invoked to lull children to sleep" (Wikipedia), and death can be "kindly" referred to as an eternal sleep. I know that the Bible sometimes refers to death as sleep when it comes to believers in Christ, because our bodies won't stay dead forever, but will one day "be resurrected to eternal life" (see John MacArthur's sermon transcription) - although this definitely differs from the permanent "sleep" I suspect is normally meant when making this connection, including within this song.
Here is the video, and then I'll get into dissecting the lyrics a little bit.
Commentary
After thinking about this song and its lyrics, here's how I picture the setting of the song. I see two friends who meant to get together and hang out, but were never able to, and so hadn't seen each other in a long time. Now, they meet up again in an airport because it's "foggy outside" and "all the planes have been grounded." One of them is returning from the Vietnam War and one, as it turns out, is heading that way.
I think the chorus is very artistic because of the metaphors it contains. The sandman is a reference to death, which was "chasing" the soldier while in Vietnam. The next line is really interesting: "He flies the sky like an eagle in the eye of a hurricane that's abandoned." The eye of a storm such as a hurricane is the calm part, and I think the band is saying that death would bring peace to a soldier going through the storm of Vietnam. When it says that Vietnam (the hurricane) is "abandoned," it could be referring to the fact that so many people had abandoned hope in the war.
Anyway, I'm not saying I agree with everything the band is saying in this song, but I do think it's a very interesting and artistic commentary on the war.
"'Cause I understand you've been running from the man
That goes by the name of the Sandman
He flies the sky like an eagle in the eye
Of a hurricane that's abandoned"
Sources
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/1234_The-Source-of-Resurrection-Truth?q=death+sleep (John MacArthur sermon)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZN2-n_BIKI
http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/7209/ (lyrics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sandman
Well, I'm back with another Vietnam War song! This was definitely a time period that had many songs written about it, and today's is a 1972 release by a band named America - "The Sandman."
I will be honest that much of this will be speculation and my interpretation of the lyrics, because I could not find a lot of concrete information. My uncle is actually the one who sent me some information on this song (and a couple of others), and told me that it was written concerning the Vietnam War. He also explained that the sandman is supposed to be death. This makes sense, because "Traditionally [the sandman] is a character in many children's stories, invoked to lull children to sleep" (Wikipedia), and death can be "kindly" referred to as an eternal sleep. I know that the Bible sometimes refers to death as sleep when it comes to believers in Christ, because our bodies won't stay dead forever, but will one day "be resurrected to eternal life" (see John MacArthur's sermon transcription) - although this definitely differs from the permanent "sleep" I suspect is normally meant when making this connection, including within this song.
Here is the video, and then I'll get into dissecting the lyrics a little bit.
Commentary
After thinking about this song and its lyrics, here's how I picture the setting of the song. I see two friends who meant to get together and hang out, but were never able to, and so hadn't seen each other in a long time. Now, they meet up again in an airport because it's "foggy outside" and "all the planes have been grounded." One of them is returning from the Vietnam War and one, as it turns out, is heading that way.
I think the chorus is very artistic because of the metaphors it contains. The sandman is a reference to death, which was "chasing" the soldier while in Vietnam. The next line is really interesting: "He flies the sky like an eagle in the eye of a hurricane that's abandoned." The eye of a storm such as a hurricane is the calm part, and I think the band is saying that death would bring peace to a soldier going through the storm of Vietnam. When it says that Vietnam (the hurricane) is "abandoned," it could be referring to the fact that so many people had abandoned hope in the war.
Anyway, I'm not saying I agree with everything the band is saying in this song, but I do think it's a very interesting and artistic commentary on the war.
"'Cause I understand you've been running from the man
That goes by the name of the Sandman
He flies the sky like an eagle in the eye
Of a hurricane that's abandoned"
Sources
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/1234_The-Source-of-Resurrection-Truth?q=death+sleep (John MacArthur sermon)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZN2-n_BIKI
http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/7209/ (lyrics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sandman
Monday, June 13, 2011
The Civil War: "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"
Introduction
Just when you thought I couldn't get any more diverse, today I'm going to introduce the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," a Civil War song actually written right in the middle of the Civil War (1863). It was written by Patrick Gilmore, but I think we know him better as Louis Lambert.
Context
Normally we think of this song as a Confederate song, because of the "Johnny" part (i.e., "Johnny Reb"). Actually, though, "The first page of the song... bears a dedication at the top 'to the army and the navy of the Union'" (youtube.com video description).
"Johnny" could have been "Gilmore's future brother-in-law, a Union army officer" (youtube.com video description). However, the Library of Congress website explains that the song "became popular with northerners and southerners alike." At its most basic form, the lyrics to this song simply "expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war" (wikipedia.org).
Now, with all of that in mind, watch this video of Ronnie Gilbert singing "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."
Commentary
After listening to this song, it's easy to see why both the North and South would pick it up. It's not specifically obvious which side the song is for - even the line that says, "to place upon his loyal brow" could be taken as being loyal to the Confederacy. "Johnny" is also such a normal name that it could be meant for either side (despite the whole "Johnny Reb" thing). Even if Gilmore wrote it with the Union in mind, I think it fits anyone anywhere that is waiting or has ever waited for a loved one to return from war. Instead of dwelling on "what if he never comes back," this song is very optimistic and hopeful. I'm sure it lifted the spirits of those on both sides who had husbands, fathers, and brothers fighting during the Civil War.
Honestly, even if it's not the "style" of music we usually listen to now, I think the message of this song - about celebrating a loved one's return - is one that we can remember in our time. We also have people fighting, even if it's not here in America. Instead of listening to songs that complain about the war, maybe we should be listening to songs like this that celebrate the soldiers' bravery.
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Johnny_Comes_Marching_Home
Just when you thought I couldn't get any more diverse, today I'm going to introduce the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," a Civil War song actually written right in the middle of the Civil War (1863). It was written by Patrick Gilmore, but I think we know him better as Louis Lambert.
Context
Normally we think of this song as a Confederate song, because of the "Johnny" part (i.e., "Johnny Reb"). Actually, though, "The first page of the song... bears a dedication at the top 'to the army and the navy of the Union'" (youtube.com video description).
"Johnny" could have been "Gilmore's future brother-in-law, a Union army officer" (youtube.com video description). However, the Library of Congress website explains that the song "became popular with northerners and southerners alike." At its most basic form, the lyrics to this song simply "expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war" (wikipedia.org).
Now, with all of that in mind, watch this video of Ronnie Gilbert singing "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."
Commentary
After listening to this song, it's easy to see why both the North and South would pick it up. It's not specifically obvious which side the song is for - even the line that says, "to place upon his loyal brow" could be taken as being loyal to the Confederacy. "Johnny" is also such a normal name that it could be meant for either side (despite the whole "Johnny Reb" thing). Even if Gilmore wrote it with the Union in mind, I think it fits anyone anywhere that is waiting or has ever waited for a loved one to return from war. Instead of dwelling on "what if he never comes back," this song is very optimistic and hopeful. I'm sure it lifted the spirits of those on both sides who had husbands, fathers, and brothers fighting during the Civil War.
Honestly, even if it's not the "style" of music we usually listen to now, I think the message of this song - about celebrating a loved one's return - is one that we can remember in our time. We also have people fighting, even if it's not here in America. Instead of listening to songs that complain about the war, maybe we should be listening to songs like this that celebrate the soldiers' bravery.
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Johnny_Comes_Marching_Home
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