The Vietnam War: "Daddy Won't Be Home Anymore"

Introduction & Context

Today we're going to be looking at a war song with a slightly different feel.... first we had the Beatles-reminiscent song about WWI, then we listened to the '80s take on the Cold War, and now we're turning to a country-fied Vietnam War tune in the form of Dolly Parton's 1970 song "Daddy Won't Be Home Anymore." Unlike the others, there is nothing more I feel I really need to say about the song or its context, so without any further ado.....

Commentary

Basically, this song is about a wife whose husband went off to fight in the Vietnam War and died, and now she has to tell her children that their "daddy won't be home anymore." Wow. I cannot even imagine how hard that would be. She must feel so alone and afraid - but she's also brave, as I'll get to in a minute.

Even though it's incredibly sad, I think this song is great. In all of the controversy surrounding the Vietnam War, this song says to me, "No matter who's side you're on, this is life right now. This is what is happening." I think, in a way, this song can bring together everyone that was impacted by the war because so many of them had to go through similar things. Whether they agreed on the war wasn't important. What was important was to comfort and encourage each other, and help each other get through this hard time.

Also, I think this song shows a side of the Vietnam War that we may not always talk about. It seems like maybe we focus more on the draft-dodgers and that side of it, but this song shows a couple that fought for their beliefs and were extremely brave. She sings about her husband, "You died for what you thought was right - that much I know for sure," and her bravery is also seen in these lyrics: "And I'll bring our children up the best way that I can." She totally supported him. All of this is very admirable, and quite a contrast to those who deserted America (or wanted to) rather than fight. I also applaud the fact that the wife turns to God to give her strength, because He's the only One that can give us the strength we need in times like that: "God, give me courage to tell them that daddy won't be home anymore."

So, for me, even though this is a sad song, it's really bittersweet because of the example this couple set during this difficult time.

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anti-war_songs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqTOpefU_P4
http://www.dollypartonmusic.net/discography.html#top
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dollyparton/daddywontbehomeanymore.html (lyrics)