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