YOUR FLAG DECAL WON'T GET YOU INTO HEAVEN ANYMORE - JOHN PRINE (1971) - (link)
While digesting Reader's Digest In the back of a dirty book store, A plastic flag, with gum on the back, Fell out on the floor. Well, I picked it up and I ran outside Slapped it on my window shield, And if I could see old Betsy Ross I'd tell her how good I feel. [Chorus:] But your flag decal won't get you Into Heaven any more. They're already overcrowded From your dirty little war. Now Jesus don't like killin' No matter what the reason's for, And your flag decal won't get you Into Heaven any more. Well, I went to the bank this morning And the cashier he said to me, "If you join the Christmas club We'll give you ten of them flags for free." Well, I didn't mess around a bit I took him up on what he said. And I stuck them stickers all over my car And one on my wife's forehead. [Chorus] Well, I got my window shield so filled With flags I couldn't see. So, I ran the car upside a curb And right into a tree. By the time they got a doctor down I was already dead. And I'll never understand why the man Standing in the Pearly Gates said... "But your flag decal won't get you Into Heaven any more. We're already overcrowded From your dirty little war. Now Jesus don't like killin' No matter what the reason's for, And your flag decal won't get you Into Heaven any more." |
John Prime sings a lot about Jesus and god almost relating to karma so it seems in his song “Your flag decal won’t get you into heaven anymore”. This song presents war as bad, definitely antiwar. You can tell when it says “Now Jesus don’t like killin’”. I feel this song is in support because it seems like it wants the war to stop, which is obviously good for our country. Maybe not in the long run but at least the killing would stop for the time being. This answers the question about the wars effect on society. When the song says “We’re already overcrowded from your dirty little war” it is talking about society being too crowded which is an effect of the war. I agree with the message of this song, because he is sending a message that the war is their fault when he says “your dirty little war” which is patriotic and in defense of America.
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EVE OF DESTRUCTION - BARRY MCGUIRE (1965) - (link)
The eastern world it is exploding Violence flarin', bullets loadin' You're old enough to kill but not for votin' You don't believe in war but what’s that gun you're totin'? And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin' But you tell me Over and over and over again my friend Ah, you don't believe We're on the eve of destruction Don't you understand what I'm tryin' to say Can't you feel the fears I'm feelin' today? If the button is pushed, there's no runnin' away There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave Take a look around you boy, it's bound to scare you boy And you tell me Over and over and over again my friend Ah, you don't believe We're on the eve of destruction Yeah my blood's so mad feels like coagulating I'm sitting here just contemplatin' I can't twist the truth it knows no regulation Handful of senators don't pass legislation And marches alone can't bring integration When human respect is disintegratin' This whole crazy world is just too frustratin' And you tell me Over and over and over again my friend Ah, you don't believe We're on the eve of destruction Think of all the hate there is in Red China Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama You may leave here for four days in space But when you return it's the same old place The pounding of the drums, the pride and disgrace You can bury your dead but don't leave a trace Hate your next door neighbor but don't forget to say grace And tell me Over and over and over and over again my friend You don't believe We're on the eve of destruction Mmm, no, no, you don't believe We're on the eve of destruction |
The language in this song that really stand out, from that written by other artists, is P.F. Sloan calling out the hypocrisies of our country at the time. How people who didn’t believe in the war were shipped off and how, before the Constitutional amendment in 1971, many eighteen to twenty year olds that were drafted were “old enough to kill, but not for votin’.” He also describes how we, as a nation, would focus on the hate that is spewed by other countries, but completely ignore the hate and intolerance that have formed in our own country. Sloan even further capitalizes on how the people who spread their grotesque intolerance and hatred towards other human beings will then pray and spread love to others about how we should be thankful for those around us when he states “Hate your next door neighbor but don’t forget to say grace.” The Vietnam War, in this song, is represented in the way a lot of people saw the conflict back then. A prodigious amount of people believed that the United States should not have been involved and how people should not have been drafted for a war they did not believe in. This aforesaid belief gives the song a sentiment of anti-war. I believe that P.F. Sloan is very critical in both foreign policies that were used back in that era, the Truman Doctrine and the Domino Theory. The former calls for more of a collective security type of approach towards conflicts while the latter calls for an internationalism approach. These two types of foreign policies contradict the seemingly isolationist stance that Sloan takes in the song when writing “Think of all the hate there is in Red China, Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama.” This song most definitely tackles the aspect of how the war in Vietnam affected the society by showing numerous examples of hypocrisy in our society, and even anger in himself and people like him as he switches from writing about his own feelings to satirically quoting as well as questioning the people who believed in the war. I completely agree with the message that Sloan was trying to throw out into the world. I personally believe that a semi-isolationist stance is the best way to run our nation. I think that we should subdue the problems we face within our own country before trying to solve the problems of others/ I also feel that the reason we went into Vietnam was a ridiculous reason to go to war not to mention the fact that we went in without any help from other nations and so I stand by the writer in his message.
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IF I DIE - RARE EARTH (1971) - (link)
Rain is falling on my head, Pretty soon I might be dead. The end is here, Lord, it's plain to see I guess my country's made a fool of me. If I die, please make sure, Someone will bring me home. If I die, tomorrow, Someone will be all alone. Family's children standin' by, Mother finds it hard not to cry. A look of sadness on their face, Tryin' hard not to show a trace. If I die, please make sure, Someone will bring me home. If I die, tomorrow, Someone will be all alone. One last question before I go, One last answer I must know. Tomorrow morning I'll be alone, Can you tell me why I can't be home? If I die, please make sure, Someone will bring me home. If I die, tomorrow, Someone will be all alone. If I die, please make sure, Someone will bring me home. If I die, tomorrow, Someone will be all alone. I don't wanna die, but if I die If I die, please make sure, Someone will bring me home. If I die, tomorrow, Someone will be all alone. |
I noticed immediately that this song is another that focuses on a more micro aspect of the war – since it depicts the impact on soldiers and their families back home, as opposed to a macro view which may focus on causes of war and large events that happened within the war. The writer of this song was clearly against the Vietnam War, which is clearly represented in the lyrics. He disapproves of all the fighting, and maintains that the only outcome is the death of soldiers (Rain is falling on my head, / Pretty soon I might be dead) and the effect on families back home who are not necessarily involved in the war (If I die, tomorrow, / Someone will be all alone. / Family's children standin' by, / Mother finds it hard not to cry.) Although the song does not specifically mention the foreign policy, we can assume that it is against us going into war in Vietnam, as he finds that even though he was been sent to protect the free world from the communism that he has been told will corrupt it after the fall of Vietnam, the only predictable outcome at this point is the death of thousands of soldiers (The end is here, Lord, it's plain to see /I guess my country's made a fool of me.) I believe it can be relevant to most driving questions – the cost of war is the death of too many soldiers; the impact on society is the removal of husbands, brothers, fathers, etc. from our country due to them being drafted into the war and killed; and judging from the lyrics of this song and what we now know as the outcome of the war I would say that the Vietnam War was most certainly not beneficial. I would say that I do. Although I was not even close to being alive at the time of the Vietnam War, it seems like a horrendous waste of lives especially now that we know that the Vietnam domino that we had predicted to knock down every democratic country in the world only managed to take down Laos and Cambodia with it. I hope that had our country’s leaders known the outcomes that they would have never gotten us involved in the war.
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SKY PILOT - ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS (1968) - (link)
He blesses the boys as they stand in line The smell of gun grease and the bayonets they shine He's there to help them all that he can To make them feel wanted he's a good holy man Sky pilot..... Sky pilot How high can you fly You'll never, never, never reach the sky He smiles at the young soldiers Tells them it's all right He knows of their fear in the forthcoming fight Soon there'll be blood and many will die Mothers and fathers back home they will cry Sky pilot..... Sky pilot How high can you fly You'll never, never, never reach the sky He mumbles a prayer and it ends with a smile The order is given They move down the line But he's still behind and he'll meditate But it won't stop the bleeding or ease the hate As the young men move out into the battle zone He feels good, with God you're never alone He feels tired and he lays on his bed Hopes the men will find courage in the words that he said Sky pilot..... Sky Pilot How high can you fly You'll never, never, never reach the sky You're soldiers of God you must understand The fate of your country is in your young hands May God give you strength Do your job real well If it all was worth it Only time it will tell In the morning they return With tears in their eyes The stench of death drifts up to the skies A soldier so I'll looks at the sky pilot Remembers the words "Thou shalt not kill" Sky pilot..... Sky pilot How high can you fly You never, never, never reach the sky |
Some language that stands out to me is “Some folks are born made to wave the flag” and “It ain’t me”. “It ain’t me” is repeated many times throughout the song. This song is anti-war and very anti-draft. It talks about how certain people are made to be in the military and then says that he is not one of those people. This song is critical of the foreign policy during Vietnam, saying that we don’t need to be in Vietnam policing the country. This song answers how war impacts the individual. The individual often feels the pressure to join or in the case of this war they are being forced to join. Even if they don’t want to join so the individual is impacted with this feeling of being forced to do something they don’t want to. This time though it isn’t a chore that they don’t want to do it is going to war and possibly dying. Why I agree with the message of this song. The military and war is not meant for everyone. Good soldiers aren’t people who were forced into it. They are people who want to serve and help our country. That is why the draft is definitely not good unless it is a very serious situation.
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OHIO - CROSBY, STILLS, NASH AND YOUNG (1971) - (link)
Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin' We're finally on our own This summer I hear the drummin' Four dead in Ohio Gotta get down to it Soldiers are gunning us down Should have been done long ago What if you knew her and Found her dead on the ground? How can you run when you know? Gotta get down to it Soldiers are cutting us down Should have been done long ago What if you knew her and Found her dead on the ground? How can you run when you know? Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin' We're finally on our own This summer I hear the drummin' Four dead in Ohio Four dead in Ohio Four! Four dead in Ohio How many more? Four dead in Ohio How many more? Why? Four dead in Ohio How many more? Why? |
First to understand the song you need to understand the fact that this song was made as a direct response to the Kent State shooting. The Kent State shooting was the shooting of unarmed college students by the Ohio national guard at Kent State during an anti-Vietnam War protest. It resulted in the four deaths. (More information on this event can be found on our timeline: (http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/740169/Vietnam-War/.) The song tries to frame the situation as an us versus them scenario. With the them being soldiers and the us being protesters. Lines like “Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin' We're finally on our own” Present the listener with the scenario of Nixon and his “Tin soldiers” coming to gun you down so now you are on your own like the other protesters.This song is very critical of the actions done by the government and ends with the question, “how many more [will die]?” The song itself is a clear example of how war affects society and alludes to other effects on society. The strain that the Vietnam War put on our society caused the Kent State shooting which then added to the tension between soldiers and civilians. Ohio shows how civilians distanced themselves from the soldiers that went to Vietnam referring to them as “Tin soldiers” forgetting the fact that they are human and endured some of the worst experiences that anyone has ever had to go through. I despise this song because Ohio and songs like it that demonized soldiers are what caused the anti-veteran environment in a post-Vietnam War America. You can be anti-war but you should not be anti-veteran.
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