As I approached my last blog of the semester, I tried to think of something that I was passionate about that had to with war. After I ruled out the color pink in war, the Disney movie Mulan and the legend of Hua Mulan, I went to a song about war. I will focus on one of the most popular war songs. It’s not a coincidence that the name of the song is “War.”
“War” was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1969. It was one of the first Motown songs that made a statement. It was first sung by the Temptations. However, the song was an Anti-war song so in order for the Temptations to keep their conservative fans, Edwin Starr then sang the song and recorded it. Starr’s version of this song was on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970.
"War" protested the Vietnam War. I think one of the reasons this song did so well is because so many people were so passionate about getting American soldiers out of Vietnam.The lyrics are powerful and they convey the emotional side of how much people did not want their soldiers in Vietnam. Mother's of American soldiers can relate to this song when it says, "cause it means destruction of innocent lives. War means tears to thousands of mother's eyes."
The Americans of this time had many things about this war to be angry about. First of all, they felt the Vietnam war was a war on Communism, and they felt it was it was not our place to get involved in. They also were angry because the draft was not a random pick. Mostly lower and middle class people were forced to fight and the upper class were excused. The last reason that American’s hated this war was because this was the first war that the American’s got television coverage of. Our nation saw blood on the television, and they saw no progress being made. 
What I think of when I hear this song is “War, huh. Yeah. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.” I can just hear protesters screaming this song as they march down the road in protest of the Vietnam War. Sometimes a song can sing something that words can not say. This song is crucial in America’s history because it tells a story that a story can not tell.
You have a way of listening to songs like I do. Most people listen to stuff for pure entertainment, but the lyrics are true poetry. Just as you say you hear the protesters screaming, that is most definitely what comes to mind. I had honestly forgotten about this song until now. My grandfather loved this song. Reminds me of him in a way.
ReplyDeleteI honestly did not even know it was about the Vietnam War until I looked it up. The part of the song that everyone knows is catchy but the others lyrics have some profound meaning. I love it because poetry is powerful but when you match poetry with music (tension and release) it is even more powerful.
ReplyDelete