Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
This is a cross-university blog project between the University of South Carolina - Upstate and Clemson University for the Fall 2007 semester.
Blog Archive
-
▼
2007
(14)
-
▼
October
(14)
- Welcome!
- Christopher S.(60), Amy T.(21), Brittany W.(31),Ma...
- David R.(60), Elizabeth H.(69), Tucker S.(21), Mik...
- Rachel R.(60), Nicholas G.(69), Nicole S.(21), Rya...
- Megan M.(60), Adam G.(69), Jake M.(21), Michael J....
- Evan L.(60), Thomas G.(69), Andrew W.(21), Amanda ...
- Lauren J.(60), Wade M.(60), Jackie H.(21), Scott H...
- Michael I.(60),Laura G.(69),Christopher J.(69),Tay...
- James H.(60), Soleighta F.(69), Chris G.(21), Tyle...
- Audrey G.(60), Joshua T.(60), Woody N.(69), Chriss...
- Tyler G.(60), Stephanie C.(69), Daniel P.(69), Cha...
- Joshua C.(60), Brittany E.(60), Gregory S.(69), Je...
- Elle B. (60), Andrew B. (69), Steven V. (69), Chri...
- Rafael A. (60), Matthew W. (60), Kevin C. (69), Je...
-
▼
October
(14)
23 comments:
Country Joe & the Fish – “Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag (Next Stop Vietnam)” (1965)
Come on all of you big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
he's got himself in a terrible jam
way down yonder in Viet Nam so
put down your books and pick up a gun we're
gonna have a whole lotta fun
And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for
don't ask me I don't give a damn, next stop is Viet Nam
And it's five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates
ain't no time to wonder why, whoopee we're all gonna die
Come on generals, let's move fast
your big chance has come at last
now you can go out and get those reds
cos the only good commie is the one that's dead and
you know that peace can only be won when we've
blown 'em all to kingdom come
Come on wall street don't be slow
why man this war is a go-go
there's plenty good money to be made by
supplying the army with the tools of its trade
let's hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
they drop it on the Viet Cong
Come on mothers throughout the land
pack your boys off to Viet Nam
come on fathers don't hesitate
send your sons off before it's too late
and you can be the first ones on your block
to have your boy come home in a box
A video of this song performed at WoodStock 1969 can be found here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LBdeCxJmcAo
Hey guys, my name’s Kacey and I currently attend Clemson University. I thought that this song was a good example of an ironic message; the lyrics falsely encourage young men to go to war in a way that expresses how pointless the war is. By noting the ethos, pathos and logos references in the song, its message becomes pretty clear. War sounds unethical because students would have to “put down [their] books and pick up a gun”. Sacrificing education for violence does not encourage the development of educational leaders. Logos appeal is referenced in the phrases “And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for - don't ask me I don't give a damn, next stop is Viet Nam.” Most people at the time did not know why a war was being fought in Vietnam. People at the time probably didn’t feel good about fighting for an unknown reason. Pathos appeal is referenced in phrases like “whoopee we’re all gonna die” and “…you can be the first ones on your block to have your boy come home in a box.” Families did not want to lose their loved ones through a pointless war. If anyone wants to comment on anything I typed, please feel free to do so. Thanks.
KC
Hey everyone my name is Kyia and I attend USC Upstate. I thought this song showed a very good gesture of sarcasm. It was like he took his true feelings and mixed them with the non-concerns of the government. Even though he cared about the way things would be, he gave it a twist to show how concerned the government was. The song took the positive effects like the money and the opportunity to leave and put them out there as benefits. The song writer even bragged about the mothers being able to tell that their sons came back home in a box. The song is sad but yet true in so many ways. Our troops are out their fighting for our country, and are proud of the money that they are making to support their families, but the true question is are they going to come back in a box. They go over there with the expectations of fighting and coming back home but at the same time wondering are they ever going to be able to see home again. I agree with Kacey on the part where the songwriter says: “What are we fighting for; I really don’t give a damn!” I feel that people in the Viet Nam didn’t know what they were fighting for, and yet that is still kind of true today. They tell us that we’re fighting for one thing, but will we ever know what we are really fighting for. I mean we’ve been over there for a while now, have we not killed everybody! LOL.
Hey guys,
My name is Jesse Anderson and I'm a freshman at Clemson University. I'm majoring in engineering, specifically civil. This song seemed so radical as to almost be ridiculous. Was this an intention? In lines 7-10, there’s a cadence going that includes mindless phrases in it like "what are we fighting for" and "whoopee we're all gonna die." This just seems too extreme for me. I have a very conservative mindset so maybe I just can't comprehend this. Can someone enlighten me on this? Even if they are just poking fun at this, that's a little insensitive. There are many men that gave their lives and sanity to that war. To talk about this like an object to be manipulated like play-doh is also ignorant. War, as horrible as it is and easy as it seems to win, has many factors that play into it and is a necessary evil. There will always be "bad guys." There is never an easy decision in war. It seems like they use too much sarcasm for some to take this seriously.
Until next time,
Jesse Anderson
021
Hi guys,
I’m Matthew W. (60), I attend Clemson University, and for the moment I am a history major. I did a bit of literary analysis in high school and I actually like this topic to I think that this will be an enjoyable assignment.
The song, actually a lyrical poem is obviously a satire as the author clearly does not mean what he says. It appears to me that the song is a take-off of some of the pro war songs of the WWII era where people were encourage to send their sons off to fight the good fight so to speak. This songwriter on the other hand calls for the sons to be sent off to Vietnam in order to make money for Wall Street businessmen and to bring glory to generals. This gung ho attitude persists throughout the song even when he discusses the possibility of the sons dying. The writer feigns presenting death as a reward in an attempt to make people think about the consequences of war.
That is my take on this song anyway.
Until my next post, or until I comment on yours,
Matthew W. (60)
Hey everyone! My name is Raffy, and I attend Clemson University as a freshman majoring in Engineering. The lyrics here encourage the youth of the day to join up into the army and fight in Vietnam. It has false promises of hope and glory in a war that had far from either. I have not actually ever listened to the song, but I like the feel of just the lyrics. The author of the lyrics encourages Americans to be excited about the war and to take action. Contrary to most of the other songs of the time that dealt with Vietnam, this is a good change. Thank you!
--Raffy
Hey Group!
My name is Alyssa and I attend Clemson University. I am currently an English major, but I am in the process of changing majors to Communications. I enjoy writing and analyzing poetry. I am not an expert, but it is my favorite thing about English class. The title was very confusing and I had to read it a couple of times. Does anyone understand the title of the song? What does it mean to die rag? The only thing I could think of was to dye their shirts with blood. Vietnam was a very deadly war and the song implies that anyone who goes over there will die. The writer seems very sarcastic at times, especially when he describes the troops as going to “have a whole lotta fun.” Here I think Country Joe & the Fish are poking fun at the fact that the war is a joke. He believes that there is no reason for the U.S. troops to be over there and therefore he pokes fun at the idea of fighting. This is seen again when he describes Uncle Sam as “getting himself into a jam again.” The use of the word again, emphasizes the fact that this war is useless. He seems to be making a joke out of the United States’ way of handling foreign conflict. After listening to the song, I discovered that the part that starts with “and it’s one, two, three” and ends with “whoopee we’re all gonna die” is the refrain. This part I believe is the most pessimistic and sarcastic. It emphasizes the fact that the war is a total bloodbath and by sending more soldiers to Vietnam is a death sentence. However, Country Joe & the Fish sing this song very joyfully. It is total sarcasm and mockery when he says “whoopee we’re all gonna die.” All in all I feel that this song is an excellent protest song and reveals the general train of thought about the Vietnam War. Everyone please listen to it! It helps!
Hey Group!
My name is Alyssa and I attend Clemson University. I am currently an English major, but I am in the process of changing majors to Communications. I enjoy writing and analyzing poetry. I am not an expert, but it is my favorite thing about English class. The title was very confusing and I had to read it a couple of times. Does anyone understand the title of the song? What does it mean to die rag? The only thing I could think of was to dye their shirts with blood. Vietnam was a very deadly war and the song implies that anyone who goes over there will die. The writer seems very sarcastic at times, especially when he describes the troops as going to “have a whole lotta fun.” Here I think Country Joe & the Fish are poking fun at the fact that the war is a joke. He believes that there is no reason for the U.S. troops to be over there and therefore he pokes fun at the idea of fighting. This is seen again when he describes Uncle Sam as “getting himself into a jam again.” The use of the word again, emphasizes the fact that this war is useless. He seems to be making a joke out of the United States’ way of handling foreign conflict. After listening to the song, I discovered that the part that starts with “and it’s one, two, three” and ends with “whoopee we’re all gonna die” is the refrain. This part I believe is the most pessimistic and sarcastic. It emphasizes the fact that the war is a total bloodbath and by sending more soldiers to Vietnam is a death sentence. However, Country Joe & the Fish sing this song very joyfully. It is total sarcasm and mockery when he says “whoopee we’re all gonna die.” All in all I feel that this song is an excellent protest song and reveals the general train of thought about the Vietnam War. Everyone please listen to it! It helps!
Alyssa M. (33)
Hello everyone my name is Will. I attend Clemson University as well and am going to be a Civil Engineering student next semester. Well, first of all, the rhetoric and sarcasm stuck out to me immediately. There were a lot of protests in the sixties about the Vietnam War and this song must certainly have had a voice in it. The title of this song is very obvious to me with what the song is about. If I could sum up what I thought the song was about it would be about how Vietnam is a death sentence for all the soldiers who go. Within the first few lines it says “Uncle Sam needs your help again, he's got himself in a terrible jam”. It seems to me like the writer is making fun of Uncle Sam, or the Military, saying he’s been in jams before and he needs help getting out. The entire song is really using rhetoric to say that the war is pointless and is a killer of the soldiers. I think the line that hits the hardest is “and you can be the first ones on your block
to have your boy come home in a box”. This line is what the song is all about. Country Joe & the Fish think that Vietnam will kill you.
Hey Guys,
My name is Anna and I am currently a nursing student at USC Upstate. This song reminds me of those songs you hear on comedians CDs. You can tell this person was against the war by his mindset about certain things. War is not something to just joke about, and it shows how the government would just send our men overseas without even thinking about it. Vietnam was one of the worst wars for US Army deaths. The writer tries to let you recognize how the government really can be corrupt and do whatever they want by saying “Uncle Sam needs your help again he's got himself in a terrible jam”. Joking about seems to give it more of an impact I think because of how sarcastic the writer was. It is sad that the words in this song are actually true in a sense but just stated more bluntly. If we know our sons are just coming home in a box, we need to think of another plan, because obviously this one did not work.
Hey Guys,
My name is Niki and I'm a freshman at USC Upstate. I'm majoring in biology right now. I actually surprised that I liked the lyrics of this song. I loved that the writer is sarcastic about his eagerness to join in the Vietnam War. Obviously, he is anti-war and is saying the only product of war is death. I think the writer doesn't think it's his business to clean up America's mess as he says in the first few verses, "Uncle Sam needs your help again he's got himself in a terrible jam." Being against war, I understand what he is saying about America volunteering citizens and how it isn't right to assume everyone wants to stop their lives just to help the country out of the horrible situation. I think the writer has a right to say what he feels but it is a little insensitive for him to tell mothers and fathers they basically killed their sons for sending them to Vietnam.
If you've gotten this far down the page, thanks for reading.
Nikita G. (31)
Hey guys!
I hope everyone is doing well today! I enjoyed reading everyone’s comments. It was interesting to see how many people interpreted the same things as me. Will, I really liked your comments. I agree with the fact that the song is definitely sarcastic and the rhetoric of it establishes this. I also commented on the line from the song about Uncle Sam. Here the writer is definitely alluding to the fact that the United States has gotten itself in tough spots before and this war is another. Anna, I also liked your comments about how bluntly the writer states the horrors of the Vietnam War. It comes across as a joke, but could there be more to it? I am not sure, but I definitely think you are right that if our soldiers are coming home in boxes then something is not going well. Overall I thought everyone was basically on the same page. We seem to all agree that this is a sarcastic anti-war poem. I like how everyone proved that point using different examples. That really helped my understanding better, especially of the title.
Alyssa M. (33)
Hey guys,
To answer Alyssa's question, this song has rag in the title because this song is in "rag-time". This is a specific tempo of music. Like the Clemson fight song "Tiger Rag", this song's title is the same. I believe that I am actually the only person who doesn't like this song. Niki said that she "loved that the writer is sarcastic about his eagerness to join the Vietnam War." This indirectly supports anti-government actions and thoughts. People have other options and don't have to live here if they feel oppressed. Anna also said "Vietnam was one of the worst wars for US Army deaths." This is true but not THE worst. World War II was much more horrific as far as the death toll was concerned. Less men died in Vietnam than died in the first three years of World War II. The single worst battle in American history was the Battle of Antietam in the Civil War. It was fought on September 17, 1862. There were 22,717 casualties in that one day alone. Thats a little under half of the casualties of the whole conflict of Vietnam. Alyssa then said "It [the song] emphasizes the fact that the war is a total bloodbath and by sending more soldiers to Vietnam is a death sentence." Vietnam paled in bloodshed to other wars. This may sound petty, but with all of the recent technology, soldiers are better equipped to deal on the battlefield and therefore casualty rates go way down.
Until Next time,
Jesse Anderson
021
Hey everyone it’s Will again from Clemson. I would have to agree with Niki in saying that the war was not a joke to the soldiers. I like how she discussed about the high death toll of US soldiers. Those deaths were not something to be dealt with lightly. I also think that Alyssa did a great job of saying what all of us agreed on. If soldiers are coming home in boxes, the war must not be going in a good direction. What family, or young man would, in their right mind, enlist in the army if they knew they were almost certainly die. The song does a great job of using sarcasm to portray the negative results of going to Vietnam. I really want to get into what Jesse thought about Alyssa’s comment though. WWII and the Civil War were the most violent wars America has ever seen, but more people disagreed with Vietnam that those wars. In WW2 and the Civil War people knew what they were fighting for and what they wanted. Vietnam had no direct effect with America and therefore had so many protesters.
Hey it's Kacey again. To add to what Jesse said about the title, I think it's basically saying, "Hey, it looks like I'm going to die" in rag time. After reading everyone's comments, I would have to definitely agree that it is definitely a play on rhetoric. I also agree with Anna in that this song is like the parodies and satires modern day comedians are famous for. The composer doesn't support the war at all, but instead writes a song in the form of the old war songs designed to advertise the war and encourage young men to fight. In his song however he includes details that would probably get excluded from previous war songs because after hearing the lyrics, barely anyone would feel good about fighting at all.
To any who haven't heard the song yet, check out the YouTube link I posted earlier. I thought it helped. Thanks for reading
KC
Hey everyone it’s Will. Hope y’all had a good weekend. Too bad we have to go to school tomorrow. First I want to cite Kevin on his great response about the feeling of the song. I do not think anyone would even think about joining the military or setting foot in Vietnam after listening to this song. After watching the video on Youtube it looked to me like Country Joe had been to Vietnam before. His dressed himself in part of a uniform so he must have seen some action. I know this song was influenced by his views so everyone probably does not have the same opinion but this song gives a strong opinion about the war.
I found a great picture that I think shows how most soldiers felt about the war. You can find it at http://julia.hanovercomputer.com/toy/nov01/catalog/Uncle%20Sam/gallery.htm and it is picture # 219 down. It shows how the men felt as well as the women during that time.
Hello all again. This is Kacey again for one final post. I would first of all like to thank everyone for their input on the topic. I think overall we have come up with a general understanding of what the song writer was trying to convey to the audience. I found an example of a modern day war parody on YouTube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZADOBn5kEiM
I believe the songs sort of bring about a message. By blindly listening to the song, you'll get the wrong message across. By paying attention to the lyrics and the tone of the performer, the true message would be revealed. Since "Fell Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag (Next Stop Vietnam)" was performed at Woodstock, I'm pretty sure everyone there understood that the writer was totally against the war (If not, he might not have made it off the stage in one piece). The YouTube song is about instating a draft. Paying attention to the lyrics reveals that the singer does not really want a draft and states sarcastic reasons for having one.
Thank-you all for your comments and input!
KC
Hey guys,
I've been the "downer" during this whole blog. I hope that I didn't anger anyone, I just wanted to add my own perspective on it. These are my thoughts. I do support war a little more than most but only because it is my job. Only the insane really want to see combat. I'm just one of the few that's willing to put my life on the line to preserve the luxuries we already have. I found a good picture that sums up war well. It's at http://vinpon.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/windowslivewritersomeofthemostpowerfulimagesfromaroundthe-1266a000895-windowslivewritersomeofthemos2.jpg and it just looks chaotic. The little kids in it almost make you want to cry. The soldiers walking amongst them almost look as if they don't care. Its images like these that give such a negative connotation for soldiers.
Jesse Anderson
021
P.S.
Will, I think Country Joe only wore the clothes in protest as a way of degrading them by wearing them incorrectly. Many people them wore military fatigues as a way of disrespecting the government.
Hello Everyone! Jesse thanks for answering my question about the title. I didn’t make the connection with the type of music. I like Kevin’s comment about how it is ironic that the type of music makes the message seem more sarcastic. The music is very upbeat and it seems odd that the song is about war. Overall, I think all of our comments accomplished a general understanding of the song and the rhetoric that created the message of the song. This website has a couple of pictures of the aftermath of Vietnam. One in particular is of soldiers carrying a coffin. This picture reminded me of the line in the song “have your boy come home in a box.” This line in the song was very visual. It stuck with me and really made me realize that this was a real fear. When a young man went off to fight in Vietnam, coming home in a box or never coming home was a real issue. This line adds to the message of the song that the war is useless and is killing young men. The picture and other pictures can be found at this website or by searching Google images for “Vietnam war picture of a coffin.” I hope you find this site interesting.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/vietnam-12-returned-home-funeral-services-photo-03.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/vietnam-recoveries-august-2005.htm&h=253&w=380&sz=80&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=e8WZMdx9qrmVMM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dvietnam%2Bwar%2Bpicture%2Bof%2Ba%2Bcoffin%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
Alyssa M. (33)
Hey guys,
Sorry for being late, and I know it says no late work will be tolerated but I figured I should do this anyway.
To answer some earlier statements, while it is true that modern war results in fewer casualties, at least on our side, the fact of the matter is that war is bad, and should only be a last resort, which in the case of the Vietnam War is arguable at best. The question is not whether or not the war could have been worse, but whether or not it was necessary at all.
Randy Newman does a lot of satirical songs, some of which joke about alleged American superiority. One song called “Political Science” jests about just going to war because if America controlled the world life would be simpler. As horrible as that idea sounds many would argue that that is exactly what we were doing in Vietnam.
You will find the lyrics in the link below.
http://www.ocap.ca/songs/polsci.html
Hope you like it,
Matthew Worden
Hey guys!
I know this is late. I was thinking the second comment was due this coming Friday. I agreed with all of your answers. I thought that all of your opinions followed the same track as mine. I totally agreed with Alyssa and a lot of “y’all” talked about how much of a bloodbath this war was. In seventh grade I had a group project on the Viet Nam war. My partner had a video that her grandfather had taken while being overseas. Most of the tape was blacked out my government because of a scene showing a river of blood that they eventually had to make a bridge to cross over. Uncle Sam was definitely in a jam and tried to cover this up. When the song say “com on wall street don’t be slow” I think that if Wall Street had know more about some of the incidents like this one, without Uncle Same getting out of it, it may have brought even more protesters. I watched the video and I thought it was really strange that people were smiling and having fun while singing this song. I would think this song would make people more mad than anything.
Thanks! Anna
Hey guys!
I know this is late. I was thinking the second comment was due this coming Friday. I agreed with all of your answers. I thought that all of your opinions followed the same track as mine. I totally agreed with Alyssa and a lot of “y’all” talked about how much of a bloodbath this war was. In seventh grade I had a group project on the Viet Nam war. My partner had a video that her grandfather had taken while being overseas. Most of the tape was blacked out my government because of a scene showing a river of blood that they eventually had to make a bridge to cross over. Uncle Sam was definitely in a jam and tried to cover this up. When the song say “com on wall street don’t be slow” I think that if Wall Street had know more about some of the incidents like this one, without Uncle Same getting out of it, it may have brought even more protesters. I watched the video and I thought it was really strange that people were smiling and having fun while singing this song. I would think this song would make people more mad than anything.
Thanks! Anna
Hey guys! I agreed with Alyssa about it being very strange that this song is so upbeat. As I said in my last post, it is even stranger that the song is sung with smiles. I would think that people would here this song and the way it is said would make them want to do more. I found a really good website that is sort of the same thing as this one. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1953 I thought it was really helpful though because you can see what wide spans of people have to say instead of just our age group. I usually have a hard time interpreting things until I have read what others opinions are.
Thanks! Anna B.
Post a Comment