Charley Don't surf - the clash
Lyrics:
[Chorus] Charlie don't surf and we think he should Charlie don't surf and you know that it ain't no good Charlie don't surf for his hamburger Momma Charlie's gonna be a napalm star Everybody wants to rule the world Must be something we get from birth One truth is we never learn Satellites will make space burn We've been told to keep the strangers out We don't like them starting to hang around We don't like them all over town Across the world we are going to blow them down [Chorus] The reign of the super powers must be over So many armies can't free the earth Soon the rock will roll over Africa is choking on their Coca Cola It's a one a way street in a one horse town One way people starting to brag around You can laugh, put them down These one way people gonna blow us down [Chorus] Charlie don't surf he'll never learn Charlie don't surf though he's got a gun Charlie don't surf think that he should Charlie don't surf we really think he should Charlie don't surf Charlie don't surf and we think he should Charlie don't surf and you know that it ain't no good Charlie don't surf for his hamburger Momma Charlie don't surf |
Analysis:The lyrics, “You can laugh, put them down, These one way people gonna blow us down” and “We've been told to keep the strangers out, We don't like them starting to hang around, We don't like them all over town, Across the world we are going to blow them down” seem to be talking about the US’s dislike of the Communist Vietnamese and how, even though they are a simpler society, they were able to cause a huge amount of damage. This song is not specifically an anti-war song, but it does portray the war as a negative thing. With the lyric, “The reign of the super powers must be over, So many armies can't free the earth” one can see that the songwriter does not like the way the US involved itself in the Vietnamese conflict. This song is critical of the foreign policy because it talks in an ironic and sardonic voice about the idea of going into another country to kick out the “stranger” which could be seen as a metaphor for Communists. This song shows the cost of war by showing how the war in Vietnam was a based off of a disagreement in ideals with the Communist North and this song adequately shows how people can have their ideas attacked simply because they are different. I agree with the message of the song because it points out the want that large counties have to exert large amounts of military force and how that negatively affects the world.
|