Lyrics and Video "Front Line" by Stevie Wonder
I am a veteran of the war I up and joined the army back in 1964 At sixteen I just had to be a man at any cost I volunteered for Vietnam where I got my leg shot off I recall a quote from a movie that said "who's more a man Than a man with a reason that's worth dyin' for" They had me standing on the front line They had me standing on the front line They had me standing on the front line But now I stand at the back of the line when it comes to gettin' ahead They gave me a uniform and a tiny salty pill To stop the big urge I might have for the wrong kind of thrill They put a gun in my hand and said, "shoot until he's dead" But it's hard to kill when 'please your friend' echoes through your head Brought up in church taught no man should take another's life But then put in a jungle where life has no price They had me standing on the front line They had me standing on the front line They had me standing on the front line But now I stand at the back of the line when it comes to gettin' ahead Back in the world the paper reads today Another war is in the brewing But what about the lives of yesterday And the many happy families that have been ruined My niece is a hooker and my nephew's a junkie too But they say I have no right to tell them how they should do They laugh and say "quit bragging" 'bout the war you should never have been in But my mind is so brain-washed I'd prob'bly go back and do it again I walk the neighborhood parading my purple heart With a fear of agent orange that no one will stop They had me standing on the front line They had me standing on the front line They had me standing on the front line But now I stand at the back of the line when it comes to gettin' ahead http://youtu.be/DKRqzxeJ0bc |
analysisThis song was released in 1982, and is about the Vietnam War and the struggles that veterans experienced when returning from the war, and their adaptations to civilian life.
The song has a very clear, crisp message, with an attitude that is definitely present for a rock song. Uses very simple rhyming strategies, for example, “I am a veteran of the war I up and joined the army back in 1964 At sixteen I just had to be a man at any cost I volunteered for Vietnam where I got my leg shot off” The artist made the song comprehensible by describing his experiences while having bridges explaining his moral conflict of the experiences. This song presents the war as a negative thing to experience. It describes his time in the war in the verses, and then the chorus, “They had me standing on the front line” ends with “But now I stand at the back of the line when it comes to getting ahead.” So, he was standing at the front of the line in battle, putting his life on the line every day, and yet, when he returned, nobody was appreciative of what he’d done, and he found it hard to adapt to this shame and going on with civilian life. Though the foreign policy is not necessarily addressed in this song, one can infer that the artist would not be in support of the stated foreign policy, the Truman Doctrine. Throughout the song, the singer describes his experiences to be full of confliction. “They put a gun in my hand and said, "shoot until he's dead.” But it's hard to kill when 'please your friend' echoes through your head” “Back in the world the paper reads today. Another war is in the brewing. But what about the lives of yesterday. And the many happy families that have been ruined” “My mind is so brain-washed I'd prob'bly go back and do it again” These lines show his inner turmoil about going to war and the aftermath of being in the war. This artist would probably be in support of isolationism rather than the stated foreign policy. This song answers the driving question, “How does war affect the individual?” When soldiers returned from the Vietnam War, they were shunned by society. A lot of people didn’t believe that the war was right, and so they didn’t respect the soldiers that went and fought. This was hard for a lot of soldiers, especially those who were drafted and didn’t want to be there in the first place. They had faced so many perilous dangers and disturbing events in the war, and when they arrived home they were shunned. In this song, he talks about all the grueling things he faced, “They put a gun in my hand and said, "shoot until he's dead" But it's hard to kill when 'please your friend' echoes through your head. Brought up in church taught no man should take another's life. But then put in a jungle where life has no price” and then another verse describes when he returns home, “My niece is a hooker and my nephew's a junkie too. But they say I have no right to tell them how they should do. They laugh and say "quit bragging" 'bout the war you should never have been in.” This describes that even people with serious issues back at home tell him that he has worse problems than they do, because he was in the Vietnam War. The story he tells in the song is very engaging and looking at the lyrics one can sympathize with him and his experiences in the war, and his hard adjustments coming back home. This makes it an emotional but still catchy song, because it has an easy to understand message, and a repetitive chorus that will make an impression. |