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We have to compare and contrast at least three songs for the first homework assignment, pointing out the message they propagate, what they protest against and what song out of the three we liked best and why. The songs I have eventually chosen were “Imagine” by John Lennon, “Universal Soldier” by Buffy Sainte-Marie and “The War Drags On” by Donovan.
John Lennon's “Imagine” shows us a vision of a unified, uniform “one world” with no differences - like religions, countries and possessions - between the people. This world also has no good or evil represented in the song as hell and heaven and all the humans are living together in peace, sharing the world as a brotherhood of people. It is also told that there is no more need for hunger and greed. Lennon then expresses his hope for this new world to become real and his hope in the people to understand and follow this dream so they can all eventually live in his peaceful world.
The Song probably protests against the separation of the world in the “good” western countries and the “bad” Soviet Union in east Europe. There also seems to be some protest against religions and possession or capitalism as in “no religion”, ”no hell below us”, “above us only sky/there's no heaven” and “no possessions”. I liked this song best compared to the other two, probably because of the friendly and optimistic touch it had, the hope it expressed and the utopian feel in it. Sadly I couldn't really agree that a uniform world would be really enjoyable, as it would take away all the fun and variation of humanity.
The second song I have chosen is “the War Drags On” by Donovan. This song tells us the story of an American soldier or the American soldiers that went out to fight for freedom, liberty, equality and hope, but eventually found himself/themselves in a world of chaos, destruction, death and desperation. They may fight for good reasons, but how they are doing this doesn't quite work out. The end of the song tells us about the life after the war, with soldiers having traumas about what happened in their past and it also mentions nuclear weapons.
I assume that the song is protesting against the Vietnam War, the use of nuclear weapons and the death of innocent people in war. It also protests against the cruelty of soldiers despite them having good intentions. The song seems to warn to not over-exaggerate in the arms race of the Cold War, because this could eventually destroy earth or humanity as you can read in “And there's no more war, for there's no more world.”. In the lyrics of the song I also found the line “That this poor country's known for the last twenty years.”, but I wasn't entirely sure about the meaning of this, but it may refer to the Cold War or the wars in Asia who were fought by USA in the last twenty years. It could also refer to some powers of the second World War or just to Vietnam.
“Universal Soldier” by Buffy Sainte-Marie was the last song I have chosen for the assignment. “Universal Soldier” tells the history of the general, universal soldier who fights for the people since thousands of years, for all the countries and rulers - the “good” as well as the “evil” ones -, and for all the religions. This soldier is described as tall and small, young and old and fights with new weapons as well as with old ones. It is also told that the soldier kills people, even if he knows that he should not and that the responsibility to finally decide for what is good and evil hereby lies on his shoulders, but that he is as well blind to see what his actions will eventually stand for. The soldier is also the only thing that enables war, as without people fighting no war can exist. The last lines of the song then tells that the soldier is to blame for his doings, but his orders are made by the people in the country he fights for and so the song ends in a call to the people to stop or work against the war.
I think the song generally protests against war and says that we are responsible for war and thus have to do something to stop it, for we elect our politicians who then command the generals and with that control what the soldiers are doing. The Song also has the the slight feel of equality, as the soldier is described as a man of all nations, religion and so on. It could be that the universal soldier doesn't quite understand what impact his actions can have, thinking that he is fighting for the end of the war, even if he is just fueling the hatred and rage of the others with his doings. You can read that in “...he thinks he'll put an end to war this way.” and “And he never sees the writing on the wall.”
If you compare all three songs you will be able to see some differences and some similarities. All three songs share the dislike of war and cruelty. John Lennon's “Imagine” is more optimistic and hopeful for a world without war, while the others are more pessimistic and taunting the people for letting war happen, but they all express a wish for peace and have the opinion that something should be done by the people.
There are some differences though, especially for the ideals of the people. For example in “The War Drags On” the ideals – peace, liberty, and so on - are set and not questioned. In contrast “Imagine” says that ideals are blocking a better world, for without them there is no reason to fight for anything, anymore. “Universal Soldier” expresses that the soldier himself decides as a final authority what is wrong and right by himself.
One more difference is that “Universal Soldier” gives a call to understand and react to war and to stop it, while “Imagine” is kind of passively waiting and hoping that people may understand what has to be done, but is including that not everyone may understand that ending war and living in a peaceful world may be good and fulfilling and thus are not helping or understanding the message.
I think all three songs, at least based on their meaning and on the message they propagate, are very interesting and worthwhile. They reflect the mindset of some people of that time and might have had a great impact on many, eventually leading to anti-war-demonstrations and social progress. I might have missed some aspects, but I still hope that I understood the core message of the songs and expressed it well enough to understand.
W-Seminar project of Deutschhaus Gymnasium, Würzburg &
Maria-Theresia-Gymnasium, Augsburg
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Contact richard@richardhwinter.de