Agent Orange Song-Country Joe McDonald
ANALYSIS Several lines in the song stand out to me but, mainly the lines focusing on Agent Orange. The lines talking about how soldiers would hike all day on jungle trails through clouds of poison spray and how it would kill the brush and trees in the jungles got my attention because it shows how desperate the soldiers were to kill their enemies. Rather than just fighting in hand to hand combat, they would try to eliminate their enemies as quickly as possible and one way of doing that was to use Agent Orange.They would use it to kill their enemies more rapidly and to simply isolate their enemies from their hiding spots. The song also mentions how soldiers' health would worsen after being exposed to Agent Orange and that they would get cancer such as that of the skin or the liver. This got my attention because it made me think that there was no point in going to war because if they were to survive but, have been exposed to Agent Orange, they would end up suffering a miserable and painful death for the rest of their lives. In general, people would be risking their lives going to Vietnam to only get cancer. The song presents Anti-War because it explains the negative effects of War; it explains how if one goes to war they will get themselves exposed to Agent Orange, get cancer, and die slowly but, painfully. The song also describes how they can pass it through their genes to their future kids. This song is not in support of the Truman Doctrine. According to the Truman Doctrine, it said that the United States would aid an country threatened by communism. In the case of the Vietnam War, South Vietnam was being threatened by communism and as a result, the United States sent troops there to help defend South Vietnam. However, the song is not in support of the Truman Doctrine because it explains how Agent Orange only gets soldiers killed by making them have to live a slow and painful death. The song answers the driving questions, "What is the Cost of War?" and "How War affects the Individual?". The song addresses the cost of war in which it addresses how soldiers end up dying as a result of Agent Orange as it begins to weaken and kill their bodies. At the same time, it addresses how war affects the individual in which the Agent Orange causes for soldiers who become exposed to the Agent Orange to suffer as the cancer takes over their bodies and slowly kills them. Additionally, I would say that the song affects the society in which when a soldier has kids after being exposed to Agent Orange, these kids would be born with birth defects. I agree with the song's message because people going to Vietnam to fight in the war are only going to suffer for the rest of their lives if they get themselves exposed to the Agent Orange. However, not only will they affect themselves but, their future kids as well because they can pass the effects of it through their genetics. For these reasons, there's no purpose in going to war in Vietnam.
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AGENT ORANGE LYRICSI was 17, just the teenage kid, The year that I enlisted.
I can’t remember why I did, My mom said that I insisted. I had some strange idea then, That Uncle Sam was right. Oh momma cried, but she signed the card, And then I went off to fight. Got off the plane in Vietnam, It didn’t seem like war. With all I saw I started to wonder what I have come there for. Some officers got drunk at night, and cheated on their wife’s. And the peasants on the other side, where just struggling for their lives. Oh the army tried some fancy stuff, to bring them to their knees. Like Agent Orange defoliant, to kill the brush and tress. We’d hike all day on jungle trails, through clouds of poison spray. And they never told me then, that it would hurt my health today. But I got the news this morning, yea, the doctors told me so. They killed me in Vietnam, and I didn’t even know. I tried hard to forget the war like everybody did. Settled down, got married, even had a of couple kids. Well my children both had birth defects, and the doctors had their doubts. They never could understand it, but I think I figured it out. Because I got the news this morning, yea, the doctors told me so. They killed me in Vietnam, and I didn’t even know. This Agent Orange from Vietnam, we carry it with us still. It stays inside for years and years before it starts to kill. You might get cancer of the liver; you might get cancer of the skin. You can file for disability, but you might not live to win. Oh I got the news this morning yea, the doctors told me so. They killed me in Vietnam, and I didn’t even know. Oh the doctor said I got some time, trying to be kind. I’ve never been irradical, but this has changed my mind. Oh I’d be so proud to hear my kids say hell no I won’t go, Because you killed my dad in Vietnam, and he didn’t even know. Yes I’d be so proud to hear my kid say hell no I won’t go, Because you killed my dad in Vietnam and he didn’t even know. |