Vietnam Era/ Sixties/ CounterCulture/ Music

Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today - Ya

Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me, so you can see
Oh, what's going on
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Ah, what's going on

In the mean time
Right on, baby
Right on
Right on

Father, father, everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply because our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Oh

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Tell me what's going on
I'll tell you what's going on - Uh
Right on baby
Right on baby

VIETNAM SONG ANALYSIS

Choose two songs embedded here other than What’s Going On.     Listen to your song choice several times. Pay attention to the lyrics. Write them down and make notations if it helps. Try to read between the lines. Look for literary devices such as simile, metaphor and parallelism. These devices are often used in well-written song lyrics.

Look for poetic devices and poetic structure, such as internal and other rhyme schemes found in poetry. Search the lyrics for hyperbole, symbolism and beautiful language you would be more inclined to find in the works of noted poets. Discuss the music of your song in terms of tone, mood, and how it works with the song lyrics to enhance the overall message of the song. You don't need to be able to read music to hear what's going on musically within a song.

Write a one page analysis of each song you choose paying close attention to the meaning of the song and the literary techniques mentioned above.   Your analysis should reference what is the main meaning of the song and why it relates to the Vietnam era, 1960’s or both. 

THIS ASSIGNMENT IS DUE ON MONDAY MAY 14^th.

VOCAB

A simile is a figure of speech that indirectly compares two different things by employing the words "like", "as", or "than”.

Metaphor is the concept of understanding one thing in terms of another.

Parallelism is a balance of two or more similar words, phrases, or clauses.

Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech.

Symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character.

SONGS