Serious Lyrics!

Paul Hardcastle -
Nineteen

Valid for historical reasons, please read.

Click it

I recommend listening to it more than reading, however doing both may bring a more clear picture of intended meaning.

I suppose this thread will be disregaurded by the younger generations it is intended for...so I offer incentive.

Anyone who makes in my opinion, a contributing and intellectual reply, may have better odds of an appluad, which means points. I will not give this award out to any and all who reply, so refrain from blatant babble.

Thank you for being open minded, the table is open.

I was 15 when that song was in the charts. I suppose that a lot of my generation latched onto it for the catchy nnnnnnnninteen part of the song and never really listened properly to the message behind it. I'm from the uk and at that age I didn't really know much about vietnam. It was interesting to read all of the lyrics without the distraction of the music behind it.
I would be interested to know how much of an impact the record had in its day on the way america viewed the soldiers that had served in vietnam.

I would be interested in applauding you for finding out that info. As it would reveil a trend of history that may be repeating.

i think its a shame how our troops were treated on the arrival back from the war. the song you posted i dont think i have ever heard. the song reminds me of rooster by alice in chains. this line in rooster symbolizes how people felt about the vietnam war and how the soldiers were treated in general: "They spit on me in my home land" my great uncle (guess thats what you call him) was in vietnam and when his friend got killed he went awol and was sent back. he was found holding the body of his friend in the jungle. it was a messed up war

I think this is a good conversation to have.

I do see how we seem to be in a loop with our history.

Iraq in some ways is turning out to be another Vietnam in that the US military is once again trying to operate in an environment where we are clearly not wanted. A guerilla force that can strike seemingly from nowhere has caused havoc throughout the country since the so-called end of hostilities.

Protests against the war increase by the day, with very few protesters seeming to understand the possible effects on the morale of our troops there, who didn't choose to be there, but went because they chose to serve their country.

It's not their fault that they were sent into a muddled situation by a leader acting on possibly questionable information into a conflict that has proven less than popular in civilian circles around the globe.

As someone who has friends still in the theatre of operations, who has been lucky enough to have seen others return home, and who has been unlucky enough to know that at least one will never see his son grow up, I can say that we have to see this from all sides.

Perhaps the cause was just. Perhaps we shouldn't be there. But either way, those sent there from all branches of the service deserve more respect than they will likely get on their return.

Meanwhile, I know from speaking to someone who returned Wednesday that there is a hard time acclimating to the changes from being back in the world. That's not to say my friend is psychotic -- there's just a big difference between combat and so-called civilization and those differences are more glaring when your return from duty is so quick.

I don't know that I've ever heard the song you posted, Advisor, but the lyrics and the sentiment they carry is a lesson all could learn from today.

Springsteen's "Born in the USA" and Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon" are also very good examples of songwriters paying their respects to Vietnam veterans. Both point to the hardships that our troops faced, whether in Nam or after their return to the world.

Hopefully we've learned better how to deal with our returning veterans, but I doubt that thought is on the minds of many.

I had some trouble finding out specifically what effect the song had on america but here is a link that contains some views on what people think of the song now

inthe00s.com...

and another link to an article that expands a little on some of the lyrics.

www.bergen.org...

This song really got me thinking when it came out........ I was about 15-16 and I stared researching Vietnam and all the stuff that went along with it. conscription, the anti-war movement etc........

probably the thing in my lifetime that got me interested in anything political.

The way Vietnam vets are treated nowdays is just wrong.

As is any kind of conscription.

This song will always remind me of the first push into thinking and seeing outside what our government tells us is true,.

Awsome feed back everyone!

TheDemonHunter;
"Hopefully we've learned better how to deal with our returning veterans, but I doubt that thought is on the minds of many."

There return is on more minds than you may realize, that you can count on.

Mulberryblueshimmer;
"Thinking and seeing outside what our government tells us..."

Is only the first step, when people can make decisions on ones own, that will be the day.

Thank you all for such great replies, keep up the good example.

Originally posted by ADVISOR
Awsome feed back everyone!

TheDemonHunter;
"Hopefully we've learned better how to deal with our returning veterans, but I doubt that thought is on the minds of many."

There return is on more minds than you may realize, that you can count on.

Mulberryblueshimmer;
"Thinking and seeing outside what our government tells us..."

Is only the first step, when people can make decisions on ones own, that will be the day.

Thank you all for such great replies, keep up the good example.

Thanks, Advisor.

I did a lot of research on Nam growing up. History is very big in my family. My mother believed in teaching us to learn about the world so we could form our own opinions and ideas about how things really worked. I suppose that if it wasn't for those talks when I was so young, I wouldn't ever have taken an interest in anything that would eventually lead me to ATS.

My mother was able to relate to me what the situation during Nam was like stateside, and though she was very anti-war, she felt that they should never disrespect someone who was sent to Vietnam.

Hell, with all the draftees that were sent, it's not like most of them wanted to be in the service anyway. Can't blame 'em for being drafted. She saw too many friends drafted who never returned. And I've already buried enough friends over the years to get a taste of what that's like.