At Vietnam
1986 · D&S Recording D&S 002 · Germany: West [FRG]
- Artist
- Courage
- Title
- At Vietnam
- Release
- Gold and Ivory
- Year
- 1986
- Label
- D&S Recording # D&S 002
- Format
- 12" · EP
- Language
- English
- Country
- Germany: West [FRG]
- Genre
- Metal · Heavy Metal
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
Heavy Metal group formed in Hattigen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, in the 1980s, with the members Sven Strzyso (vocals), Andreas Sieling (guitar), Manfred David (guitar), Uwe Dinsing (bass), Holger Feist (drums). The song "At Vietnam" (D&S Recording # DS 002) leans more into the Hard Rock genre, tooking an anti-war perspective, firstly focused on the combat scene and the deaths: "at Vietnam, were a million people died". The narrator then looked at the impact on the veteran: "late at night he remembers all those things" - a reference to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event. The lyrics also noted "napalm bombs were dropped" - a jellied gasoline mixture, with polystyrene, benzene, and gasoline. Declared a war-crime since 1980, the US government extensively used this weapon during the Vietnam conflict, dropping 388,000 tons on Indochina between 1963 and 1973.123 Sources1Napalm: An American Biography (Robert M. Neer, 2013)↩2Times Higher Education: Napalm an american biography by robert m neer↩3Napalm, An American Biography (book website)↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — European Songs
Formed in Hattigen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, in the 1980s, with the members Sven Strzyso (vocals), Andreas Sieling (guitar), Manfred David (guitar), Uwe Dinsing (bass), Holger Feist (drums). The song "At Vietnam" (D&S Recording # DS 002) leans more into the Hard Rock genre, tooking an anti-war perspective, firstly focused on the combat scene and the deaths: "at Vietnam, were a million people died". The narrator then looked at the impact on the veteran: "late at night he remembers all those things" - a reference to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event. The lyrics also noted "napalm bombs were dropped" - a jellied gasoline mixture, with polystyrene, benzene, and gasoline. Declared a war-crime since 1980, the US government extensively used this weapon during the Vietnam conflict, dropping 388,000 tons on Indochina between 1963 and 1973.123 Sources1Napalm: An American Biography (Robert M. Neer, 2013)↩2Times Higher Education: Napalm an american biography by robert m neer↩3Napalm, An American Biography (book website)↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: He's starting over man / He's fighting at Vietnam / He's doing what he can, yeah / Like John, we're stop this war / At Vietnam were a million people died / At Vietnam, children bombed... / We tried to live in peace... / Can't take this bullshit anymore / At Vietnam, where a million people died... / No, no, no... / Late at night he remembers all those things / Napalm bombs were dropped... / Feeling vanished in the race / My life is too precious... / Yesterday is gone, and we're living for today / All the ladies wore black... tears at burials / Combat troops captured lands, and they still can't get enough / Shameful injustice... / Widows are crying, it's a kick into my face...
About the artist
German band from Hattingen, North Rhine-Westphalia. [Source: Discogs]