Front line
1983 · Motown TMG 1289 · USA
- Artist
- Stevie Wonder
- Title
- Front line
- Release
- Front Line / Front Line (Instrumental)
- Year
- 1983
- Label
- Motown # TMG 1289
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Soul
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
Stevie Wonder's track "Front Line" (Motown Records # TMG 1289) contained typical themes found in post-war songs that focus on veterans. Wonder and Gary Byrd composed the song, and it featured on the 1982 compilation Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I (Tamla Records # 6002TL2) as a previously unreleased song. It is a first person narration from a Vietnam veteran who "volunteered for Vietnam" in 1964 at the age of 16, because "I had to be a man". Seriously wounded in Vietnam ("got my leg shot off") he returned to the US: "back in the world". He told the listener that he went from being on the front line to being relegated to "the back of the line". The song criticised the impact of the war on families "that have been ruined". It also contained religious references, with the veteran recalling that the "church taught" people not to kill, yet "in a jungle...life has no price". Note the references to the Purple Heart (a US military decoration for those killed or wounded in war) and agent orange (the herbicide used by the US government, which had long-term negative health affects).
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
American singer-songwriter, born 13 May 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan ('Front Line'). [Source: Wikipedia]
Themes
Agent Orange · Purple Heart · Medals · Vet