Ride to the Wall

Annotation

Post-2000s rock album, which featured an image of a soldier in Vietnam on the front cover, and which said that it was "dedicated to all the men and women who served in the Vietnam War". Released by the famous group Paul Revere & The Raiders, formed in 1958, Boise, Idaho, USA, originally led by Paul Revere (from 1958, until his death in 2014), but with a revolving line-up. Revere was born 7 January 1938 in Harvard, Nebraska, USA, and died 4 October 2014, in Garden Valley, Idaho, USA. The theme of the album was "Rolling Thunder", an organisation seeking accountability for prisoners of war (P.O.W.s) and missing in action (M.I.A.). Since 1987, Rolling Thunder held The First Amendment Demonstration Run, formerly called "Rolling Thunder Run to the Wall", a motorcycle rally on Memorial Sunday, to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. There were an estimated 500,000 bikers for the Rolling Thunder ride to the National Mall in 2018.12 The title song "Ride to the Wall", was a patriotic tribute, which called the bikers the "Vietnam tribe", heading towards the memorial, from coast to coast. It paid tribute to the "veterans living and dead".The other song, "Rolling Thunder" is of course a direct reference to the motorcycle run on Memorial Sunday, which said that they would "be heard throughout the land" and that they were taking a "stand, to honor fallen heroes". The song described combat conditions, from the jungle to the DMZ, fighting the enemy in the dark. The narrated said that "our prisoners" were "tortured" -. The narrator also referenced the Tet Offensive, described as an event that some soldiers survived - this was a campaign launched by the North Vietnamese army and the VC on South Vietnam, on the Vietnamese New Year, 30 January 1968. It is viewed by historians as a watershed moment, feeding into the US "credibility gap", and providing support to those who wanted to end the war. Another interesting reference is the line that veterans were "spit on by the people who stood against the war" - this is the famous "spitting image", although no actual incidents have been documented, and this is considered to be a myth.34 Also note that the narrator criticised politicians, saying that they used the veterans. Sources1wusa9.com: Thousands of motorcyclists roar into dc for rolling thunder↩2Wikipedia: Rolling Thunder (organization)↩3The New York Times: Myth spitting vietnam protester↩4Wikipedia: The Spitting Image↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs

Post-2000s rock album, which featured an image of a soldier in Vietnam on the front cover, and which said that it was "dedicated to all the men and women who served in the Vietnam War". Released by the famous group Paul Revere & The Raiders, formed in 1958, Boise, Idaho, USA, originally led by Paul Revere (from 1958, until his death in 2014), but with a revolving line-up. Revere was born 7 January 1938 in Harvard, Nebraska, USA, and died 4 October 2014, in Garden Valley, Idaho, USA.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Now here's a story that need to be told, of a midnight ride, let the world know... / Rolling thunder bikers heard his call / Fired up their hogs, and headed towards the wall / Coast to coast... / To show the numbers...we're riding to the wall / The Vietnam tribe, to honor those who put it all on the line / We're riding to the wall, the price they had to pay... / With blood for the USA / Some say it's over, it's in the past / But the wall is proof that their story will last / Tears in their eyes...reminds us of the veterans living and dead / Rolling thunder bikers, side by side, remembering those carved... / Harley's roaring, by the thousands they ride / To the big black wall... / The Vietnam vet, ride to the wall, never forget... / We'll ride to the wall, the Vietnam tribe... They fought in the jungle and died on foreign soil / And spit on by the people who stood against the war / Used by politicians who beat them like a drum / But now the war is over and the time has finally come / Rolling thunder from the highways, will be heard throughout the land / Fighting band of brothers are going to make a stand / To honor fallen heroes who never had a chance / Rolling thunder from the jungle... / Now they died in the Delta, and on the DMZ / Fought in total darkness with a ghost they could not see / Survived the Tet Offensive, and the stories they can tell... / With the tortured, that our prisoners knew too... / God has come to guide us, to lend his mighty hand... / Guide us…

About the artist

American rock band formed 1958 in Boise, Idaho. [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall · Patriotic

In collections

P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs · Veterans Memorial Wall Songs