Walking on a Thin Line
1984 · Chrysalis VS4 42825 · USA
- Artist
- Huey Lewis and the News
- Title
- Walking on a Thin Line
- Release
- Walking on a Thin Line / The Only One
- Year
- 1984
- Label
- Chrysalis # VS4 42825
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Genre
- Rock · Pop Rock
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
The Californian pop-rock band, formed in 1979, released the song "Walking on a Thin Line" (Chrysalis # 42825) which looked at the thoughts of a soldier during the Vietnam War, either in the process of fighting or back home. The lyrics touched on the US military training its soldier to kill: "taught me how to shoot to kill, a specialist with a deadly skill". It then turned to a veteran being ignored on the streets: "so easy to ignore...labeled as freaks loose on the streets of the city". It also posed the question "is that what I was fighting for?" - one of the famous questions in the battle between the anti-war protesters and the pro-government supporters, which featured in many songs (see the list below). The single peaked at # 18 in the Billboard charts on 8 December 1984. It featured on the 1983 album Sports (Chrysalis # FV 41412). (1) Written by Andre Pessis and Kevin Wells.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
American rock band formed 1979 in San Francisco, California ('Walking on a Thin Line'). [Source: Wikipedia]