Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!ucsd!ucbvax!bloom-beacon!GAFFA.MIT.EDU!Love-Hounds-request From: Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU Newsgroups: rec.music.gaffa Subject: Re: Oh Say Can You See? Message-ID: <9008301847.AA12602@gaffa.MIT.EDU> Date: 30 Aug 90 18:47:54 GMT References: <10514.9008301713@r5.cs.man.ac.uk> Sender: Love-Hounds-request@gaffa.MIT.EDU Reply-To: Love-Hounds@gaffa.MIT.EDU Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington IN. Lines: 48 Approved: love-hounds@eddie.mit.edu Really-From: Jeffrey C. Burka Really-From: Steve Wallis >>Third, your contention the U.S. National Anthem conveys sentiments >>that are opposed to those of _Army Dreamers_ or _Breathing_ reflects a >>profound ignorance of what that song really means. > >As a relatively ignorant love-hound, I believe that these songs express her >dislike for war and nuclear weapons. Any eKTsperts can correct me... Not that I'm any sort of expert...just a fanatic : It depends on how broadly you want to look at the meanings. From a rather specific level, Army Dreamers (possibly my favorite KT song) is rather typical of the sort of poem that came about as a backlash to romanticism--the song is about the utter dispicability of the idea of dying in a war not for what one believes in, but for the romantic notion of dying itself. KaTe says "Like a chicken with a fox/he couldn't win the war with ego." The ego in this is that little indoctrination-created voice in the soldier's head that reiterates that it's a special thing to die for your country. I think KaTe is not saying that you shouldn't be willing to die for what you believe in--she's saying to believe in the right things. Romantic notions of death do not fit into this category. Breathing seems to me just to say "Nuclear war would _not_ be a groovy thing. In fact, it'd be pretty unpleasant." There's nothing particularly political about the song. Whether or not KaTe is political, I'd have to agree that, based on the 'message' of Army Dreamers she might be opposed to the singing of the US (or other) national anthem before a show. It would be difficult to take Army Dreamers seriously if it were preceded by a song that encourages, to some degree, a blind devotion to a country-- I feel that the anthem encourages people to think that it's a special thing to die for one's country--not for the things that make the country special to begin with. (uh oh...who's gonna flame me for all this?!) Jeff -- |Jeffrey C. Burka | "At night they're seen | |jburka@silver.ucs.indiana.edu | Laughing, loving, | |jburka@amber.ucs.indiana.edu | They know the way to be happy" --KaTe |