War

What is it good for?Edwin Starr

http://www.kovideo.net/war-lyrics-edwin-starr-315214.html

Lyrics• War, huh, yeah

What is it good forAbsolutely nothingUh-huhWar, huh, yeahWhat is it good forAbsolutely nothingSay it again, y'all

War, huh, good GodWhat is it good forAbsolutely nothingListen to me

Lyrics•

Ohhh, war, I despiseBecause it means destructionOf innocent lives

War means tearsTo thousands of mothers eyesWhen their sons go to fightAnd lose their lives

I said, war, huhGood God, y'allWhat is it good forAbsolutely nothingSay it again

Lyrics• War, whoa, Lord

What is it good forAbsolutely nothingListen to me

War, it ain't nothingBut a heartbreakerWar, friend only to the undertakerOoooh, warIt's an enemy to all mankindThe point of war blows my mindWar has caused unrestWithin the younger generationInduction then destructionWho wants to dieAaaaah, war-huhGood God y'allWhat is it good forAbsolutely nothingSay it, say it, say itWar, huhWhat is it good forAbsolutely nothingListen to me

Lyrics• War, huh, yeah

What is it good forAbsolutely nothingUh-huhWar, huh, yeahWhat is it good forAbsolutely nothingSay it again y'allWar, huh, good GodWhat is it good forAbsolutely nothingListen to me

War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreakerWar, it's got one friendThat's the undertakerOoooh, war, has shattered

Lyrics• Many a young mans dreams

Made him disabled, bitter and meanLife is much to short and preciousTo spend fighting wars these daysWar can't give lifeIt can only take it away

Ooooh, war, huhGood God y'allWhat is it good forAbsolutely nothingSay it again

War, whoa, LordWhat is it good forAbsolutely nothingListen to me

Lyrics• War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker

War, friend only to the undertakerPeace, love and understandingTell me, is there no place for them todayThey say we must fight to keep our freedomBut Lord knows there's got to be a better way

Ooooooh, war, huhGood God y'allWhat is it good forYou tell meSay it, say it, say it, say it

War, huhGood God y'allWhat is it good forStand up and shout itNothing

Edwin Starr• Edwin Starr was born in Nashville Tennessee

January 21st, 1942. He joined his first group, The Future Tones in 1957 and recorded one single before joining his three year service in the army in 1965. During his time in the warzone he experienced the horrors of war that he carried with him into his 1970 smash hit “War.”

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Historical Relevance

• Vietnam• Tears• Protest• Temptations• Impact

Vietnam

• As communism spreads the Vietnamese government cannot provide for its people and extreme nationalistic views begin to form after the French lose control during WWll. The northern half of vietnam converts to communism and attacks the south. America stepped in to help the capitalist south and preserve democracy unfortunatley being unsuccessful losing thousands of lives and accomplishing nothing in the process.

Tears to mothers eyes

• 58,226 American soldiers were killed in Vietnam or said to be missing in action.

• American families lost sons and fathers all for nothing when the American troops were pulled out of Vietnam.

Protest

The song inspired protests of the war across the nation.

It was the number one song for over 6 weeks in a row because of its powerful message and inspiration to people not in Vietnam.

Temptations

• Originally War was recorded by the Temptations, they had is on their record Psychedelic Shack.

• Motown, Motown, their label wouldn’t allow them to release it as a single because of its contreversial lyrics so they allowed Starr to record and release it because he had a much smaller fan base that could be offended.

Impact

• Edwin Starr recorded and released War with controversy at his back and support and influence ahead. He changed the way people looked at the war and showed people the horrors.

Literary terms

• Personification• Repetition• Allusion• Denotation• Theme

Personification

• “War cant give life it can only take it away!”• This line demonstrates personification by

saying that during war people die and that nothing good comes from it because it can only kill people.

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Repetition

Repetition is used a lot in this song to put emphasis that war is only destructive and good for nothing.

“War, whoa, Lord What is it good forAbsolutely nothingListen to me”

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Allusion

• The allusion used in the songs is saying that America shouldn’t have been involved in Vietnam and people were killed for something that they shouldn’t have been killed for.

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Denotation

• “war means tears to thousands of mothers eyes.” is a denotation for sons going off to war and not returning home again.

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Theme

• The theme of the song is that destruction is brought through war and it good for only those selfish enough to sacrifice anything to gain from it.

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Works Cited• "Vietnam War America Commits." Editorial.

http://www.historyplace.com/ unitedstates/vietnam/index-1961.html. N.p., 1999. Web. 18 May 2010. <http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1961.html>.

• "Vietnam War." http://www.vietnam-war.info/casualties/. N.p., 2009. Web. 18 May 2010. <http://www.vietnam-war.info/casualties/>.

• Starr, Edwin Charles. Interview. Story Behind The Protest Song. N.p.: n.p., 2008. N. pag. Print.