At first listen, this could be a fist-pumping cry for all the mouth-breathing, non-questioning folks who grew up voting for Ronald Reagan and tell us on a daily basis "America - Love it or Leave it" through their bumpersticker mentality. My brother fought in Vietnam, and even though he came back in one piece, his mixed feelings toward what happened in the 60s and 70s in Vietnam are captured fairly well in the verses. If you have ever heard Bruce perform the acoustic version, especially live, you hear that struggle between patriotism and self-doubt. This song takes on new meaning when held up to current events. Is it OK to not question the actions of our government... or risk being labeled a traitor or worse, if you refuse to have blind-faith in our decisionmakers?
@stealthbeetle Sounds like your analogy has a lot more with trying to grind a political party axe than what the song is about. You know as well as I do (and I'm a Viet Nam vet) that even though Nixon called a halt in 1973--the war didn't really end til well into 1975. Reagan didn't take office until 1980--so what in the heck did you bring him into it for? Since you seem bent on bashing conservatives--bear in mind that much of the war's escalation took place under Kennedy and the VASTLY underrated LBJ--both Dems--and even though Nixon continued...
@stealthbeetle Sounds like your analogy has a lot more with trying to grind a political party axe than what the song is about. You know as well as I do (and I'm a Viet Nam vet) that even though Nixon called a halt in 1973--the war didn't really end til well into 1975. Reagan didn't take office until 1980--so what in the heck did you bring him into it for? Since you seem bent on bashing conservatives--bear in mind that much of the war's escalation took place under Kennedy and the VASTLY underrated LBJ--both Dems--and even though Nixon continued escalating--he ended the war 3 days after his 2nd inaugeration..and he also abolished the draft 4 days after that. As you know--he was a Republican,
@stealthbeetle No The reason why Reagan was brought into the conversation was that Reagan tried to use the song for his 1984 Presidential campaign theme song until people told him the true meaning of the song. Obviously you weren't around in 1984
@stealthbeetle No The reason why Reagan was brought into the conversation was that Reagan tried to use the song for his 1984 Presidential campaign theme song until people told him the true meaning of the song. Obviously you weren't around in 1984
At first listen, this could be a fist-pumping cry for all the mouth-breathing, non-questioning folks who grew up voting for Ronald Reagan and tell us on a daily basis "America - Love it or Leave it" through their bumpersticker mentality. My brother fought in Vietnam, and even though he came back in one piece, his mixed feelings toward what happened in the 60s and 70s in Vietnam are captured fairly well in the verses. If you have ever heard Bruce perform the acoustic version, especially live, you hear that struggle between patriotism and self-doubt. This song takes on new meaning when held up to current events. Is it OK to not question the actions of our government... or risk being labeled a traitor or worse, if you refuse to have blind-faith in our decisionmakers?
@stealthbeetle Sounds like your analogy has a lot more with trying to grind a political party axe than what the song is about. You know as well as I do (and I'm a Viet Nam vet) that even though Nixon called a halt in 1973--the war didn't really end til well into 1975. Reagan didn't take office until 1980--so what in the heck did you bring him into it for? Since you seem bent on bashing conservatives--bear in mind that much of the war's escalation took place under Kennedy and the VASTLY underrated LBJ--both Dems--and even though Nixon continued...
@stealthbeetle Sounds like your analogy has a lot more with trying to grind a political party axe than what the song is about. You know as well as I do (and I'm a Viet Nam vet) that even though Nixon called a halt in 1973--the war didn't really end til well into 1975. Reagan didn't take office until 1980--so what in the heck did you bring him into it for? Since you seem bent on bashing conservatives--bear in mind that much of the war's escalation took place under Kennedy and the VASTLY underrated LBJ--both Dems--and even though Nixon continued escalating--he ended the war 3 days after his 2nd inaugeration..and he also abolished the draft 4 days after that. As you know--he was a Republican,
@stealthbeetle No The reason why Reagan was brought into the conversation was that Reagan tried to use the song for his 1984 Presidential campaign theme song until people told him the true meaning of the song. Obviously you weren't around in 1984
@stealthbeetle No The reason why Reagan was brought into the conversation was that Reagan tried to use the song for his 1984 Presidential campaign theme song until people told him the true meaning of the song. Obviously you weren't around in 1984