Strawberry Fields Forever

With little background information, the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles seems to have little to do with war.  In fact, the song's title simply comes from the Strawberry Field Salvation Army Children's Home, which was just around the corner from where John Lennon grew up in Liverpool. This song was first released on the album Magical Mystery Tour, and is seen one of The Beatles greatest hits. This song is filled with nonsensical lyrics that are organized in a stream of consciousness style.  The listener is presented with lines such as, "No one I think is in my tree, I mean it must be high or low that is you can't, you know, tune in..." Not surprisingly, this song is associated with The Beatles' heavy LSD use.  Drugs influenced many of their songs and melodies as the band sought to create beautiful music out of the fear and hostility of the Vietnam War.

Much analysis of this song is often centered around the Strawberry Field Salvation Army Children's Home.  This orphanage obviously played a huge role in John Lennon's childhood as he grew up in Liverpool.  During his youth, Liverpool was very much home to the working class.  Industrialization was taking hold in the old slave port city and the difficulties of life were very much a reality for its workers.  Through lyrics such as "living is easy" and "nothing is real and nothing to get hung about," Lennon references the hardships of this city in this particular song.

Additionally, this scene from "Across the Universe" depicts dripping strawberry juice, an extremely significant symbol in terms of conveying this song's meaning.  While strawberries are normally associated with springtime, sweetness, and life, this scene uses the sugary fruit for a much different purpose.  In complete contrast, the strawberry juice arguably symbolizes blood.  Symbolically, the video depicts fields filled not with delicious fruit, but instead with the blood of thousands of soldiers in Vietnam.  Another striking image from this scene occurs as the film's main character, Jude, nails multiple rows of strawberries on a board.  After clips of soldiers in Vietnam are flashed on the screen, the camera pans down the rows of strawberries, revealing that they have begun to excrete red juice.  As each strawberry begins to give off its juice, a new solider has been killed in war.  Then, in perhaps an even more direct approach to this symbolism, the strawberries are depicted as bombs falling towards earth, ready to indiscriminately cause mayhem and destruction.
Without the context provided by the images in "Across the Universe," this song may lack meaning in terms of protesting war.  However, when coupled with the striking images of smashed strawberries, dying soldiers, and combat zones, "Strawberry Fields Forever" develops into a much more significant piece of musical art.

Joey and Mia's Cool War Post

A rolling pig feels no pian

when it rolls in beautiful fields

filled with the sadness 

of those lost long ago.

The green grass surrounds the pig

as he senses the blood

that once covered the ground 

he stood on.

He remembers...

he remembers, and he weeps.

He weeps for the lives that were lost

in wars that did not have to be fought.

He weeps for the boys to young tp understand

what was happening,

too young to say good bye

The devestation of war takes a toll 

on everyone...men, women and children alike...

Politics in Music

I generally do not like my politics and my music to intermix. To me, music is not the proper forum to share ones ideas of how our country is run. Music is supposed to fun, or emotional in a personal sense. When one throws in comments every ten seconds of a song of how bad this figure is doing, or how wrong that action was, it totally ruins any redeeming qualities of the song for me. I accept and expect that musicians have political ideas the same as any other person, but being in the public eye puts them in a different position in regards to sharing their opinions. I believe that they can speak about their politics all they want in their daily lives, but that they should leave it out of their music. If it must be done at all, it should be subtle, within the flow of the music and not the entire focus. For example, Jimmy Eat World's 2004 CD Futures starts out one song with these lyrics: "I always believed in futures, I hope for better in November" That was in reference to the upcoming presidential election of that year. It implied their feelingsabout the current President, but did not flat out shout out their displeasure. It was very tastefully done in my opinion.

The Best War Never to Happen

Ok, so I’m a little bit of a sci-fi nerd. I admit it. Smallville, Buffy, The 4400, A Clockwork Orange; I cannot get enough. Shows that take out of the limiting boundaries of what is “real” to us often open up new and creative ways to explore what it truly means to be human. One of the shows that do this best is Battlestar Galactica.  Often mocked for it’s admittedly ridiculous name and always underappreciated, Battlestar is, in my opinion, one of the best war shows ever made (Never mind that it’s entirely fictional). To those who have no idea what this show is about, BSG tells the story of the last survivors of humanity traveling through space to find the lost planet of Earth while being pursued by their own mechanical creations, the Cylons. At less than 50,000 left from an original count of 20 billion, the human races only hope of survival comes from their fleet’s flagship, the battlestar Galactica.  Battlestar, while set in outer space, manages to very often deal with real issues we face today. In a society on the brink of extinction the question of abortion rights is debated in all levels of their government.  Soldiers and pilots get weary and tired of constant alertness, often wanting nothing more than the chance to rest and take their minds of the desperate situation they are in. In one series of episodes the Cylons have captured much of the human population and in their desperation to free themselves insurgents sources resort to suicide bombings. This action brings approval from some and horror from others. It is painfully obvious what real world event this parallels. Many people never give Battlestar a chance based purely by what they believe they know. But when it gets down to it, Battlestar Galactica is not so much a science-fiction show as it is an allegorical look at some very real issues. In as short of space as I could, I have given my reasons why this show should be given a chance. To summarize, though, I have to turn to a prominent pop culture figure: Mr. Dwight Schrute. 

Team

Lifesaver

Porchside Memories

This photo of John L. Burns gives a very interesting look into the lives of soldiers after the end of the Civil War. Burns is sitting outside of his home, rifle at one hand, and crutches at the other. By the look in his eyes, you can tell that Burns still carries the war with him. It does not say how long after his service this photo was taken, but it is enough to say that even though he was done fighting, the war was not over for John L. Burns. He has an a haunted look in his eyes, likely remember the terror and hardships suffered while the United States tore itself apart. Researchers have found that, like in all wars, soldiers returning home from the Civil War suffered from “greater risk for heart, stomach, and nervous illnesses decades after the war” (Levin). Men were determined to suffer from severe stress if they were injured, imprisoned, or suffered heavy losses in their company. John L. Burns appears to be one of these men. Burns is a middle aged man, and it is equally possible that he was an officer, therefore being older than most, or that the war was a long time ago. 

http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/41/8/2

War in Iraq: 2002

The photograph for January 29, 2002 shows George W. Bush shaking the hands of Dick Cheney and Dennis Hastert after a speech to Congress. They are in the middle of a crowd. The three of them are the main points of interest in the photo; everybody else is looking towards them. This shows that they are in a place of power; they are separate from the others as well as above them. They have space in the picture while everybody else is crowded. George Bush has the only clear contrast, making him stand out. The picture is positioned asymmetrically with two of the three focal points on the left side of the frame, and the third in the middle. The photo crops the crowd in a way to show that there are many more people in the room. The only real linear aspects of this photo come from the desk. This helps to enforce the idea that it is a separation from the rest of the people in the photo. The woman wearing the bright orange suit on the right helps to balance out the photo a little bit. Everybody else is wearing dark blue or black, so she stands out quite a bit and the eye is naturally drawn to her.

Down the Barrel

            War art always tells a very stark story. It tells specific stories and usually indicates a very decisive view. Ivan Shagin’s On a Raid is no exception. This photo shows three large gun barrels pointed towards a sea with two military destroyers in the background. The view comes from directly beneath the gun barrels, so one is unable to tell if it is coming from a tank or another ship at sea. These barrels dominate the photographs composition, taking up more than half of the field of view. To me this represents the enormity of the war machines rolling over the earth during world war two. This war was one of the largest scale in our world’s history. No country in the Western world was able to escape its impact, either directly or indirectly. In the middle of this photograph is a flag. It is unclear which country this flag belongs to. This flag is one of the main focal points of the photograph. All three-gun barrels are pointed towards it; the barrels form the bottom of a triangle with the flag being the tip. This flag, compared to the gun barrels is very small, yet still standing tall against their advance.  This represents the hope that those affected most directly by the war held on to, the hope that they and their way of life may still endure. The ships in the background tie into this as well. They are coming towards the flag and the barrels, almost as if to offer more hope to the people of the flag.

Dear Country, Dear US

Dear U.S.A.,

“A story. A man fires a rifle for many years. And he goes to war. And afterwards he comes home, and he sees that whatever else he may do with his life - build a house, love a woman, change his son's diaper - he will always remain a jarhead. And all the jarheads killing and dying, they will always be me. We are still in the desert.” (Jake Gyllenhaal, Jarhead) The America public, for all we see on the news and read in books, knows little about war. We do not know how it feels to be in enemy territory with he only things keeping you alive are the rifle in your hands and the men at your side. To better understand war, we as a nation need to better understand the men who fight in it. To understand the soldier is to understand the heart of the military. To better understand the soldier we as a country should embrace them. Too often do we fear the men and women returning from war. We shun them and wonder why anyone would possibly want to fight. As a nation we place all the horrors of war onto the servicemen and women returning home. They are killers, they are monsters. This is a very naïve opinion to have. It is true not all Americans believe this. But some do. Yes there are soldiers who commit acts far above the necessary to complete a mission and survive; there are soldiers who are killers. But there are civilian monsters as well. There are bad people everywhere. It is important to judge the soldiers as a whole, by their courage and their sacrifices. To understand the war, we must understand the soldier.  

Joey Durbin

Matt Rotando's 104 Blog

www.104aboutwar.blogspot.com

Current Events

www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/08/iraqi.ambassador/index.html

This article is about the Iraqi ambassador to the US He believes that the US should not leave Iraq in the immdiate future. He belives that without our military Iraq will not last long. The ambassador, Samir Sumaidaie, believes that it will be very important for whoever is our next President to carefully judge and decide what we should do. He believes that we will be able to decrease our presence over the next few years, but for now we cannot fully pull out of Iraq.

This article is all about a speech, and as such is full of quotes. These quotes all cover the same basic ideas, speaking of time tables and giving advice. Iraq is called a "work in progres' by the subject of the article, Iraqi Ambassador to the US Samir Sumaidaie.  The article, in regards to time, refers only to years. There is no mention of what should happen over the next few month period, only the next few years.

I Don't Remember

I don't remember middle school. I don't want to. I didn't like it very much. Places, people, subject. It was no fun. No fun at all. I don't remember my dog. I try to, I want to, but I don't. Time goes by and I remember less. I don't remember what mix she was. I don't remember how it felt to touch her. I barely remember her voice. Her howl. Her speech. I don't remember what it was like to have her as a friend. All I remember now is after. She is gone, and good ridance to her. Her frienship was a lie. I don't remember and I don't want you to ask.

I Remember

I remember. 

I remember. Sometimes I think that is the problem.

I remember.

I remember the zoo.

I remember the show.

I remember the Chex game.

I remember then. 

I remember now. 

Homophonic Translation

Can this may we rackets roughs da la me trail

Sniff lent to out we you're part lynn finish you kill blue

You car lattes you 'verts press you Roy we less rail

Cruel in less battalions in mass damns leave you

Can this you one folly po van table bro 

It fate decent millers the homes and thus ferment

Poor is more damnit, damn her, damn you

Nature oh to you fishes homes statement

Ill is on you we right box nape the masses

this hotel all innocent box grand callus door

We damn thee basement this whose I send or

It say revile and this mirrors a masses

Damn language it pleasant sounds lure you on it nowhere

Lude on it and gross you lie damn your much choir