Sunday, March 25, 2007

Group Eleven : Kate S. (19), Sydney D. (33), Danielle H. (33), Meredith J. (27), Haley T. (34), Jonathan B. (34)

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Goodnight Saigon by Billy Joel

We met as soul mates on Parris Island
We left as inmates from an asylum
And we were sharp, as sharp as knives
And we were so gung ho to lay down our lives

We came in spastic like tameless horses
We left in plastic as numbered corpses
And we learned fast to travel light
Our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight

We had no home front, we had no soft soap
They sent us Playboy, they gave us Bob Hope
We dug in deep and shot on sight
And prayed to Jesus Christ with all our might

We had no cameras to shoot the landscape
We passed the hash pipe and played our Doors tapes
And it was dark, so dark at night
And we held on to each other
Like brother to brother
We promised our mothers we'd write

And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes we would all go down together

Remember Charlie, remember Baker
They left their childhood on every acre
And who was wrong? And who was right?
It didn't matter in the thick of the fight

We held the day in the palm of our hand
They ruled the night, and the night
Seemed to last as long as six weeks...

...On Parris Island
We held the coastline, they held the highlands
And they were sharp, as sharp as knives
They heard the hum of our motors
They counted the rotors
And waited for us to arrive

And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes we would all go down together

sydleadov said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Hey y'all. I'm Sydney, and I am a marketing major. I think that Goodnight Saigon by Billy Joel has very powerful lyrics. The song talks about a group of soldiers that were very united and strong. The song refers more than once that they "help on to each other/ like brother to brother" and that they "learned fast to travel light/ our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight." At the end of the song, the group "would all go down together." No matter how unified and prepared they were, they died for their country. I think that this point is very important today. Many people (I know I am one of them) aren't as aware as they should be about how many soldiers are actually killed abroad. Unfortunately there are things that we cannot plan for no matter how hard we try. These lyrics are very sad, and bring up a point I really don't like to think about.
- Sydney D. (33)

Anonymous said...

Hey Group! My name is Kate and I am a Sociology major but have no idea what I want to do when I get out of school. The song “Goodnight Saigon” by Billy Joel is a sad song talking about soldiers going off to war. From the beginning, they came in as friends but came out “as inmates from an asylum” or “in plastic as numbered corpses.” This just shows that all their hopes and dreams were shot and this is what has become of them. They came into the war all fired up and ready to go but became hopeless as they faced the fact they were preparing for death. They were scared, in an uninviting place, but knew they would “all go down together.” I think the majority of the song is about the soldiers preparing for death; they know it is in their future and are just waiting for it to happen. This song is really sad and not an experience I would like to have; it just makes me have even more appreciation for how brave these soldiers truly are and for how much they do for our country. That’s all I have for now!
-Kate S. (19)

Anonymous said...

Hey group, my name is Danielle and I am a pre-pharmacy major. I believe that “Goodnight Saigon” by Billy Joel was very emotional and also a painfully truthful song. The anticipation that was mentioned in the beginning of the song and then the tragic end result really put the song into a soldier’s perspective. Almost none of us truly realize the effects a war can have on a soldier’s spirit and morale. This song also helped me to be mindful of the soldiers that our currently fighting for this country in various places overseas. They are more than likely experiencing similar issues that were mentioned in the song and I hope the best for them.
~Danielle H. (33)

sidewalk cigarettes and scenes said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
sidewalk cigarettes and scenes said...

Hi, my name is Meredith and I'm a prepharmacy major. I think this song does a great job of describing the situations that soliders go through, and how it feels. The line, "and we were so gung ho to lay down our lives," seems to be such a common feeling among soldiers who haven't really faced any combat. Then the lyrics go on to describe the near future, "we left in plastic as numbered corpses/ and we learned fast to travel light" and there's something about the words that instills a sadness and a sense of reality. The lyrics continue on that track, speaking of the hardships and the general unhappiness that come with wartime and with being a soldier. The lyrics are also good at putting a picture in the mind of what's occuring, which makes the whole thing more personal and more touching. The song leaves me feeling sad and a little empty, which I assume is the point, to stimulate real thought about the subject.

-Meredith (27)

Anonymous said...

hey group! My name is Haley and im a marketing major. i feel like after i finished reading the lyrics to "goodnight saigon" by billy joel i felt so sad for all those soldiers, i know i for one do not even remotely understand the struggles these men went through but reading this made me realize how strong they were. there are so many horrors described in this song that they had to witness and go through but the whole time they clung to what they had, eachother. they realized that all they had was one another and that everything they were going through they were doing it together. the end of the song where its repeated "all go down togehter" its like highlighting on the fact that no matter how bad things got, even if it meant dying, they were doing it together and even though the song itself is so sad and depressing i found that inspiring.
~Haley T. (34)

Anonymous said...

Hey group. Im Jonathan, im a packaging science major. I thought the lyrics in Goodnight Saigon by Billy Joel hit very hard. The way that the lyrics were so to the point made his points very strong. The lyrics made me feel very bad for the soldiers because the line, "We left in plastic numbered corpses," shows how many people had to die because they had to number all the dead soldiers to keep up with all of them. It is just sad because it they "were so gung ho" and then they had to leave in plastic bags as numbers. The song definetly made me appreciate the soldiers alot more because the conditions were so bad and they had to go through so much during the war. I thought the song showed what the soldiers had to go through very well and I just appreciate everything soldiers do for our country.

sidewalk cigarettes and scenes said...

Hi group,

It seems that we all agree on the main point of this song and that it's extremely powerful. It reminds us again of what soldiers go through and vividly describes what it feels like to start out in basic training and move on to fight and fall together. I agree that the concise way in which the lyrics are written help to create the mood, and that, despite the song's sadness, it is inspiring. It doesn't make me want to go out and fight, just the opposite, but it does touch something special and creates more of a connection to those in the armed forces.

-Meredith J.

Anonymous said...

Hey Group!
When I looked back through everybody’s comments, I really liked what Meredith said about the line, "and we were so gung ho to lay down our lives," how it “seems to be such a common feeling among soldiers who haven't really faced any combat.” I think this is a great way of explaining what soldiers really do have to go through because they go into battle without completely knowing all the dangers they are to face until they actually face them. I think this is also very similar to what we have all written about and that we all have the same general idea about the song. I also agree with Haley about how even though they know they are going to die at the end, they are ready to do so together and it definitely is inspiring. I also think we need to better appreciate the soldiers in Iraq today because nobody completely knows of the horrors they face each day. This song does do a pretty good job of putting it into perspective for us.
-Kate S. (19)

Anonymous said...

Hey group! I think most of us have the same opinion about this song. Kate mentioned the same song line that I did "we will all go down together", but she made a different point that I hadn't thought of before: that they were waiting to die and they knew it was going to come. I really liked that it showed me a different meaning than I had initially interpreted. Both Meredith and Jonathan mentioned how the soldiers "left in plastic as numbered corpses." I agree with them that those words really instill a "reality" and "sadness" into the listener. That's it!

Anonymous said...

Hey Group. This is Jonathan and this is just a repost of my first post because i forgot to sign it. I thought the lyrics in Goodnight Saigon by Billy Joel hit very hard. The way that the lyrics were so to the point made his points very strong. The lyrics made me feel very bad for the soldiers because the line, "We left in plastic numbered corpses," shows how many people had to die because they had to number all the dead soldiers to keep up with all of them. It is just sad because it they "were so gung ho" and then they had to leave in plastic bags as numbers. The song definetly made me appreciate the soldiers alot more because the conditions were so bad and they had to go through so much during the war. I thought the song showed what the soldiers had to go through very well and I just appreciate everything soldiers do for our country.

Jonathan B. (34)

Anonymous said...

Hey group! Its Haley again. After reading through everyones post it seems like we all have the same basic opinion on the song. It has powerful and emotional lyrics and made all of us have a deeper respect for the soldiers who faught. After reading Merediths post I really like how she pointed out the quotes "we were so gung ho to lay down our lives" it made me realize how young those soldiers really were and how unsure they were of what they were about to get into but still ready and willing to do it for their country. It makes me have an even deeper respect for those who risk their lives to fight for our country.

Anonymous said...

Hey again group! This is Danielle H. After reading everybody's posts I also agree that everybody feels the same way about the song and its lyrics. I thought the comments that were made about the soldiers sticking together were very good points. I like how everybody was moved by the song. I was also moved by the song and similiar to everybody else, it made me apppreciate our armed forces more. Well that's all I have!

Danielle H.

Anonymous said...

Hey group. After reading everybody's posts i definitely agree with pretty much everything said. We all pretty much agreed on how powerful the lyrics to the song were. It seems like the line "We left in plastic as numbered corpses" hit everyone pretty hard and made everyone think about those people who died for our country. I also liked how a few people talked about the line "And we held on to each other." This line is also very powerful and shows how the soldiers had to hold on to each other to survive.

Jonathan B. (34)

Anonymous said...

Hey Group! This is Sydney. The song line "we were so gung ho to layre down our lives" was mentioned by Meredith and Jonathan and many others after them. Apparently this song line really stuck out to the group as a whole. The song also struck the majority of us in a very real, sad way. I think a good quote that could represent the mood of this song is one by George Orwell: "All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting." I picked this quote because I think the soldiers refered to in Billy Joel's song did not know what to expect once they went into war. They knew what an honor it was to fight for their country, but they didn't know how bad it actually was because most of the things they heard were from probably from people at home who weren't fighting or involved in the war to tell them. (This quote is from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/george_orwell.html). Thanks, thats all!

Anonymous said...

Hey again group!
After looking back through all the posts again, we all have the same opinions on what the song means and a deeper appreciation for what soldiers overseas do for our country. As Jonathan pointed out, we were all touched by the line “We left in plastic as numbered corpses” because of the powerful image it conveys. I also think Haley basically sums up the song by saying it has powerful and emotional lyrics that have moved us all. I found this quote on http://quotes.prolix.nu/War/ by Larry Reeves that says “Anyone, who truly wants to go to war, has never truly been there before!” I think this is a great illustration of “Goodnight Saigon” because at first the soldiers are ready and willing to go into battle but they end up hating it and having to prepare to face their deaths. If they had known what it was truly going to be like, they would not have been so “gung ho” to go. I think this about sums up the song and the attitudes on war as a whole.
-Kate S. (19)

Anonymous said...

Hey again, this is Danielle. The quote that Kate mentioned about "Anyone who truly wants to go to war, has never truly been there before," really got me thinking. Of course propaganda is going to glorify being apart of the U.S. armed forces, how else are they going to persuade people to join if the real experience was advertised. So instead they put a positive spin on something that is just absolutely horrifying! Now, I believe serving in the armed forces is very brave, something that I could never do, but some of the ways that it is portrayed in commercials and on billboards can be very misleading. Many of us have mentioned the high expectation of the soldiers at the beginning of the song and their attitude towards the end. Well, that's all I have.
~Danielle H.

Anonymous said...

Hey Group. After looking at everyones posts, i like the rest of us think we all agree in our views of the song, especially the line "we were so gung ho to lay down our lives." I also liked the quote that Kate put in her response. I had heard it before and agree completely with the quote. And it represents the song very well because of what Kate said about how they wouldn't be "gung ho" if they knew what they were getting into. I'm personally not a big fan of everything going on in the mideast right now but i will always support our troops no matter what there fighting for and i feel like this song only made me feel that way even more.
-Jonathan B.