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PODCAST SCRIPT
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Introduction
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Youth responded strongly to the United State’s entering Vietnam in 1955,
protesting and calling for peace
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During the 1960s, this youth rebellion embraced all forms of artistic
expression but perhaps the most memorable was music. A surge of radically different
sounds emerged in mainstream music, breaking with tradition and speaking the words of
a passionate generation.
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The Doors
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The Doors epitomized rebellious rock bands. Their lead vocalist, Jim
Morrison, delivered stark, sometimes blunt lyrics and downright unpredictable stage
performances. Morrison will go down as the first rock artist to be arrested during a
concert, charged with inciting a riot, indecency and public obscenity after verbally
bashing the New Haven police department.
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The charismatic and unorthodox nature of the group combined with a
psychedelic rock sound and politically charged lyrics made The Doors immensely
popular with Vietnam protestors.
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The Song- “The Unknown Soldier”
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The Doors’ 1968 song, “The Unknown Soldier”
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innovatively combines popular synthesizers, traditional rock instruments
and realistic sound effects.
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The song blends brief and simple lyrics, eerie resonance, and these jarring
sound effects to comment on the media coverage of the Vietnam war and its effect on the
American people.
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Breakfast where the news is read
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Television children fed
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Unborn living, living, dead
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Bullet strikes the helmet's head
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The lyrics describe a typical morning of watching television while eating
breakfast, but suggests the children are being “fed” violent images of war.
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The cryptic line “Unborn living, living, dead” speaks as well to the
Vietnam War, and its effect on those unborn, living, and of course, the dead.
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Musically, the song begins mysterious and somber, then shifts into the
sound effects… [play sound effects]
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This shift moves the song from a critique to an imitation of reality. The
audience is invited to break away from their televison world and to enter the world of the
soliders, to witness the death of a solider on a more personal level. Soon the music
returns to a melancholy tone, but it quickly picks up to a more furious pace. signaling a
more frusterating or paramount conclusion.
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Conclusion
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The Vietnam War era will always be marked by its protest music. The
Doors, and their song “The Unknown Soldier”
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, like the politically charged music of today, seek to comment on history in
the hope of creating positive change.