World War One Song Analysis

There are many similarities in three songs. Firstly, three songs are about the war and against the war. For example, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda song by Eric Bogle tells the young Australian soldier that Battle of Gallipoli in Turkey during the World War I. This song describes the young man’s feelings and horror experiences. No Man’s Land song by Eric Bogle tells the reflecting on the grave of William McBride, a young man who died in World War I. He is too young to die and he doesn’t know about the war. Only Nineteen song by the Australian band Redgum tells the story of an Australian experience in the Vietnam War. Although this experience seems like a long time ago, it is the scars. Soldiers get scared by the TV news helicopters and cannot sleep because horror memory comes back during the war, it is PTSD. Secondly, soldiers in three songs are the young men. The line 1 and line 2 in And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda song
“When I was a young man I carried my pack” “And I lived the free life of a rover” indicate that the soldiers are the young man that finds a work before going to the war. The line 5 in No Man’s Land song “And I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen” expresses that the soldiers are the young man. The line 9 in Only Nineteen song “God help me I was only nineteen” shows that the innocence and childhood.
There are many differences in three songs.
First of all, three songs are different war and different years. For instance, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda song by Eric Bogle happened in the World War I in 1915. No Man’s Land song by Eric Bogle happened in the World War I in 1916 and the author and his wife visit graveyard in France in 1976. Only Nineteen song by the Australian band Redgum happened in the Vietnam War in 1955-1975. Next, there are different poetic techniques. For example, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda song use natural language and informal language. Only Nineteen song, there is a repetition phrase “God help me, I was only nineteen”. Finally, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda song, there are the crowed behave when the soldiers come back from the war. When soldiers go to the war, the crowds that cheered, but now people turn their faces away, silent, shocked, and ignore. However, No Man’s Land song and Only Nineteen song have no people that related and have no criticizing who seek to glorify and noble the
war.
In my opinion, I think that the war is useless and awful because it leads to the death of many innocent lives and it changes people’s lives for the worse. Moreover, war destroys many things; for example, it can cause damage to buildings, roadways, bridges, environment, and wildlife. I believe that although victory in war brings the big triumph to a country, it also brings many devastations and loss.