Dave Dudley's song "What We're Fighting For" was released in America in October of 1965. In this month, there were over forty Anti-War protests occurring throughout the United States, including a protest of twenty-five thousand in Washington. The main audience for this song was the Anti-War Americans, especially those who were vocalized their opinions in protests. This song gave a viewpoint of a solider in battle, explaining his confusion over why people were protesting the war efforts. This solider wanted American citizens to remember the various reasons all the soldiers were fighting. Overall, the message Dudley was trying to send to all Anti-War Americans was that the soldiers had a purpose to be fighting. Also, he wanted them to focus on the fact that none of the soldiers wanted to be at war, but they knew they had to defend our country to keep it powerful and safe. While this song is in the genre of country, it is meant to be heard by every United States citizen. The country aspect helps tell the story of this soldier, and makes it simplistic so it is easy for the audience to focus on the lyrics. The tempo keeps the mood light, so the audience can hear that this soldier is not sad about being at word, but proud to be serving his country. Having the tempo be the ways provides a different perspective to the audience and brings some positivity to the war efforts. Dudley's song aimed to calm down the Anti-War protestors and tried to remind the citizens involved of reasons behind the war.
Emily Kader
I think you did a good job at informing us on what was happening when this song was out and how that effects what audience this song is meant for! However your statement that this song is in the "genre of country" but meant to be heard by everyone is a bit troubling. Just because a song is country does not mean that not every U.S. citizen will hear it. It would be better for your post if you just left it as it is in the country genre. By saying that it is country but meant for everyone kind of changes who you think the audience is for this song. This statement comes across as the audience is now country music fans who also are Anti-War.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was very interesting that you broke down each element of the song to explain how each the individual aspect influences the intended audience. I also thought that you did a good job at providing background information to help familiarize readers with the necessary information to understand how the song reached beyond its intended audience. I recommend that you consider adding some links (such as a timeline or brief overview of the period) so that readers can see examples of the protests that you mentioned at the start of the analysis.
ReplyDelete~Micah Plotkin
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ReplyDeleteI like the points about trying to convince Anti-war americans something other than their opinions, and I especially like how you pointed out the tempo and genre of the song. It would make sense of the artist to widen his possible audience for his song, since not everyone likes to listen to country music. However I do think you could have hyperlinked with some articles, or maybe some type of text to show the view of an anti-war american in this time.
ReplyDelete-Nebeyu
This is a good post, however in one part you claim the audience is antiwar Americans, then later say that it was written towards all Americans ("While this song is in the genre of country, it is meant to be heard by every United States citizen.") I personally agree that this song was written for antiwar Americans, as this was probably a controversial opinion to have at the time so the song would really catch their attention.
ReplyDeleteThanks! This helped me alot on my Social Studies classwork!
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