Sound Off: War and Music
-War and Music-
A Love Affair
November 13, 2009
Written by Michelle Brockman
Since Veteran’s Day is observed this week I thought it only fitting to write about the deep connection between war time and music. War and music have always had an intimate bond, even as far back as 2,800 years ago. We have evidence of this in Homer’s epic The Iliad, which was originally a song, about the last weeks of the Trojan War. Homer was definitely on to something!
All throughout history we find instances of music being used to soothe and uplift a nation on its knees and to capture the essence of the war itself. The Civil War was unique in its musical characteristics as it highlighted the strife between one nation with two different faces. The North had popular songs such as ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’ and ‘All Quiet on the Potomac Tonight’ and the South with the brazen ‘Oh I’m a Good Old Rebel’. But it wasn’t really until World War I that we saw music change the dynamic of war. As the technology of the time continued to grow and advance it became easier to use music as a tool. The three main functions of music in the WWI and WWII era were to boost the morale of suffering troops and civilians, to attract enemy troops to propaganda programs and to express a vision of the nature of the respective regime. This was apparently very effective as American music and broadcasting was completely banned in Nazi occupied Europe.
During World War II, jazz was arguably the most popular style of music, although it became increasingly hard to keep bands together. In 1942 the jazz magazine ‘Down Beat’ started a regular column titled ‘Killed in Action’ which listed the names of enlisted jazz artists which had been killed in the war effort. Jazz legend Glenn Miller was too old to be drafted but still found a way to help his country in its time of greatest need. Miller, along with his Army Air Force band, began to tour England in the summer of 1944 and performed approximately 800 times for the U.S. and allied troops which were stationed there. Sadly, he too died for this cause when his plane disappeared over the English Channel in December of 1944. Even to this day though, we can see a glimmer of Glenn Miller’s good will through the USO tours that are given in the spirit of using one’s musical talent to bring cheer to those that have so little to be cheerful for during war.
The Vietnam War was another huge music producing machine. One of my favorite songs of all time, Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Goin’ On’, was inspired by this war. The Doors, Bob Dylan and Jefferson Airplane were also just a miniscule number of bands that created chart toppers relating to the brutality and hopelessness of war. And it’s powerful stuff too…..listening to the song ‘Run through the Jungle’ by Credence Clearwater Revival almost makes you feel like you have just arrived via green army chopper in the desolate land that was the background of Vietnam.
On a different note in the same tune, whether you celebrate or not, the Christmas season is right around the corner. That means you are bound to hear the song ‘I’ll be Home for Christmas’ by Bing Crosby. This song was a chart topper for 11 weeks in 1943 and was such a hit that it was recorded by Perry Como, Frank Sinatra and countless other artists. Considering the year it hit airwaves, it should be no surprise to you that this song is actually about US soldiers that thought the war would be over quickly and would home in time for Christmas…..if only in their dreams. So as you gather around your tree this year or celebrate with a big Christmas Eve dinner, please take a moment to pray for and think about and appreciate the Soldier that won’t be home for Christmas and how they are trying to make your world a better place.
P.S. If you’d like to check out an awesome site dedicated to Vietnam War Veterans with fantastic Vietnam Era music playlists please check out: http://chu65nang67.us/nam
Photo: Jack Benny USO Show – Kassel, Germany (Hesse) August 4, 1945.
Third Division photographers watch Jack Benny tune his famous violin. Pop Heller on the left and Bill Toomey and Bobby Seesock on the right.
Photo by Jimmy Todd of the 163rd Signal Co.
References:
Time.com
Livinghistoryfarm.com
Wikipedia
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