Date: Mar 5, 1966
Weeks: 5
This song, with its oompa-based Tuba sound, seems to have missed the pop-polka era by a good five years. The song's pro-military sentiment was certainly a rallying point for some during the Vietnam war, which probably explains its presence at the top of the charts at a time when music that sounded like this was falling out of favor.
The music sounds uses a military snare drum cadence as its percussion backbone. It then adds the tuba bass line and it's clear that the song is intended to sound like an army marching song. The song accomplishes what it sets out to do, but that doesn't necessarily make it interesting. Marching songs are supposed to be steady, unvarying, and uncomplicated, so that they are easy to march to. I'm not sure that makes it an interesting pop song to listen to, though.
The song does manage to stay relatively engaging. As much as I'd like to criticize the song for sounding overproduced, with its background singers and horn riffs, I have to admit that all the elements are actually well-used and well-mixed. Sadler's charming voice stands out on top of the track. Whoever arranged this recording exercised admirable restraint with regard to adding more and more elements, and the result is a song that is very classy and compelling. It's musically simple, but sometimes simple can be refreshing.
The lyrics are sort of about glorifying those who serve in the army, and the elite Green Berets squad in particular. The meaning of the lyrics is clear, although there's a weird moment at the beginning. "Fighting soldiers from the sky, fearless men who jump and die." That makes me imagine guys jumping from a plane without parachutes, even though I know the intent was to evoke paratroopers leaping into combat. It also bothers me a little at the end how he sort of romanticizes the notion of a soldier dying in combat, and having a posthumous message delivered to his wife asking her to make sure their song grows up to become a Green Beret. A soldier dying and leaving a family behind really ought to be a tragedy, not a romanticized ideal. And pressuring your child to follow in your footsteps as your "last request" seems a bit domineering. But those are small issues, really. I'm just happy to have a song with a meaning that's straightfoward and clear.
My verdict: Don't like it. It's okay, but I'm not a big fan of the march as pop music.
Yeah, just a tad domineering.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't think they should have labelled this song a ballad. It's not really. A ballad should tell a narrative story, and this song doesn't do that except for the last verse of with the domineering dying wish.