Khe Sanh - Proposal Questions

Is it from an intriguing part in history?

It is about vietnam which was the saddest war in history and created lots of protests against it. The people who came back from Vietnam which involuntarily went were not congratulated like it was like in the first and second world war. They were shamed upon, they weren't though of as heroes, they were thought of as murderers. The song, Khe Sanh was created in 1978, 10 years after the battle or so.


Does it give a realistic/powerful depiction of war?Khe Sanh talks about the after effects of the war, it makes you feel sorry for this man in the story. His life is messed up already so young, he has trauma, drug addictions and sex addictions. He travels a lot to find himself. It makes you really think realistically that how powerful the force of war was on the vets both physically and mentally.

Is the subject matter deeply moving?
The subject matter is deeply moving because of the way Don Walker has represented the thoughts of the Vietnam Veteran. It changes your heart about the people who had to go to Vietnam, who suffer so much and is not recognized for it.


What's the poets purpose in writing this poem?
The poets purpose in writing this poem is most likely creating a change of heart of the Australians who had bad views upon the soldiers who came back. They didn't know much and seeming that they know now, they would feel regret and guilt.


Does it help us to empathize with the experiences of the soldier and make their experiences feel real?
Khe Sanh is a song of dramatic experiences and it is quite emotional for the Australians to hear this song. It is a song of memory and it makes it real for them.

Does the poem ask us to remember the soldiers and to promote peace so that war never happens again?
The poem actually has a hidden meaning in some ways that promote peace, that make people really think about the after effects on your mental health. This song talks about how bad the war was for the soldiers and how difficult it is to regain your society skills because you have been in war fighting strangers for the past couple of years. Etc.

How does this poem make you feel? Does it make you feel pain or death? Does it make you feel angry/sad?
The poem makes me feel pain and sadness. The song reminds me of this man who is feeling so much pain mentally and how sad it is for him to be stuck in such a situation. He knows that his life is messed up and he is trying to fix it back up again.

Khe Sanh - SPECs & SLIMSS

Khe Sanh - Composed by Don Walker, Performed by Cold Chisel, Sung by Jimmy Barnes


SPECS & SLIMS

In 1968 there was the battle of Khe Sanh where a few amount of Australian Vets went to fight in the Vietnam War. It talks of a man who comes back from the battle and has found himself in a sticky situation – fitting into society. When the Veterans came back from the Vietnam War, they were treated terribly due to the things that they do over there. Unfortunately, mostly all of the men were conscripted into the war and it was not their choice to go – for which they suffer the treatment and the traumatic experiences of war, the song “Khe Sanh” performed by Cold Chisel was confessed to be a story of troubled youth.

“Khe Sanh” shows sympathy for the soldiers of Vietnam, especially in the battle of Khe Sanh. Cold Chisel used the song as a purpose to change the way the Australians saw the Vietnam Veterans. It created sadness and regret for the Australians as they misunderstood their fellow people who created their nation. “Khe Sanh” is also responsible for showing insight to the soldier’s minds and how difficult it was for them to go to war, come back as murderers and to tackle addictions such as drugs and sex. This is shown in the 3rd stanza, “And their legs were often open / But their minds were always closed / … Or the growing need for speed and novacaine”. In some way, the song is to make the Australians change heart of the way they viewed the Vietnam War.

The distressing lyrics show insight and harsh emotion to the song. It expresses the difficulty of the man’s stress in trying to fit back into the society and trying to find him - creating a whole moody and emotional aspect to the song. With eight stanzas consisting of 5 lines, the song does not have a dramatic rhyming scheme it shows that to writer is trying to concentrate upon the emotion of it all. In some way the rhyming tries to link the stanzas together. The lines rhyme on the first two lines then on the last line. It was an effective technique to make the Australians who were not involved in the war to explore the emotion for the soldiers as well.

Don Walker went through many decisions of his word choice as the language of the song shows a realistic account of the Vietnam War for the Vets. Walker has used stunning words that involve euphemism which is where the harsh and inappropriate things are hidden in a different phrase. Euphemism is shown in the line, “There ain’t nothing like the kisses / From a jaded Chinese princess / I’m going to hit some Hong Kong mattress all night long” this talks about the distressed veteran travelling the world and having sex to help him and his traumatic experiences. The song also has a hint of social criticisms such as in the line “Saw an old friend but couldn’t kiss her… / And she was like so many more from that time on / Their lives were all so empty, till they found their chosen one”. Talking about how women seem to be incomplete in their lives until they marry and settle down. Criticising the fact that, that was how women lived back in that time (1970s), they were to marry and that is that. It is interesting that the word choices made by Don Walker could achieve such a realistic effect.

Imagery is a significant part of the song “Khe Sanh” as well. The stanzas are full of imagination and detail of the important pieces of being a Vietnam vet. It brings the audience into a vet’s world and how it was for them. There are lines that provide these imageries like “the legal pads were yellow, hours long, paypacket lean / And the telex writers clattered where the gunships once had been” that explain the difference between when the Vietnam War was and how it is in society now. It also puts an image of a lean yellow legal pad that was full of pages which would take hours long to read it. The significance of the writer’s craftsmanship is that they were able to form imagery upon the appropriate use of descriptive words.

The most intriguing part of the song could be the rhyme of the words. Due to the effective use of rhyme and imagery, the song seems to move in a smooth motion with a constant sound throughout the whole lyric.

“Khe Sanh” mainly by Cold Chisel was a beautiful song that was known to be one of Australia’s anthems joining with waltzing matilda. This song was effective in many areas but was able to change the hearts of the Australian’s views of the Australian Vietnam Vets.