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.
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.
thanks really good
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