I chose to write about Billy Joel’s song Goodnight Saigon for this week’s reflection. Billy Joel is a fantastic lyricist and musician, and this is definitely one of my favorite songs by him. It carries such emotion and has themes that are important for everyone. The song is written from the point of view of a United States Marine during the Vietnam War. The song starts off as the Marines arrive at Parris Island and undergo their training and have to get used to all the drastic changes in their lives. The changes range from the kind of soap they have to use, all the way to the fact that they now have their lives on the line for their country. The song then describes the bond that they have all made with each other as they live day to day, and they describe themselves as brothers.

The song is written to be, musically, very powerful. The song is made to feel very real and is filled with sounds of helicopters and crickets to make the listener really imagine themselves in the place that the song is describing. The way that the narrator of the song only refers to himself and his fellow soldiers as “we” is so powerful and shows that they are all in this war together. When all different voices come in for the chorus, “and we will all go down together”, I can’t help but get chills because it really just demonstrates to power of human connection and how without each other, these brave Marines could have never done what they so bravely did. They all became one and felt everything the others felt, and when they lost a fellow friend to the war, I can imagine that they all felt a loss to themselves. One of my favorite lyrics in this song is, “And who was wrong? And who was right?”. I find it to be so powerful because in the end, it didn’t really matter. All that mattered was the bond they had, and the bonds they lost when they lost one of their own.

I don’t know too much of the backstory behind why Billy Joel chose to write this song, but I do know that he does write a lot of songs that tell stories. It definitely is a song that has an important meaning because it tells a real story, the story of the Marines in the Vietnam War. This song is very well known and has gotten a lot of positive feedback, and all for good reasons.

I think that if anyone hasn’t yet listened to this song, that they should do so immediately. It’s such an important song and story, and really makes you think about the people who fought for our country, and really anyone who goes and fights for their own country in war.

Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/billyjoel/goodnightsaigon.html

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjzjhl-QztE