View From A Soldiers Eyes

Kendall Lewis
Adam Weinstein
English 101
October 30, 2007

View From A Soldiers Eyes

Every day in Iraq soldiers are fighting for their country as well as for their lives. They are depending on their own defense to keep them alive. Not only are they being shot at, injured, and killed, but they are killing others as well. They are having to stick up for what they believe in and protect our country as a whole. They have to face the fact that they have been separated from their families and every time they say good bye it could be the last time ever. They wake up every day knowing they are not promised tomorrow. In this song I was able to understand the difficulty of losing a family member through war and the effect that war places on each solider and their families.

The song 4th25-Live From Iraq shows a lot about how an American soldier lives his or her life every day. In the song the soldiers explain that “its politics back home” but there in Iraq “its bullets through our tissue.” The soldiers are willing stand up bravely and fight knowing they might not make it alive. The soldiers say “every day is like a gamble here this is no joke this is live from Iraq where were prayin we make it home.” The war is real for them whereas the people back home are just seeing the effect it is placing on our country. The persona in this song which is the soldiers who are actually in Iraq are trying to explain to the people the truth about their experience they face every day. On the rhetorical triangle ethos is being used to give the speaker credit for the battles they face day by day. The soldiers want the people that are not there fighting to realize “this is nothing yall been thru yall aint seen shit and this is not whats on the news what really happenes aint printed.” The soldiers go through so much more than the people actually get to view. They want everyone to be able to see that their life is not easy and they are praying everyday they will make it home one day to their families. It is not an easy job knowing your life is at stake the moment you fall to sleep at night and the moment you wake up. When one is fighting in a war for their country they are never truly safe from the enemies. It is a new battle every day one has to face. Risking one’s life is a huge thing and putting yourself on the front line is even harder knowing people will be shooting at you and trying to bomb areas you are in.

The soldiers from Iraq are working toward a closure every day. They are “planning wit no type of goals.” They are fighting for their country and their life. They are not given a specific time it will all be over and they will able to come home. They want the people to understand that it is not necessarily something they want to be doing, but that they are doing it for the sake of their own country. Also, they want us Americans to realize the hardships that they are facing each day. While people in our country are talking about all the negative aspects of the war the soldiers are over there fighting and watching their own friends die due to this war. The soldiers describe the war as a “home of too many soldiers graves where for our country we gamble our lives every day and there are no blue skies here every colors gray this is the blood of soldiers of which the streets are not paved and there is no reimbursement for the price that we pay while yall home sleep were here constantly getting weighed and every convoy that rides out constantly getting sprayed but we don’t fold hands the cards we are dealt get played.” The chorus of this song explains perfectly the life each soldier faces every day. It shows that they have plenty of hardships to face and their job is by no means easy in any way.

The artist of this song is truly able to put you in the shoes of a soldier in Iraq. We are able to feel the pain and suffering that they are facing every day of their life. The soldiers describe it as “definitely nothing pretty this is no picnic this is trying to hold fire without burnin your fingers.” Every day is a battle and the artist allows the audience to understand what it is like to be there and face their allies. A negative aspect in this song is the fact that the soldiers do not seem like they want to be there. They say “this is more than a gamble and I’ll give you the truth plenty of lives lost over a scandal.” The soldiers are not necessarily there because they want to be, but rather the fact because they have to be. Someone has to be willing to stand up for their country and be willing to fight on the battle field and risk their own life. Soldiers are brave men and women who we should respect and look up to because they are fighting for our country as they risk their life every single day they are over there.

4th25-Live From Iraq Lyrics http://www.lyricstime.com