War Song - by Edwin Starr

WAR

In the song "War" by Edwin Starr, Edwin tries to persuade the audience to be against the Vietnam War. The song was written in the 60's when the Vietnam War took place, many people died in the war, which cause a group known as "hippies" to form. Most of these "hippies" were song writers, and it also just so happened to be that most of the songs were actually creative protests against war. Some of the persuasive devices used by Edwin in the song included repetition, metaphors, restatement, exclamations, and appeal to emotions.

The repetition of the line "War-huh-yah, What is it good for?" adds to the feeling that war is pointless by stating that there aren't any good reasons for going to war. The line "War is the enemy of all mankind" shows a metaphor. The metaphor in the line basically states that there really aren't any winners when it comes to war, because both sides lose many people.

I believe that the song does reach out to many people and serve it's purpose by persuading people to not join the war effort, but to go on strike and try to get the troops back home. However I do believe that there are many people who may just find the song to just be entertaining, such as myself, in my opinion, the song doesn't persuade me at all, so all in all the song does server it's purpose in dissuading people to go to war, but there are many people who can see right through it well enough to not be persuaded.