![]() ![]() Watch Pete Seeger perform his heartfelt song in memory of the Vietnam War, “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”.Īny thoughts folks? Tell us what you think. Later, CBS allowed Seeger to come back and sing the song on the show. The show’s hosts, the Smothers Brothers, on the other hand, gave Seeger their support. However, CBS management objected to its political tone and censored the song prior to broadcast. In late 1967, he performed the song on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. With its deep message, Seeger often sang the song at concerts and rallies. Similarly, Johnson also lost the presidency in 1968 due to the war. In the song, the captain drowned because he was unaware of what he was going to. He was widely believed to have pushed the United States deeper into the infamous war. In addition, part of the song talks about President Lyndon Johnson and his policy of escalation. It pertains to the situation of the country when the war was at its peak. The song was very symbolic of the Vietnam War. With every verse ending with a line “ the big fool said to push on“, it is believed that the ‘ big fool’ is referring to the president during that time. However, the song presents that the nation itself is being led into similar peril by ‘ authoritarian fools‘. ![]() The moral of the song is not directly stated. Soldiers wading the murky river and mud Photo Credits: To everyone’s surprise, it turns out that the captain did not know that the river was deeper with a joining stream upriver. All of a sudden, the captain drowns and the sergeant immediately orders the platoon to move back to the shore. They continue to wade the river until they are up to their necks. Domineering and ignoring his sergeant’s concerns, the captain commands the whole platoon to keep on going with himself in the lead. “ Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” talks about the story of a platoon wading in a river in Louisiana on a practice patrol in 1942. Seeger returned to the show five months later to perform the song. The Smothers Brothers protested the censorship, and the network eventually relented. When Seeger sang it on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in September 1967, CBS censors cut the song before the show was broadcast. ![]() Seeger created the tune as an allegory for the involvement of the US in the Vietnam War. The song is a story of a platoon of soldiers fording murky waters during World War II. “ Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” is a symbolic song that tackles the Vietnam War, as well as then-President Lyndon Johnson. The sergeant said, “Sir, with all this equipmentĪnd the big fool said to push on About the Song American soldiers during the Vietnam War Photo Credits: It reflects the mood of an increasingly diverse country amid dramatic social and political change. One of the songs that captured the emotions of people for and against the Vietnam War is “ Waist Deep in the Big Muddy“. In observance of the Memorial Day, Country Thang Daily is one with the nation in commemorating the heroism of our “ gone but not forgotten” heroes - our soldiers. As for the Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975), music helped our folks in expressing their rebellious views of a blend of two generations - the young and the traditional. It made the lives of our soldiers somehow at ease and served as their past time in a place where uncertainty and fear live. We commemorate the bravery, strength, love and hope that they had given and shared with us that led to the progress of our nation to this day. Bloody, disastrous, costly - these are more than just words to describe such occurring events that take the lives of many. Today, we remember all the sacrifices and the patriotism our fallen soldiers had shown our country. To be a part of a war is one of the biggest challenges one may encounter in his/her life. ![]()
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