Country Joe and his Fixin-to-Die

Country Joe McDonald wrote the song "I feel like I'm fixin'-to-die rag" and it became one of the most popular protest songs about the Vietnam War. The first line of the chorus asks the question "what are we fighting for" emphasizing the fact that the United States had no reason to be in Vietnam to begin with. The chorus ends with the line "woopee, we're all gonna die" making the point that because of the Government, we should be proud to serve our country and die for a war that did not concern us. One of the set of lines in the song that really stood out to me was "Send your sons off before it's too late, and you can be the first one on your block, to have your boy come home in a box." There is something about those lines that just gives me chills when I read the lyrics or listen to the song. Overall I think the song is was great protest song and when it came out, people really believed in it. When Country Joe McDonald performed this song at Woodstock the crowd went wild, and I have to say that once I heard him play it, I went on iTunes and bought the song.