I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag - Country Joe McDonald

I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag

Country Joe McDonald had been discharged from the Navy for a few years when he wrote the lyrics to I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag. He wanted to put blame on the people who had started and continued the Vietnam war. Each one of his lyrics is backed with dark sarcasm and deep disapproval of the US government's choices.

I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag chorus poses four times throughout the song a seemingly simple question, “What are we fighting for?” That is a question that becomes much deeper as McDonald answers it in the rest of the song. He points his finger at four groups: the government, the military leadership, big business, and the masses who go along without questioning the war.

McDonald first goes critiques the US government. He opens his song with, “Well, come on all of you, big strong men, Uncle Sam needs your help again.” This is a reference to the lack of young men volunteering to fight for the United States in the Vietnam war, which was closely following other conflicts such as the Korean war. It also reveals contempt for the draft, where the government forced the nation's male youth into the armed forces. McDonald specifically calls out the conflict by saying, “He's got himself in a terrible jam way down yonder in Vietnam.” He mocks the war by saying, “So put down your books and pick up a gun.” These lyrics are stating that the war is taking boys out of school to fight. At school people go to learn; they learn to solve problem trough thinking. However, the war is preventing the rising generation from doing so and is causing them to only know valances as an answer to their problems. The first four lines of the stanza really sound in support of the war. It is not until the stanzas last line that the underlying sarcasm truly surfaces. To make sure people catch on to the sarcasm he ends with, “We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.” War can be described with many different words, but fun is not an appropriate choice to use. McDonald is a return vetrine, so he clearly knows how bad wars can be. He wants people to understand that he is making a joke of the war and its supporters.

The next verse mocks the military leadership. It says “Well, come on generals, let's move fast; Your big chance has come at last.” This suggest that the military's leaders are motivated to keep fighting to prove themselves as great military leaders. This causes issues because the leaders are not being objective on whether or not the US needs to stay in the war. He then references the government's use of communism when he says, “Now you can go out and get those reds, 'Cause the only good commie is the one that's dead.” The government use communism to justify the need for the war. The US claimed it was in Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism, but there were so many other motives besides that. McDonald makes a final jab at the military with, “And you know that peace can only be won, When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.” The military is ironically fighting for peace but they don't want to stop till all the enemy is destroyed; a nearly impossible feat.They plan on fighting forever because a military with no wars means no jobs and power for its leaders.

McDonald then scorns the capitalist nature of our country for causing the war. He specifically calls out Wall Street, “Come on Wall Street, don't be slow,” because Wall Street represents the biggest accumulation of wealth and power of capitalism. He reminds us that, “There's plenty good money to be made, by supplying the Army.” If the war ends then those who supply the war lose revenue so it would be in their best interest to continue the war, whether the US is winning the war or not. McDonald ends the stanza with a bitter jab at business insensitivity to who's getting hurt in the war by saying, “But just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb, They drop it on the Viet