Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition
by Frank Loesser
Lyrics:
Down went the gunner, a bullet was his fate Down went the gunner, then the gunners mate Up jumped the sky pilot, gave the boys a look And manned the gun himself as he laid aside The Book, shouting Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition! Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition! Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition and we'll all stay free! Praise the Lord and swing into position! Can't afford to sit around and wishin' Praise the Lord we're all between perdition and the deep blue sea! Yes the sky pilot said it You've got to give him credit for a son - of - gun - of - a - gunner was he, Shouting; Praise the Lord we're on a mighty mission! All aboard, we're not a - goin' fishin; Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition and we'll all stay free! |
Analysis:“Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” by Frank Loesser was a song written about World War 2 describing what it was like to fight in the war.
Some language that really stands out in the song is, “Down went the gunner, a bullet was his fate, Down went the gunner, then the gunners mate” which seems to be describing war as a bad thing, because all of these people are dying and then they get replaced with people who die as well. However later in the song when it says, “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition and we'll all stay free!” it makes the war effort seem like a good and holy act and that fighting the war will protect your freedom. For this reason it appears that the song is in fact pro war, seeing as most of the description use words such as “we’re on a mighty mission” and “we’ll all stay free” to describe the war effort. It seems that this song is in support of the current foreign policy, because it supports fighting in the war and is trying to get more people to join the war and kill the enemy. It answers the driving question of wars impact on the individual when it walks about gunners dying, then their friends dying next to them. Also it describes a sky pilot having to gun people down and although it tries to cover up the awful things by saying to just “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition and we'll all stay free!” it still describes heinous acts that happened every day to individuals during war. I personally do not support the message of the song, because I believe it is trying to cover up the truths of war by making it sound like a good thing to do, while sneaking in small truths about what war is really like. I also do not believe in people trying to use religion as a reason to persuade people to do things, such as join wars, vote certain ways or even live their lives differently then they want, because an organization believes they should. -Justine Cenzer |