I got my finger on the trigger
But I don't know who to trust
When I look into your eyes
There's just devils and dust
We're a long, long way from home, Bobbie
Home's a long, long way from us
I feel a dirty wind blowing
Devils and dust
I got God on my side
And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing, baby
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
And fill it with devils and dust
Well I dreamed of you last night
In a field of blood and stone
The blood began to dry
The smell began to rise
Well I dreamed of you last night, Bobbie
In a field of mud and bone
Your blood began to dry
And the smell began to rise
We've got God on our side
We're just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing, baby
It'll turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
[Harmonica solo]
Now every woman and every man
They wanna take a righteous stand
Find the love that God wills
And the faith that He commands
I've got my finger on the trigger
And tonight faith just ain't enough
When I look inside my heart
There's just devils and dust
Well I've got God on my side
And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a dangerous thing
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
Yeah it'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
[Harmonica solo]
Source: AZLyrics.com
Analysis
I chose "Devils and Dust" by Bruce Springsteen because I love his writing as poet, as well as his music. His lyrics tend to be rich in figurative language and poetic elements, and I like how I can enter into the song and help make meaning. I also like the political message of the poem, which is about the US invasion of Iraq, told through the eyes of a soldier. War is complex, and the speaker's reaction to being in war shows the emotional and spiritual ambiguity it is creating in him. Thus, the poem calls the war, and all war, into question.
The poet/songwriter uses metaphor to help create his setting and reveal the state of mind of the speaker, and I find this makes the poem more effective. For example, the title "Devils and Dust," which is repeated six times in the song, often at the end of a stanza for emphasis, suggests the moral and spiritual confusion the speaker faces as he moves into a war zone. The word "devils" could suggest dust devils, those swirling dust clouds so common in the desert where the speaker finds himself, but could also suggest metaphorical demons, or being tempted into sin. The word "dust" suggests confusion because dust obscures the vision and makes it hard to see what is really true. Dust is also a real part of the environment that the solider faces in Iraq. The combination of "devils and dust" together is negative, and suggests that the speaker is struggling with both his external and internal environments. The use of metaphors, then, adds to my understanding of the poem and helps me feel, not just read, what the speaker is experiencing.
I believe that we see what exactly is causing the struggles the speaker faces through an important rhetorical question: "What if what you do to survive/Kills the things you love?" The author uses the contrast between the words "survive" and "kills" to emphasize the conflict the speaker is feeling about having to kill or be killed, the very nature of war. He suggests the "things you love" then die as a result, and those "things" could be the part of himself who was taught killing is wrong. Also, it would be watching his friend, Bobbie, die. He writes, "Well I dreamed of you last night, Bobbie/In a field of mud and bone/Your blood began to dry/And the smell began to rise." He specific descriptive words such as "mud," "bone," "blood," and "smell" to convey the horror of looking at his friend's dead body. He survived. His friend did not. Thus, he might be suggesting guilt when he says, ""What if what you do to survive/Kills the things you love?" I know that many veterans experience PTSD when they return, often because of survivors’ guilt. I think the speaker may be experiencing that as well.
The whole poem calls into question war itself - it's morality, its loss of life, and, in particular, it's loss of self. The speaker is lost in the "devils and dust," and finds no way out in the poem, making it ultimately a lament for not our fallen heroes, but the ones who survive.
When I look into your eyes
There's just devils and dust
We're a long, long way from home, Bobbie
Home's a long, long way from usI feel a dirty wind blowing
Devils and dust
I got God on my side
And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing, baby
It can turn your heart black you can trust
And fill it with devils and dust
Well I dreamed of you last night
In a field of blood and stone
The blood began to dry
The smell began to rise
Well I dreamed of you last night, Bobbie
In a field of mud and bone
Your blood began to dry
And the smell began to rise
We've got God on our side
We're just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing, baby
It'll turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
[Harmonica solo]
They wanna take a righteous stand
Find the love that God wills
And the faith that He commands
I've got my finger on the trigger
And tonight faith just ain't enough
When I look inside my heart
There's just devils and dust
Well I've got God on my side
And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a dangerous thing
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
Yeah it'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
[Harmonica solo]
Source: AZLyrics.com
Analysis
I chose "Devils and Dust" by Bruce Springsteen because I love his writing as poet, as well as his music. His lyrics tend to be rich in figurative language and poetic elements, and I like how I can enter into the song and help make meaning. I also like the political message of the poem, which is about the US invasion of Iraq, told through the eyes of a soldier. War is complex, and the speaker's reaction to being in war shows the emotional and spiritual ambiguity it is creating in him. Thus, the poem calls the war, and all war, into question.
The poet/songwriter uses metaphor to help create his setting and reveal the state of mind of the speaker, and I find this makes the poem more effective. For example, the title "Devils and Dust," which is repeated six times in the song, often at the end of a stanza for emphasis, suggests the moral and spiritual confusion the speaker faces as he moves into a war zone. The word "devils" could suggest dust devils, those swirling dust clouds so common in the desert where the speaker finds himself, but could also suggest metaphorical demons, or being tempted into sin. The word "dust" suggests confusion because dust obscures the vision and makes it hard to see what is really true. Dust is also a real part of the environment that the solider faces in Iraq. The combination of "devils and dust" together is negative, and suggests that the speaker is struggling with both his external and internal environments. The use of metaphors, then, adds to my understanding of the poem and helps me feel, not just read, what the speaker is experiencing.
I believe that we see what exactly is causing the struggles the speaker faces through an important rhetorical question: "What if what you do to survive/Kills the things you love?" The author uses the contrast between the words "survive" and "kills" to emphasize the conflict the speaker is feeling about having to kill or be killed, the very nature of war. He suggests the "things you love" then die as a result, and those "things" could be the part of himself who was taught killing is wrong. Also, it would be watching his friend, Bobbie, die. He writes, "Well I dreamed of you last night, Bobbie/In a field of mud and bone/Your blood began to dry/And the smell began to rise." He specific descriptive words such as "mud," "bone," "blood," and "smell" to convey the horror of looking at his friend's dead body. He survived. His friend did not. Thus, he might be suggesting guilt when he says, ""What if what you do to survive/Kills the things you love?" I know that many veterans experience PTSD when they return, often because of survivors’ guilt. I think the speaker may be experiencing that as well.
The whole poem calls into question war itself - it's morality, its loss of life, and, in particular, it's loss of self. The speaker is lost in the "devils and dust," and finds no way out in the poem, making it ultimately a lament for not our fallen heroes, but the ones who survive.
