The Mockery of War...

Last Night I had the Strangest Dream by Simon and Garfunkel

Monday, September 30, 2013

6:31 PM

Simon and Garfunkel are an American rock duo that came to the music industry in 1950's. In their song "Last Night I had the Strangest Dream" they try to talk about the unwanted nature of war to the world.  And also they try to prove this paradoxical statement that “the man doesn't like the war but, the man doesn't want to stop it".

War is something created by the man. It is not something generated by nature. So, it is not something that happened suddenly.  Some decisions taken by some people because of various ideologies or causes have led to wars. But even though a single person or a group of people took a decision that we must start a war against something, it just can’t become a reality. Those decisions should be approved by the majority of people and they must support it directly or indirectly.

                                         

And these people who are supporting the war are doing so mostly because of the ideologies that they possess. These are mainly nationalistic ideologies. And because of this, people are been reluctant to see the devastation of the war. They are willing to make any sacrifices to support this ideology. And mostly they have been blinded by it. And some people may start to shout that we don't want this war, it is destroying everything and so on. But inside they don’t like to see the end of the war without a victory. The reason for this is the reluctant nature of humans to accept the defeat. To stop the war one party or the both parties must accept the defeat. But being humans nobody likes to accept it. So basically the war will be never stopped. And this further justifies the paradoxical statement "the man doesn't like the war but, the man doesn't want to stop it".

When we simply take the title "The Strangest Dream" we can further justify the above argument. Dreams can be made true if we really want to. Likewise if want, we can stop the war because we are the one who started it in the first place. But using the word "Strange” it shows the unrealistic nature of stopping the war. Even though we want to stop it, Even though we can stop it, we are not stopping it! That is simply the strange nature of war.

"Last night I had the strangest dream

I ever dreamed before

I dreamed the world had all agreed

To put an end to war

I dreamed I saw a mighty room

The room was filled with men

And the paper they were signing said 

They'd never fight again"

In here the song says "I saw the strangest dream I have ever dreamed before". which directly tells you that this is a very unrealistic dream, somewhat like a fairy tale that is never going to happen. And in the next line it says "that I dreamed the whole world has agreed to put an end to the war" and this further specify the strangeness of this dream. We can further say this is an ironical statement. This is because ending the war with an agreement of the whole world is quite impossible. It is quite impractical and unrealistic. And also the word "world" is symbolically used by the song writer to represent the humans. So with the born reluctant nature of humans to accept the defeat, it is quite unrealistic to see the man is going to put an end to the war.

Then the song says "that there was a mighty room filled with men, and they signed a paper by agreeing not fight with each other again". So here it says, the leaders of all the countries in the world has come to one table and have agreed to stop fighting with each other and also to confirm that, they have signed a treaty as well. So again here it shows the unrealistic nature of stopping the war, forever. Even there is possibility to end the war, they won’t stop it.  That is simply because they don’t want to stop it. And again the song suggests the unnecessary need of war. And also it suggests that if there is a problem, doesn't matter how serious it is, still you can come to one table and solve it through discussions without destroying each other.

People really don’t need to wage war against each other to solve problems. They can easily solve it through discussions without any casualties. But people don’t see this way of solving the problem without causing a massacre. This is just because of the nationalistic ideologies that have clouded up their minds. So these blinded people go in a more devastating path to solve these issues by making huge sacrifices, destroying everything and finally bringing an end to the whole mankind. And people are reluctant to see this reality because of a crazy ideology that they believed in.

"And when the papers all were signed

And a million copies made

They all joined hands and bowed their heads

And grateful prayers were prayed

And the people in the streets below

Were dancing round and round

And the guns and swords and uniforms

Were scattered on the ground"

Here the song says, "After signing the treaty, they have made a million copies of it". This suggests that this is not a confidential agreement that the world leaders made with each other. It is exposed to the whole world. There is nothing to hide in it. And again it shows the unrealistic nature of the situation.  In here we can see that the world leaders are trying to establish a true peace in the world. They are making million copies just to avoid the fact that this agreement will branded as a lie one day. So if it does, it will ultimately lead to a war again. And this suggests that the mankind is going to ban the war forever from the face of the earth. This is again a bit ironical because the mankind is incapable of doing so. 

The song says, "That the world leaders joined their hands and bowed their heads" which indirectly says that they have accepted the defeat and respected each other. This is of course not going to happen, simply because humans won’t accept the defeat by throwing away the victory. Humans are creatures who always expect a victory, not a defeat. And accepting defeat and respecting each other is purely ironical. This shows the impossible nature of putting an end to the war. Because of the way the man has been made has become the main cause of the war according to this. And to the only solution that is available to put an eternal end to the war is, to change the man. This is really unrealistic, simply because the man is a very stubborn species, and they are reluctant to change as well. So they won’t easily be changed, especially to accept a defeat.

Then it says, "Grateful prayers were prayed". This suggests that the whole world prayed for this important event, they prayed that this agreement will last forever, they prayed for everlasting peace. But again with a bit of paradoxical notion the song tries to say, even though people do all these prayers, wished that the war should end and there should be an everlasting peace, these are the people who are responsible for the war itself.

Then it says, "After the treaty was made the people were dancing in the streets joyfully".  This simply shows how joyful the people's lives can be without the war. By ending this war people can live joyfully without fearing for their lives, they can enjoy their freedom to any extent. They don’t need to worry about sudden deaths caused by fighting. But even though the man has an ability to live like that after stopping the war, they are reluctant to stop it because of nationalistic ideologies that they believe in. Their ability to see this reality is blinded by these ideologies.  And it clearly shows that the man is suffering in a useless way, because of an ideology that they believe in. This again proves the craziness of these nationalistic ideologies that the man possesses.

"Last night I had the strangest dream

I ever dreamed before

I dreamed the world had all agreed

To put an end to war"

By putting this verse again at the end of the song, the song writer tries to say, all these things he mentioned about the eternal peace in the song are unrealistic. It is something that is not going to happen forever. Even though the man has an ability to put an end to the war, he won’t do so. That is mainly because the man has clouded up their minds with various ideologies that they believe in.

And also I feel that the song writer is trying to generate a sarcastic nature about the war. That is because the war is something that has started by the man. It causes a great damage to the whole world, so the man wants to stop it. Man has the ability to stop it because he is the one who started it in the first place. He knows how to stop it as well. But he is not stopping it, which is mainly because of crazy ideology that he believes in. because of that stupid ideology the man is making huge sacrifices that sometimes cannot be recovered forever. The man is simply endangering the whole mankind because of a stupid ideology that he believes in. And to me this is pure sarcasm.

So finally we can come to a conclusion, that "The War is an Ugly Joke that the World doesn't want".

By Sachintha M.D.R