Radio War Explication

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“Radio War” is a poem/story-song written by Sam Beam about a woman whose lover has gone to war. It uses heavily metaphorical lyrics and imagery to describe her reaction to his being gone, and the war’s effect on her life. For the most part, the song is strophic, and follows an “AABB” rhyme pattern, with the exception of the third verse. The first line of “Radio War” asks the beginning of a question. “Did the wine make her dream,” indicates that an unidentified “her” is dreaming because of the wine, that is, she got drunk to the point of sleeping. This is an indication of depression for the woman. However, the term “dream” is often used to state a desire, or longing for. So while she might have been having an actual dream, the wine may have caused her to want these things. The next three lines suggest different things that she is potentially dreaming of, all of which bring imagery of life growing up, and a simpler time. The adjectives far and distant are relative to where she is now, and the word “spring” can either be taken as a water spring, which symbolizes vitality and life, or it can be taken as the season of spring, which is happening far away from where she is, physically or emotionally. The bed full of hens is most likely a reference to a hen roost on a farm, and if the girl mentioned grew up on a farm, then the life she is missing is stereotypically simple. The “ghost” of a friend doesn’t necessarily mean that that person is dead, but rather, for the woman, this friend takes a lot of the characteristics of a ghost. That is, they are no longer tangible, and cannot be seen clearly in her memory. The second verse opens “All the while that she wept, she’d a gun, by her bed.” This is presumably the same “she” in the first verse who was trying to drink away her problems. The gun, coupled with her depression, indicates that she is contemplating the
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