This song has different example of irony but also there are some parts which are straight forward.
A line that is ironic and is present multiple times is "the great nations of europe..." because even though this nations did have a lot of power and wealth, they were not really great. They expect to be great by conquering all the indians and having a sense of superiority but there is nothing great about destroying cultures and killing people, which is what the song is describing.
When the author sates that "now they´re gone, they´re gone, they´re really gone./You never seen anyone so gone," this is not entirely true. He is exaggerating the situation to make the "great nations of europe" look worst, but when the europeans came, the indians did not disappear from thin air. Many resisted and were around many years to continue the suffering.
Also there is a continuity to the line "the great nations of europe," which goes: "[they] were quite holy in their way." Again, mismatch information. Mentioned above that line are the "holy" ways of the Europeans when they torn indians apart with dogs. The word does not fit the situations, even though they backed their means with religious ends.
A part of the song that is not ironic is when the author mentions Columbus´ arrival to Salvador and mentions that "they got t.b. and typhoid and athletes foot and diphtheria and the flu..." This were some of the main causes of death among the people in the new world, because their bodies had never been exposed to such diseases.
No comments:
Post a Comment