"Wooden Ships"

Music Studies
Political Science > Political Theory

"Wooden Ships"

An understanding of Frans de Waal's concept of aggression and reconciliation through by Crosby, Stills, and Nash's song "Wooden Ships."

2,368 words () | 2 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

In an attempt to understand Frans de Waal's concept of aggression and reconciliation, this paper explores the group relationship implied by Crosby, Stills, and Nash's song "Wooden Ships." The paper looks at how the song, written and composed by Paul Kantner, Stephen Stills, and David Crosby in 1968 off of their title album, was created at the height of the Vietnam War in response to the growing political tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. The paper interprets the song as being about the aftermath of a nuclear war where two survivors from opposing sides meet each other for the first time. In this meeting, the two men attempt to coexist after the war deciding that the life they lived before the aggression and hatred is no longer positive for either side in this new world of nuclear fallout.

From the Paper:

"The two men of the song, one survivor from the United States and one from the Soviet Union, exemplify de Waal's relational model which "views aggressive behavior as resulting from conflicts of interest between individuals who share a history (and a future)" (de Waal 173). Left vs. Right, East vs. West, Red vs. Blue: de Waal finds the roots of aggression in the real or imagined dividing lines between cultures. "The double meaning of 'belonging to' says it all: they are part of and possessed by the group" (169). The survivors are both representatives of their histories and captives of their histories. It will therefore help to distinguish the two survivors from now on by using their culture; we will call them the Soviet and the Statesman, respectively. Both survivors have adopted their cultures' creeds in order to conform to and fit in with their surroundings, but they have also adopted their cultures' animosity toward each other which no longer matters after such an awing nuclear disaster. "

Sample of Sources Used:

Crosby, Stills, & Nash. Wooden Ships. Rec. Mar. 1968. Vinyl recording. Bill Halverson, 1969.
De Waal, Frans. Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996.