Visit the link below to read about the novel Johnny Got His Gun and its influence on Metallica's song "One".
Wikipedia: Johnny Got His Gun
Open a web page with the lyrics to "One".
Then, view the music video for the song here:
"One" Video
Develop a paragraph response (as a comment here) by Friday. Examine the parallels between the novel and the song.
16 comments:
The Metallica song, "The One", is a parallel to the novel, "Jonny Got his Gun," because the song is telling the story of the novel. Like the novel, the song starts with a man laying in a hospital bed waking up from a war. He no longer has legs, arms, a face, and can't speak. Within the lines, "Fed through the tube that sticks in me/Just like a wartime novelty/Tied to machines that make me be/Cut this life off from me," you see that the man is hookedup to a feeding tube, he would rather die than be like this. In the novel, Johnny is also hookedup to a feeding tube and tries to commit suicide by sufficating himself. Another example of the song and the novel matching up is in the lines, "Taken my speech/Taken my hearing/Taken my arms/Taken my legs/Taken my soul/Left me with life in hell," the man in the song has lost his speech, hearing, arms, and legs. He also feels like his soul is gone aswell, and that he is a hell. In the novel Johnny lost speaking, arms, and legs. He also left like his life was now a living hell. The song, "The One, by Metallica", is a line for line summary of the novel, "Johnny Got his Gun."
Metallica’s “One” was inspired by Dalton Trumbo’s "Johnny Got His Gun." The official music video features clips from the film, and the lyrics directly relate to the struggle of Joe Bonham, the main character. An injured soldier, Bonham is one of many war victims, and, as the song states, a landmine has taken away his vision, hearing, speech, and limbs. As stated in the song, this “terrible silence” leaves him unable to express himself to those around him, and so he is left with “life in hell.” Metallica is remarkably accurate with their wording, and they precisely recreate the feelings of despair, horror, and helplessness that Bonham felt in the novel. Both the song and the story tell of Bonham’s inability to comprehend the dreamlike world around him, as well as his frustration over his continued and painful life: “Cut this line off from me/ Hold my breath as I wish for death.” Metallica and Trumbo both describe the torment of Joe Bonham with terrifying detail, and Metallica’s lyricism effectively parallels the novel.
Metallica's song "One" draws many parallels to the novel "Johnny Got His Gun" by American novelist Dalton Trumbo written in 1938. The novel describes the story of a soldier badly injured in World War 1. He loses all his limbs and his face. He cannot speak, and therefore has to rely on using morse code by banging his head up and down. The story is very tragic to read and is brought more to life in the Metallica video. In the video, it shows the soldier in the hospital, his face covered with a white cloth. What filled me with emotion was when the soldier used morse code to say, "Just kill me." One of the nurse's in the video came close to giving in, before a military official came in and stops her. In the lyrics it says, "Hold my breath as I wish for death." This poor man would much rather die than go on the way he is. He is a prisoner in his body. He feels as though he is alive, but also dead. He is trapped in his own mind and cannot even tell the difference between what is real and just a dream. I believe Metallica did an excellent job at portraying the horrid events of this novel. Just watching the video made me realize how fortunate I am to not be in constant misery like the poor soldier in this story.
Metallica-The one
In the lyrics you can easily see the symbolism of the novel in it. The novel is about a soldier that wakes up in a hospital bed. The first line of the song is "I Can't Remember Anything." It shows that he was waking up from something that he either doesnt't know or wishes not to know if it was a dream or not. Another line that is like the book is " Hold My Breath as I Wish For Death." The soldier wakes up with no legs, and no arms, so you know anyone that has that happen to them is probably thinking that he wants to die.
Both the novel and Metallica's "One" show the horrors of war. In Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun, Trumbo tells the story of a WWI soldier who wakes up in a hospital bed. After being in a artillery explosion, Joe has lost his arms, legs, and face. The only thing he can still control is his mind. He struggles to stay sane, feeling like he is a prisoner of his own body. Metallica's song "One" was influenced by this novel. In the song, the story of a soldier who has lot all bodily functions because of a landmine explosion is told. The soldier cannot tell what is a dream and what is reality. In both the song and the novel, the character wishes for death because they feel trapped in an almost life-less body. The goal of the novel and the song is to make people aware of the terrible consequences of war.
-Carolyn Hathaway
There are many similarities between the song “One” By Metallica and the movie Johnny got his gun. The entire song is based off of the movie. In the beginning of the song you can hear parts from the movie talking over the song where he is asking his father what democracy is in and the father is telling him that it’s something he has to fight for. In the song he says “Taken my speech/taken my hearing/taking my arms/taking my legs.” In the movie Johnny got his gun, the boy has his limbs blown off and slowly starts to realize this and is wishing for death. “Darkness imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror/ I cannot live/ I cannot die.” The boy cannot live and is going insane, but he is unable to kill himself either because he has no arms or legs. He attempts to communicate with the nurses there but is not able to. “Body my holding cell” This is another reference to the movie where Johnny wants to just die and communicates this to the doctors via Morse code. At this point you can still here parts from the moving talking over the song which reinforce the idea.
-Mike Costa
-Block B
The lines "I'm waking up, I cannot see/That there's not much left of me" is descriptive of how the main character of the nove, Joe, has lost all of his limbs as well as his face and eyesight. "Hold my breath as I wish for death" is about how Joe tried to suffocate himself following his return to conscience. "I cannot live/ I cannot die/ Trapped in myself/ Body my holding cell" really gets across the idea of how miserable his existence has become. His doctors are keeping him alive, yet at the same time he really can't live his life. He merely lies in his bed, trapped within the confines of his body. This song definately conveys the message of the story through its emotionally evocative lyrics that truly compound the suffering of poor Joe.
Based on what i have read on the plot line for Johnny Got His Gun and the song "one" by Metallica, the two are very similar. In the book a veteran from World War 1 wakes up in the hospital to find that his arms, legs, and face are gone. When he wakes up he wants to kill himself because his life is basically over from his perspective. He tries to sufficate himself but cannot because he had received a tracheotomy earlier to keep him alive. In the music video there is a man in the hospital who is completely covered with sheets and is laying on a hospital bed. His face is covered with a cloth mask and he is unable to move from his bed. The man in the hospital was in the war based on the face that war scenes kept appearing when the man seemed to have a thought. In the music video and the summary of the book there is a nurse that stays by the patient throughout his struggles. In the video almost everytime the patient was showed so was the nurse. The nurse seemed to develop feelings for the man who almost lost his life. One of the lines that i heard in Metallica's song was "hold my breath as i wish for death". In the book the man is also wishing for death but is unable to achieve the goal of death. The song also descirbed everything the man has lost from his legs, to his soul, to his arms, and to his sight. Also, in both the song and book the the man tries to communicate by banging his head against the pillow to get the doctor or nurse's attention.
There are obviously huge parallels between the novel Johnny Got His Gun and Metallica's "One" considering the fact that the song mimics the novel. Both the novel and song talk about a young soldier who has lost his arms, legs, and face due to war. This young man desperately wants to be killed to end his suffering and pain. The song also talks about how men send their sons to war for democracy. The song changes point of view from 3rd person in the beginning, to 1st person as the song/story goes on. The song talks about how the man doesn't know if he's "alive or dreaming or dead or remembering," he only knows that he wants to be killed and end his pain. In both the novel and the song, the man gets injured by an explosion of an artillery shell (it tells this in the movie and shows it in the song). Also the novel talks about him developing a close bond with a nurse and she is shown in the music video. They even become so close that she is willing to kill him just to put him out of his misery, as we see in the music video. The novel and song are very disturbing and really eye-opening to the dangers and struggles of war.
There are many parallels between the novel Johnny Got His Gun and the Metallica song One. This is because the song was directly based off of the novel. The novel is about a soldier who gets his limbs and face blown off in an explosion but his brain functions perfectly. He is not able to communicate with anyone or hear anyone; he is trapped inside his body and can't get out. The song basically tells his story of how he just wants to die because he can't do anything and he will eventually go crazy because he is trapped inside his mind with only his memories and fantasies. In the book the soldier attempts to kill himself by suffocation but is unable to because the doctors have him hooked up to a machine that keeps him breathing involuntarily. He is finally able to communicate with his doctors by banging his head in Morse code. The novel was also made into a movie; the music video to the song One has a lot of scenes from the movie.
The song “One” by Metallica is based on a novel called “Johnny Got His Gun.” There are many parallels between the song and the novel and it is very clear that the song is based on the story. “Johnny Got His Gun” is about a soldier in World War I that loses his arms, legs, and face in an explosion. His brain remains fully operational and unharmed. The lyrics of “One” tell Johnny’s story. The first and second stanzas describe when Johnny wakes up in the hospital after the terrible accident. The first states that Johnny can’t remember what happened and that the realization of his situation is so shocking that he doesn’t know if it is real or if he is having a terrible nightmare. The second stanza explains Johnny’s physical awakening and realizations. “I’m waking up I cannot see/that there’s not much left of me/nothing is real but pain now.” When he awakens, he literally cannot see because he lost his face and now has a box over his face. Also, there is literally not much left of Johnny because he lost his arms and legs in the accident and is now just a torso and a head. All he can feel is pain. The chorus line, “Hold my breath as I wish for death/ Oh Please God, Wake Me” also describes the story very accurately. In one of the most terrifying situations possible, Johnny has easily decided that he would rather be dead than a trapped mind. Because of this, he tries to commit suicide by holding his breath and suffocating himself. He does not succeed however, because of the machines that are keeping him alive. The third stanza of “One” tells of Johnny’s thoughts while in the hospital. In the story, Johnny reminisces about his past and life while he cannot do anything else. This stanza describes these thoughts. The fourth stanza of “One” explains all of the machinery that Johnny is hooked up to. “Fed through the tube that sticks in me/just like a wartime novelty/tied to machines that make me be/cut this life off from me.” Because Johnny has no limbs or face, he has to be kept alive by various machines, including a machine that feeds him through a tube and a machine that breathes fro him. However, Johnny does not want to live any longer and wants the machines to be disconnected from him so that he will die. The chorus lines again describe the solitude and suicidal wishes of Johnny in the horrible life he has been left with. The lines at the end of the song fully describe Johnny’s emotions and life in just seconds. “Darkness imprisoning me/all that I see/absolute horror/I cannot live/I cannot die/trapped in myself/body my holding cell.” This explains Johnny’s terrifying emotions as he is in horror at being reduced to simply a conscience trapped in his body. It seems like he cannot die because he is kept alive by many machines, but at the same time he cannot live because he has been reduced to almost nothing. The next lines describe what happened to Johnny and what his life has become very straightforward. “Landmine has taken my sight/taken my speech/taken my hearing/taking my arms/taken my legs/taken my soul/left me with life in hell.” Literally, a landmine blew Johnny up and took away his sight, speech, hearing, arms, and legs. Figuratively, this explosion has taken everything from Johnny, including his soul, leaving him with nothing but a pointless, miserable life that is so terrifying, it is as bad or worse than life in hell. The song “One” by Metallica very literally and accurately interprets the story of “Johnny Got His Gun” and is clearly based on the novel.
Chris W.
There are many similarities and parallels between the book "Johnny Got His gun" and the famous song "One" by Metallica. With in th line "I'm waking up, I cannot see that there's not much left of me" Directly refers to in the book when Joe wakes up in the hospital and is missing his arms and legs, meaning there is not much left of him. In the lines "hold my breath as I wish for death" in the song "One" directly refers to the Story "Johnny got his gun" because in the story Joe wants to kill
himself because he is in so mush pain and is just a former shell of himself because he cannot perform half of the tasks that he use to be able to before his war accident. With in the lines: "landmine has taken my sight taken my speech taken my hearing taken my arms taken my legs taken my soul left me with life in hell" is a direct reference to Johhny got his gun because in the story, Joe stepped on a land mine and his speech, hearing, arms, and legs. Overall, The song "One" by Metallica and the book "Johnny Got His gun" are in direct correlation with each other and will ever be referred to as one in the same.
Comparing and Contrasting:Metallica,“One”/ Johnny Got His Gun
When Metallica introduced, In Justice for All… the C.D. made Metallica history, as arguable the best album to come out by them. When they made the album they created a song called “One” in 1987. For the most part, it later became not only one of the most popular songs in history of Metallica. But because of in sensual vibe it became a great song and, it also became in my opinion one of the best songs ever written in the history of metal. This song wasn’t only good because of its amazing lyrics and intense instrumentals. But in a sense had a flow that not many other songs at the time had. Its cunning guitar solo and awesome vocal score had given the song a great tone. In a way this piece they created, made the song have not only an eerie sound, but gave you a feel that not many other songs can do. It made you understand what it’s like to be in war, and had many characteristics to the track that allowed you to understand the consequences of being in battle, and what might happen as a result of armed combat.
As a result, the song wasn’t just good but had significant deep meaning. The song was written about a man who had his legs, arms, and face blow off in war. This was an obvious reference to Dalton Trumbo’s novel, Johnny Got His Gun. A story of a man named Joe Bonham, a solider serving for his country. When in doing so, is battle scared during the World War I and loses his legs, arm, and face. As a result of losing these body parts, he is sent to a hospital were he is forced into to be stuck on a death bed. Well being tortured in his bed, he quickly learns that his mind works perfectly. In realizing this he remembers how to speak in Morse code by banging his head against his pillow, which allows him to speak to a nurse. He later try’s to go to schools and teach kid’s what it’s like to be in war. But unfortunately never get’s the chance to, and has to live his whole life in the hospital; getting force feed through a tube, and having a breathing mask that covers his whole face. He later becomes really close friends with the nurse but has to live the rest of his life with suffering agony.
Metallica’s “One”, is a song that has the same idea as this novel and was written by Metallica, because James Hetfield was a huge fan of the book by Trumbo. Well writing the song Hetfield (the Lead Singer), Ulrich (the Guitarist), and Lars (the Drummer) put James in a narrative point of view by putting himself in the mind of Joe. Well he told Joe’s story in lyrical form, he made it seem as he went through all the pain and agony that Joe did, by expressing words that explained the sorrow he went through. Like when in the song he say’s, “Darkness imprisoning me, All that I see, Absolute horror/I cannot live, I cannot die/Trapped Inside myself/Body my holding cell”. This is a great example of Imagery, because it elevates a great image of what’s going on in his mind. Then in the verse, “Landmines have taken my sight, taken my speech, taken my hearing, taken my arms, taken my legs, taken my soul, Left me with life in hell” you get the sense of what has happened as a result of getting scared in battle, just like in the book. This is a great example of a metaphor, because it paints many words in your mind that can’t all be something he has actually said. Because landmines can’t really have take his speech, or he wouldn’t have been able to tell us what they have done. They also couldn’t have taken his soul because then he’d literately be dead, in which he hadn’t yet experienced death. Although all the words are suppose to be said from his mind.
The difference between the story and the book is that in the story he uses Morse code to speak, which in the song James he is speaking out in vocal form. In the story he wants to do something positive about being stuck in this hell-like state, as a pose to the song in which he just wants to end his life. In the story he wants to make the best of his life, although he’s in the most critical condition. But in the song the nurse he speaks out to, allows him to end his misery by cutting his life cord.
By the story written in the song and by the description of the book there is not a very big difference between the two. I mean is completely describes the book. Except one thing that the song says that is different when they say that a landmine did this to the guy when it was an artillery strike. The mention most of the book's highlights, such as the no limbs, how he tries to kill himself but the tube won't let him, and how he is trapped inside his own body.
There is a parallel between the novel Johnny Got His Gun, and Metallica's song “One.” Both the song and the novel are about the war and the men that fought in the war. The video has clips of a former solider is hurt and can’t move; that communicates with the doctor. He repeatably tells the doctors to kill him. In the novel the solider has lost his arms, legs, and face but he can still think clearly, he uses Morse code to ask the doctor to grant his wish to be put in a glass box. In the song the lyrics are, “I cannot live I cannot die trapped in myself”,which is basically what happens to the main character in the book.
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