History and Music : The Sullivans

Artists are often inspired by things that happen in the world around them. Whether it's romance, amusements, war, or any other activity doesn't matter. They're often written in a romanticized manner which can often make an activity seem less threatening. Though some music is very effective at causing people to become interested in history, and look into things to learn. Not all things that are what they seem, and there can be a bit of depth to things.

As an example of this I'd like to share a song called "Sullivan" By Caroline's Spine with you. The song is based on something that happened during WWII. There's even a movie based on the event called The Fighting Sullivans. To keep things fairly short and simple though, the ship that the five Sullivan's were on was sunk by a torpedo, and through various events the five men died(can read specifics and things concerning it HERE). This song is basically a nod to the family, referencing their mother on the most part.

It's a well done song, and it isn't offensive. There are multiple dissections of the lyrics and examinations online but I think the song speaks for itself. I'd like to mention for our younger readers back in Buffalo, that you can see one of the two ships that's been named The Sullivans right there in Buffalo at the naval park. The destroyer ship was donated to the city's park in the late 1970's, after having been kept in the ship reserves. I bet you could even do a nice project on the ship for school. Ask your mom, I know she'd LOVE to take you to see it.

"Change Your Blue Star To Gold." This is a reference to a practice that was adopted by people during WWI which has since become common practice. It refers to a plain white background flag with a blue trim that has a Blue star on it which is displayed to represent that a family member is serving active duty. When the flag changes, to a gold star, it lets people know that the family member has passed away during service without having to specify how.