Im analysing I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag...?

Question:Ok I get what the song is about and that right... But I need some help on what some of the paragraphs are trying to say..

this one..

Come on all of you big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
he's got himself in a terrible jam
way down yonder in Viet Nam so
put down your books and pick up a gun we're
gonna have a whole lotta fun

and the chorus:

And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for
don't ask me I don't give a damn, next stop is Viet Nam
And it's five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates
ain't no time to wonder why, whoopee! we're all gonna die.

What is Country Joe trying to say? Please help?

For the full lyrics:
http://www.ocap.ca/songs/vietnam.html

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Ok I get what the song is about and that right... But I need some help on what some of the paragraphs are trying to say..

this one..

Come on all of you big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
he's got himself in a terrible jam
way down yonder in Viet Nam so
put down your books and pick up a gun we're
gonna have a whole lotta fun

and the chorus:

And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for
don't ask me I don't give a damn, next stop is Viet Nam
And it's five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates
ain't no time to wonder why, whoopee! we're all gonna die.

What is Country Joe trying to say? Please help?

For the full lyrics:
http://www.ocap.ca/songs/vietnam.html

As you know, the Viet Nam War was immensely unpopular, particularly with the younger generation-----those, not so incidentally, who would be asked to fight and die. So, the first verse you have here is a bit of a play on the old World War II posters, showing a picture of Uncle Sam, and captioned "I Want You"--or something very similar.

The ironic twist is that men and women of military age during WWII were more likely to enlist based on that "request", it being that WWII was seen as a necessary evil, and patriotism was far higher.

So the first verse is Uncle Sam coming back again for help--although this time, he's gotten himself into a heck of a "jam", and wants the youth of America to bail him out--at their expense---disrupt your life, leave school, die---way down yonder in Viet Nam. He lies and says it'll be a lot of fun.

So the verse is talking about governmental treachery, ineptitude, propaganda, etc

The chorus is a play on the kind of emphatic, anthematic patriotic songs and song structures of the past---not dissimilar to a college fight song. It extolls, in an ironic sense, the "virtues" of mindless obedience, action without question or analysis, along with the false glory of martyrdom.

So, I think that's it, don't look for too much else there---this is Joe McDonald, not Shakespeare. If you're into anti-war protest kind of art, try the poem, "Dolce et Decorum est..." Only the title is in Latin.