Three-Five-Zero-Zero
"Three-Five-Zero-Zero" is an
The song begins with a slow, somber catalogue of violent images of death and dying, but its tone changes, as it becomes a manic dance number satirizing the American military's media attempts to gain support for the war by celebrating Vietnamese casualty statistics.[2] At this point, the lyric begins a repeated refrain, "prisoners in Niggertown / it's a dirty little war",[1] echoing Ginsberg's lines:
- The war is over now —
- Except for the souls
- held prisoner in Niggertown[3]
- Except for the souls
The cryptic line from the song that gives the song its title restates the line of the poem that attributes the phrase "Viet Cong losses leveling up three five zero zero per month" to General
(However, neither reference is valid).On the soundtrack, the song appears as a combined track with the song "What a Piece of Work Is Man", a recitation of the What a piece of work is a man speech from William Shakespeare's Hamlet.[1]
See also
References
- ^ RCA Victor. Event occurs at Track 28, "Three-Five-Zero-Zero".
- ^ ISBN 0-325-00357-2
- ^ a b Ginsberg, Allen. Initial portion of "II" in "Wichita Vortex Sutra"