It seems to me that the song goes back and forth between the point of view of the actual Walter Reed and a young med student who plans on working there.
The first verse is Reed's point of view as he leaves the battlefront, taking a train with a load of coffins. He's saying this sight is too common, that death has become routine, and that if the war keeps going like it's going there won't be enough life left for a doctor to save.
The second verse is a med student at or just after he graduates. He's scared of going out into the real world, afraid that nothing he learned will help him and that he won't be able to save a patient. I see the line about Grauman's Chinese Theater being his resolve to do something useful with his life- the theater is a symbol of wasted time, watching movies instead of making a difference.
The chorus and the bridge are from both of them. Reed wants to get away from the fighting, and says he's lost the will to fight. He's angry about the death all around him. He may have been injured, as in the line "I'm the walking wounded," and can't find his place in the civilian world. The med student wants the seemingly endless wait over with, to get to the hospital and get to work. He's disillusioned with the competitive atmosphere of med school (lost his will for fighting), and is simultaneously ready to go out into the world and mourning his carefree younger days (every good thing I had...).
That's how I see it, anyway. Great song, especially for a college student going into medicine.
It seems to me that the song goes back and forth between the point of view of the actual Walter Reed and a young med student who plans on working there.
The first verse is Reed's point of view as he leaves the battlefront, taking a train with a load of coffins. He's saying this sight is too common, that death has become routine, and that if the war keeps going like it's going there won't be enough life left for a doctor to save.
The second verse is a med student at or just after he graduates. He's scared of going out into the real world, afraid that nothing he learned will help him and that he won't be able to save a patient. I see the line about Grauman's Chinese Theater being his resolve to do something useful with his life- the theater is a symbol of wasted time, watching movies instead of making a difference.
The chorus and the bridge are from both of them. Reed wants to get away from the fighting, and says he's lost the will to fight. He's angry about the death all around him. He may have been injured, as in the line "I'm the walking wounded," and can't find his place in the civilian world. The med student wants the seemingly endless wait over with, to get to the hospital and get to work. He's disillusioned with the competitive atmosphere of med school (lost his will for fighting), and is simultaneously ready to go out into the world and mourning his carefree younger days (every good thing I had...).
That's how I see it, anyway. Great song, especially for a college student going into medicine.