I don't think that the mother wants´ to encourage the boy to become a soldier. What the lyrics suggest is rather that there's already something in mother and son that makes them both fall for the hero concept. The second stanza supports this as it is enough for him tohear the band´ to follow in his father's steps. There is no active involvement on side of the mother here, but she doesn't try to dissuade her son, either. The appearance of country's eyes and mother's pride in the same stanza suggest that the mother cannot help feeling proud despite the fact that she knows her son will die (`in her heart...to lose a son´). She will keep up the myth of a hero's death and pass it on because what would her son have died for if he didn't die for some noble cause. By keeping up this tradition, she will contribute to further loss.
What I like is how the passage from boy to man is worked out here, ending with the dead son and the bitter irony that the last two verses hold. I also find it stunning that you can always observe this phenomenon whenever there is war: those who died always died a hero ...
I don't think that the mother
wants´ to encourage the boy to become a soldier. What the lyrics suggest is rather that there's already something in mother and son that makes them both fall for the hero concept. The second stanza supports this as it is enough for him tohear the band´ to follow in his father's steps. There is no active involvement on side of the mother here, but she doesn't try to dissuade her son, either. The appearance of country's eyes and mother's pride in the same stanza suggest that the mother cannot help feeling proud despite the fact that she knows her son will die (`in her heart...to lose a son´). She will keep up the myth of a hero's death and pass it on because what would her son have died for if he didn't die for some noble cause. By keeping up this tradition, she will contribute to further loss. What I like is how the passage from boy to man is worked out here, ending with the dead son and the bitter irony that the last two verses hold. I also find it stunning that you can always observe this phenomenon whenever there is war: those who died always died a hero ...