"Front Line" is a 1983 release written and produced by American R&B singer and songwriter

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, off his greatest hits compilation '' Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I'' (1982). The song is sung from the perspective of a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

veteran. The protagonist tells the story of how he volunteered to go to Vietnam in 1964 at age sixteen, (suggesting that he was born in 1948, 35 years before the single came out and a couple of years before Wonder's birth) despite being raised to never kill anyone. After losing his leg, he is sent home with a Purple Heart. In the present day, his niece is a prostitute, and his nephew is a drug addict, both of whom insist he has no right to tell them they are wrong in their ways. He reads in the newspaper that another war is on its way, and he remembers the 'many happy families that have been ruined.'

Personnel

*Stevie Wonder: vocals, keyboards, drums *Benjamin Bridges: electric guitar *

Nathan Watts Nathan or Natan may refer to: People *Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name *Nathan (surname) *Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible *Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David and ...

: bass

Sources

*iTunes {{authority control Anti-war songs Songs of the Vietnam War Songs about Vietnam Stevie Wonder songs Songs written by Stevie Wonder Tamla Records singles 1983 singles 1983 songs Song recordings produced by Stevie Wonder