Random Quote
If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.-
Just back from combat …
While revamping another Web site tonight, sitting in the dining room, working on a laptop, I got bored, so I turned on the TV. Not wanting to be distracted by talk on TV shows or the news, I flipped to a music channel on the digital cable channels available on Comcast’s digital cable service.
Sitting here, working diligently, my ears perked up when I heard something that rang like gongs in my ears. It was a song, and the singer was focusing on combat. Combat, as in the stuff that is happening to the U.S. military troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and numerous other countries around the world.
I paused for a moment, looked at the screen, and noticed the song, I Just Came Back From A War, by Darryl Worley. Just to be nice, here’s the link so you can listen to the sample Amazon has available on Worley’s page for the album the song is on, Here and Now, which was released in November 2006.
That’s the first positive song that I’ve heard about the troops — about the troops themselves, but also dealing with the issues of coming back to “the world.”
No, I’m not going to ruin the song for you with spoilers, but the song talks about how he changed since coming back home “from a war.” Walking around his hometown, he tells how he’s thankful for being home, in a place where he’s happy, feels safe, and where he isn’t hated for being there. Yes, it’s a very different world coming home from combat.
This is the first time I’ve ever heard a song that dealt with the issue — head-on — of what the troops go through when they come home. No matter how well adjusted they may seem when they get home, I really hate to burst your bubble, but after you’re in combat, kill more people, some with your hands, you’re never the same person you were before you went. No, the innocence is lost. Much like a person’s first sexual experience: you’re no longer naive about many things, but in this case, it is something that’s not pleasurable. It’s about hatred, death, and survival.
Worley’s song handles the content in a great way, and, thankfully, isn’t jingoistic, much like the crap that was on the radio, TV, and on billboard, vehicles, and homes right after 9/11.
Be sure to check out the song, but then let me know your thoughts.
