Quote:
Originally Posted by AwwSugar
I REALLY like this song. Not because it's anti-war, but because it's written in a really poetic way. When you repeat "I don't like" and other parts like that, it really makes your point and it's also what I do when I write!
I like when you say you don't like the rules because I know a lot of people who have been in the military and who have hated some of the rules they were forced to follow. It pertains to a lot of situations, also, because there are always going to be rules that we don't like.
I'm not sure I really like the parts that use words like "tyranny" and "hierarchy." I feel like that's not really what people who hate war and are fighting it are thinking. I feel like they're thinking about the simple aspects of it, what is it really doing to me? Who are the people I'm hurting right now? Is this really going to solve anything?
When you introduced the song as anti-war, I was really skeptical. I feel like that's such a strong opinion and I feel like the song could have been a lot different if I didn't have that "I hate war" feeling from reading your introduction.
|
November 10, 2010
Ms. Amandria AwwSugar
4U MusicBanter Lane
Artists Corner, MB 12345
Dear Ms. Sugar:
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my soldier song and give me useful feedback!
I apologize that I have taken so long to reply. The tardiness of my reply in no way reflects the value I place upon your post. Unfortunately, I have been awaiting the arrival of a new modem after my previous model died a sad and sudden death on Thursday last.
Had this misfortune not befallen my elderly modem then I would have replied promptly, as I always appreciate when you take time from rugby and other activities to comment on my lyrics.
Most of the lyrics were taken directly from Crash Override's and Freebase's descriptions of military life, so I hope at least the parts that don't talk about tyranny ring true. I'd be curious what someone who is actually in the military would think of the lyrics.
You make the good point that my song may not accurately reflect how real soldiers think. Perhaps they don't think of the military as being an example of hierarchy in which leaders unwisely wielding power expect the soldiers to do their bidding without questioning, whether it is to attack the Twin Towers with airplanes, killing several thousand people, or attack a whole nation, Iraq, in an unprovoked assault leading to approximately 1 million refugees and the deaths of 100,000 people currently (
Iraq Body Count).
I am surprised that you don't like anti-war songs, Amandria. I don't hear enough songs faulting the U.S. for its attack on Iraq. I feel as if the U.S. has gotten away with murder, literally. I feel the U.S. and in particular its former leader, Bush, are guilty of an indefensible and unforgiveable assault on humanity.
Also, if the U.S. public hadn't been so gullible and patriotic, then soldiers wouldn't have followed the request of the leaders to attack Iraq based on the incorrect belief that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. If the U.S. were not a war-mongering country, then the majority of people would have felt it was unethical to attack another country even if that country *had* possessed weapons of mass destruction.
The U.S. is happy to assault others and rationalize away the actions and the mistakes as somehow good. I suspect that if the public were polled today, most would *still* say that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction:
Quote:
Percentage of Americans Believing Iraq had WMD Rises
August 9, 2006 Growing numbers of Americans think that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the United States launched its 2003 invasion.
The Harris Interactive Poll, taken July 5-11, shows that half of Americans (50 percent) believe that “Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded.” That represents a rise of 14 points from February 2005 when only 36 percent thought Iraq had WMD.
The existence of WMD in Iraq, which Saddam Hussein was supposed to destroy after losing the first Gulf War in 1991, was the major justification for the United States’ March 2003 invasion. However, an investigation by the Iraq Survey Group completed in 2004 concluded that Iraq had dismantled its chemical, biological and nuclear arms programs in 1991 under U.N. oversight.
|
So, it is hard for me not to think of the U.S. military as representing tyranny. Tyranny of brutish violence over reasoned peace. Tyranny of blind patriotism over world citizenship. Tyranny of stupidity and knee-jerk reactions over careful understanding of reality. Tyranny of captors over captives given neither fair trials nor humane treatment in prison.
If anything, I feel my song wasn't a strong enough condemnation of the U.S.
Thank you again for your feedback, Amandria. Based on your feedback, I made a few changes in the lyrics to try to emphasize that I am one of the soldiers and am complaining about the military leadership, although I don't want to take away from soldiers their responsibility for their own actions. I do feel that a military can do great good...when it isn't actually engaged in war!
Sincerely,
Erica V.
ev
Enclosures (3)
1 - Love
2 - Hugs
3 - A kiss on the nose!
cc MusicBanter