That’s the title of a new Richard Thompson song, available right now for free downloading on this page, direct link here. ” ‘Dad” is apparently grunt-speak for Baghdad (like ” ‘Nam”).
I just listened to it and it hurts. This shit has been going on for all of my adult life. Awfully hard to stay detached, I’ll tell you that. Here are some sample lyrics, and the lightest of the lot:
‘Dad’s in a bad mood,
‘Dad’s got the blues;
It’s someone else’s mess that I didn’t choose;
At least we’re winning on the Fox evening news;Nobody loves me here
nobody loves me here‘Dad’s Gonna Kill Me…
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I was all excited (by dread, strangely) to hear this MP3, as I find myself starving for any insight into the American soldier’s/marine’s experience in Iraq. There is just nothing in the media. I have been wondering for 2 years just what they are going through over there.
U can imagine my disappointment to read that this guy is 57 and couldn’t be any further from Iraq. What does he know? Really?
Hard to say. But I have seen soldier’s blogs referenced here and there that present a far grimmer picture, and there were some quotations from guys in a recent NYT article that are LOTS stronger than what Thompson has to say! I’ll bet the song is a hit with the grunts. They can’t really do much work like that on their own, I expect. Too much pressure or punishment. No time to sit down with a guitar, etc.
As for what can Thompson know, I think any artist who’s well-informed, reads enough, and isn’t blinded by ideology can take enough away to produce “accurate” art on the subject. Art is by nature subjective, of course, though I think Thompson’s song carries a lot more weight than the few rah-rah bullshit country-western songs I’ve heard on this subject. I can’t tell you what they were because I turned ‘em off, but I think you can guess the content. In truth, I doubt many people are fooled.
The other thing about what can he know is that the art he produces is certainly accurate enough for HIM. Reflects his own emotional/intellectual/aesthetic response to the news, etc. It certainly resonates with me, too.
And as for Thompson being 57… I know what you mean.
However, when you get to that point yourself, you’ll wonder what the holy fuck happened! Trust me. It’s like your whole life becomes a handclap. I know there was stuff that happened before yesterday, but who WAS that guy? Did I do that? Was I ever there?
Is this thing on? (tap, tap)
I think you’re dead on when you say the song is intended to be an artistic reaction to what’s going on in the news. He’s trying to imagine what’s going on in some kid’s mind when put into that situation – and may of them are just kids. The title of song alone is a bit of genius I think – before hearing the song, you might think its from the point of view of a teenager worried about the reaction to a dent in the family car. Once you hear it its obvious that the narrator might still be a kid, but he’s got much bigger worries.
No problem with him being 57, and certainly no problem with him expressing himself, as his personal experience with the war. I don’t even think it’s ALL that disingenuous to portray himself as being there.
I am just really anxious to get to real truth, the real experience. I am discouraged (and worried) that we’re not getting the perspective of the boots on the ground. I saw that some vets spoke up at the peace rally a couple weekends ago, but I almost get the sense the men and women there, the ones who signed up, are muted.
Maybe they are muting themselves, circling wagons, as it were. Because they are so isolated from their own people. I think there is a whole psychology there that we don’t see. And I bet it’s more complicated than the sentiments in that song.
John, I just can’t answer your concerns. But I think the ones who signed up are muted by the very nature of their obligations. I was an Air Force brat for all of my youth. There were plenty of things my father just couldn’t say or do.
Not sure I’d want to hear the thoughts in the head of US soldier in Iraq. But I really do like that song. Thanks for the link.
As someone who spent 23 years in the U.S. military, I’d just like to stomp on the notion of getting a sense of “what is really going on” in Iraq from those “boots on the ground.” The guys and gals over there are no doubt, enduring stress and fatigue that precludes deep thought. The minutea of daily life, staying warm (or cool), clean socks, water, food, sleep, where to take a crap, and simple survival occupy the thoughts of a soldier.
Veterans are notoriously silent about combat experience mostly becuase once they’re back in normal surroundings it becomes very difficult to reconcile the extremes of experience between over there and here at home. It’s as if a bad dream, or the experience of another self in another dimension of reality. And in a way, I guess that is exactly what is going on.
That’s exactly what I wanted to know. I wasn’t looking for them to denounce the war, like a political weapon to be used by self-interested people vying to attain or hold on to power.
As for the reconciling, it seems like a shame to me. Because I suppose I hope that they can come back and step forward and speak up. I have to believe that real leaders are being forged over there. Whether the war was right or wrong, I think everyone agrees that it was grossly mismanaged. By weak, feeble minded people, elected by sheep. Reflections of us.
I am hopeful that a cauldron like Iraq will give rise to real leaders, with insight and wisdom and strength. God knows we need that. So I will keep listening for them.
What does Thompson know? For the sake of comparison, Picasso painted his powerful anti-war painting Guernica in 1937 at the age of 56. The painting portrayed the destruction of Gernika, Spain by the Nazis. He was in Paris, France at the time.