Shock and awe – shocked by brutality of the Iraq invasion and awed by the sheer stupidity of the decision to do it. The 19th Century brought to an end the ‘pure’ idea of war, where two armies faced off and basically blew the shit out of each other, the only real variables being numbers, firepower and tactics. Now we see that war is most usually a murderously equipped force on one side marauding through the countryside, while being harassed by rag tag collections of militias. Pity about the civilians who get in the way.
No wonder that most modern soldiers return as head cases; war has always done this to a fair proportion of combatants, but under the current model it’s more of a wonder that it doesn’t affect everyone that way. The Kellaways returned to their political roots with this song.
lyrics
PRIVATE'S LAMENT
Oil wells on fire, Apache gun ship flies
Cross the desert blind, a blood red sky
Who wants this desert, who's gonna pay
Who wants to be here, with people in the way?
Bradley fighting vehicle, rips across the sand
Burned out buses, someone made a stand
Who wants this desert, who's gonna pay
Who wants to be here, it's not a bloody game?
I want to go back to Tennessee
See the deep green grass
Who'll care for good ol' me
When this all comes to pass?
Black Hawk dropping, like we've seen before
This time no accident, a lucky shot for sure
Who wants this desert, who's gonna pay
Who wants to be here, at the end of the day?
They're like a kid in the playground
With one hand tied
In a fight with the great Ali
They're gonna end up fried
Who wants this desert, who's gonna pay
Who wants to be here, it's not a bloody game?
Who wants this desert, who wants to die
Who wants to be here, it's all a bloody lie
The land of the brave and the free, what a joke
It's not a joke to me, who is that bloke?
Get out of the US, draft-dodging…
Hope we don't run out of coke
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