My problem with Toby's lyrics isn't that they're non-P.C. I don't give a damn 'bout P.C. anything. I listen to GG Allin for chrissake!

I just thought Toby's lyrics were lame, dumb, and... well, kinda
latent.
Anyway, I think Toby's an overcompensating puss, but that's just my opinion. I just know too many guys just like him. Got no time to listen to overindulgent loudmouths in cowboy hats bragging about how much they can drink while they steal other people's lyrics with no credit and make a career boost out of tragedy and fraud. That's my problem with him... ain't got a thing to do with political correctness.
Anyway, speaking of musicians (I think it's safe to say that this is no longer off topic since there's 'bout as much talk of musicians on this thread as anything else... I'm perfectly willing to put up a new thread, but somebody'd be ticked off with that, too, so, eh, I think I'll play my don't-give-a-damn card at this point), I have something along those lines, and this, in my eyes, is what supporting the troops is really about.
There's a Boston punk band called The Dropkick Murphys. They're a mix of (non-Nazi) skinhead Oi stuff and a lot of Celtic music influences. You'll find them on the "Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2" benefit CD, among other places. Anyway, they were writing a song based on some correspondence they'd been doing with soldiers serving in Iraq, when they got a letter from one soldier's wife. She said that he was a big fan of the Dropkicks, and he'd told his mother in a letter that if he ever died, he wanted one of their songs, "The Fields of Anthenry" played at his funeral. He'd also planned to come home and renew his vows with his wife to another of their songs, "Forever." Then he was killed on his 31st birthday, as he was due to come home. The Dropkick Murphys went to his funeral (please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is something our president still has yet to do for any of our servicemen), and they played "Fields of Anthenry" as his casket was entering the church, just as he'd wanted... although I'm sure they'd've much rather played "Forever" at his vow-renewal ceremony. And they wrote a song about him, and other soldiers. Sgt. Farrar leaves behind a wife and two sons, Tyler and Liam.
Here are two songs that meant something to him, and one that would've, which was re-written to incorporate parts of his letters.
Last Letter Home
Hello there my dearest love
Today I write to you about our sons
The boys start school today
They're the spitting image of you in every way
Hey, son, it's Dad
I hope this letter finds you well, out of harm's way
We saw the news today, it frightened your Mom
Now all she does is pray.
If I lead, will you follow?
Will you follow if I lead?
Hey, Melissa, it's me, don't be afraid
I'm in good hands, I'm gonna be home soon
It's time to watch the children grow up
I wanna be more than a voice on the phone
Thanks, Ma, I got your package today
I love "The Fields of Athenry"
I swear I want 'em to play that song on the pipes
At my funeral when I die
If I lead, will you follow?
Will you follow if I lead?
I stand alone in the distance
And the foreground slowly moves
If I lead, will you follow?
Will you follow if I lead?
"We regret to inform you that on January 28th Sgt. Andrew Farrar died while serving his country in the Al-Anbar province of Iraq. Words cannot convey our sorrow."
If I lead, will you follow?
Will you follow if I lead?
When there's nothing on the horizon
You've got nothing left to prove
If I lead, will you follow?
The Fields of Athenry
By a lonely prison wall
I heard a young girl calling
"Michael, they have taken you away
For you stole Trevelyn's corn
So the young might see the morn
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay."
Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing, we had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely 'round the Fields of Athenry
By a lonely prison wall
I heard a young man calling
"Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free
Against the famine and the crown
I rebelled, they cut me down
Now you must raise our child with dignity."
Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing, we had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry.
By a lonely harbor wall
She watched the last star falling
As that prison ship sailed out against the sky
Sure she'll wait and hope and pray
For her love in Botany Bay
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry.
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry.
Forever
Never take your loved ones for granted
They could be gone tomorrow
All of my dreams seem to fall by the side
Like a discarded thought or the day's fading light
But I know that if I could just see you tonight
Forever
At times we may fall, like we all tend to do
But I'll reach out and find that I've run into you
Your strength is the power that carried me through
Forever
Your kindness for weakness I never mistook
I worried you often, yet you understood
That life is so fleeting, these troubles won't last
Forever
Inspired me truly, you did from the start
To not be afraid and to follow my heart
There's a piece of you with me they can't tear apart
Forever
At times we may fall, like we all tend to do
Your strength is the power that carries me through
Forever
Forever I'll find you, forever we'll be
Forever your power and strength stays with me
Forever I'll find you, forever we'll be
Forever your power and strength stays with me."
And this Dropkick Murphys song wasn't mentioned in the letter, but it's an older song, written back in 1997. There's no liner note that says so, but it's gotta be about the first Gulf War... so they've been at this a long time.
Far Away Coast
Here in the trenches, the fist of the beast
For fear of an atmosphere, poisoned, deceased
With a gas mask to keep me from breathing my death
It's American soil I hope for at best
But the duty I serve can't begin to compare
To my ancestors' battles and wars through the years
Though the loneliness strikes like an enemy shell
I pray for my home but still sit here in hell
Sail away to a place that's unknown
Taken away from my friends and my home
To a place they call sacred
A place I call hell
I long for that corner I once knew so well
Go to the grind, it's all that I have
Work on and on with nothing to show
But a graying face in this dying place
That's a lock on my solitude
I think of a place on a faraway coast
Where friends are so dear and there's reason to toast
Cloudy dark images of a Middle East land
Comes down and wrecks my hopeful thoughts
Sail away to a place that's unknown
Taken away from my friends and my home
To a place they call sacred
A place I call hell
I long for that corner I once knew so well."
I bet every soldier'd recognize those lyrics, even if they never heard the song...
Cheers,
Zwolf