Rich Man's WarSteve Earle (The Revolution Starts Now)
Jimmy joined the army 'cause he had no place to go
There ain't nobody hirin' round here since all the jobs went Down to Mexico
Reckoned that he'd learn himself a trade maybe see the world
Move to the city someday and marry a black haired girl
Somebody somewhere had another plan
Now 's got a rifle in his hand
Rollin' into Baghdad wonderin' how he got this far
Just another poor boy off to fight a rich man's war
Bobby had an eagle and a flag tattooed on his arm
Red white and blue to the bone when he landed in Kandahar
Left behind a pretty young wife and a baby girl
A stack of overdue bills and went off to save the world
Been a year now and he's still there
Chasin' ghosts in the thin dry air
Meanwhile back at home the finance company took his car
Just another poor boy off to fight a rich man's war
When will we ever learn
When will we ever see
We stand up and take our turn
And keep tellin' ourselves we're free
Ali was the second son of a second son
Grew up in Gaza throwing bottles and rocks when the tanks would come
Ain't nothin' else to do around here just a game children play
Somethin' bout livin' in fear all your life makes you hard that way
He answered when he got the call
Wrapped himself in death and praised Allah
A fat man in a new Mercedes drove him to the door
Just another poor boy off to fight a rich man's war
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6 comments:
I have never heard this before but boy does it ring true. Shades of Vietnam, my time in the Corps, but this time it seems worse.
An old friend's nephew came back to the States in May and he was sent back in July...Americans don't care because he "volunteered". Who believes that war is great for those who volunteer?
Just because someone volunteers to serve our country does not mean they are immune to the effects of combat.
The chicken hawk cowards who brought this on, and treated our troops the way they have, are reprehensible human beings.
When wasn't a war a rich man's war? The only check we had on these bastards was the draft. If all you take is voluteers, Americans really don't care what happens. And the armed services advertise that your time in service will "pay for college" or "give you a skill" you can use in the civilian world. Personally, I never found the ability to fire an M79 grenade launcher or drive an M115 scout/ambulance track very useful in the tight job market of 1974. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right place.
All this nonsense about "supporting the troops" is just that -- nonsense. No veteran under the rank of E-5 (buck sergeant) is the least bit surprised by the criminal neglect exposed at Walter Reed hospital. Soldiers have always been treated like dirt and any notion that this is any different is simply preposterous.
Nice picture of Ghoulardi D. A Cleveland Icon if there ever was one. The invocation of Dorothy Fuldheim is also a nice touch. she had a real face for radio that one.
Who was Dorothy Fuldheim?
Dorothy Fuldheim did news commentary for the some channel in Cleveland at the same time Ghoulardi was on. An uglier person never graced the airwaves and Ghoulardi poked fun at her mercilessly.
I Google imaged her and agree that she drew some very low cards for looks. In this part of the world we would refer to her as a 2 bagger.
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