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Lay Down Your Arms...

AbookamongstthemanyAbookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
edited August 2006 in A Moving Train
Just a nice thought in these somber times. Feel free to add some nice thoughts/lyrics, as well....makes me feel more hopeful. :) Peace to everyone out there.

Soldier of Love

lay down your arms and surrender to me
oh lay down your arms and love me peacefully
use your arms for squeezing and pleasing the one that loves you so
oh there ain't no reason for you to declare war on the one who loves you so
so forget the other boys because my love is real
come off your battlefield
lay down your arms and surrender to me
yeah lay down your arms and love me peacefully
use your arms for squeezing and pleasing that's the way it's got to be
the welcomes you're using are hurting me bad
but someday you're going to retreat
cause my love baby is the truest you've ever had
a soldier of love that's hard to beat
lay down your arms and surrender to me
lay down your arms and love me peacefully, yeah...
use your arms to hold me tight...baby i don't wanna fight no more
use your arms to hold me tight...baby i don't wanna fight no more
oh baby, lay down your arms
oh baby, lay down your arms
oh baby, lay down your arms
oh baby, lay down your arms
please baby lay down your arms
If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Post edited by Unknown User on
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  • Options
    Eliot RosewaterEliot Rosewater Posts: 2,684
    ......cha cha cha.
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    MrBrianMrBrian Posts: 2,673
    ......cha cha cha.

    ha! That was funny.
  • Options
    MrBrian wrote:
    ha! That was funny.


    I don't get it...oh well :)
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • Options
    Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth

    There's something happening here
    What it is ain't exactly clear
    There's a man with a gun over there
    Telling me I got to beware
    I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
    Everybody look what's going down
    There's battle lines being drawn
    Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
    Young people speaking their minds
    Getting so much resistance from behind
    I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
    Everybody look what's going down
    What a field-day for the heat
    A thousand people in the street
    Singing songs and carrying signs
    Mostly say, hooray for our side
    It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
    Everybody look what's going down
    Paranoia strikes deep
    Into your life it will creep
    It starts when you're always afraid
    You step out of line, the man come and take you away
    We better stop, hey, what's that sound
    Everybody look what's going down
    Stop, hey, what's that sound
    Everybody look what's going down
    Stop, now, what's that sound
    Everybody look what's going down
    Stop, children, what's that sound
    Everybody look what's going down
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
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    MrBrianMrBrian Posts: 2,673
    I don't get it...oh well :)

    If you DL the pearl jam cover of the song you'll hear mr eddie vedder sing "cha cha cha" right at the end of it.
    so "don't gimme no" was just finishing it off for yea.

    cha cha cha.....!
  • Options
    El_KabongEl_Kabong Posts: 4,141
    Jimi Hendrix - 1983 ... (a Merman I Should Turn To Be)

    Hurrah i awake from yesterday
    alive but the war is here to stay
    so my love catherina and me
    decide to take our last walk
    through the noise to the sea
    not to die but to be re-born
    away from a life so battered and torn....
    forever...
    oh say can you see its really such a mess
    every inch of earth is a fighting nest
    giant pencil and lip-stick tube shaped things
    continue to rain and cause screaming pain
    and the arctic stains
    from silver blue to bloody red
    as our feet find the sand
    and the sea is strait ahead..
    strait ahead.....
    well its too bad
    that our friends
    cant be with us today
    well thats too bad
    "the machine
    that we built
    would never save us"
    thats what they say
    (thats why they aint coming with us today)
    and they also said
    "its impossible for man
    to live and breath underwater..
    forever" was their main complaint
    (yeah)
    and they also threw this in my face:
    they said
    anyway
    you know good well
    it would be beyond the will of God
    and the grace of the King
    (grace of the King yeah yeah)

    so my darling and I
    make love in the sand
    to salute the last moment
    ever on dry land
    our machine has done its work
    played its part well
    without a scratch on our bodies
    and we bid it farewell

    starfish and giant foams
    greet us with a smile
    before our heads go under
    we take a last look
    at the killing noise
    of the out of style...
    the out of style, out of style
    standin above the crowd
    he had a voice that was strong and loud and
    i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
    eager to identify with
    someone above the crowd
    someone who seemed to feel the same
    someone prepared to lead the way
  • Options
    MrBrianMrBrian Posts: 2,673
    Oh, they've killed all the Little Ones
    While their faces still smiled
    With their guns and their fury
    They erased their young lives
    No longer to laugh
    No longer to be a child
    Oh, they've killed all the Little Ones
    While their faces still smiled

    Now they're burying the Little Ones
    And making their graves deep
    So the world cannot see
    That tonight we may sleep
    While they wash away the blood
    The mothers all weep
    Oh, they're burying the Little Ones
    And making their graves deep


    Yet where will the devils go
    When that day comes?
    When the angels drag them out
    To face The Little Ones


    Oh they killed all the Little Ones
    With their eyes open wide
    There was nothing to help them
    On the day that they died


    No bed to run under
    No cupboard to hide
    Oh they've killed all the Little Ones
    With their eyes open wide


    They'll be raising The Little Ones
    With no sin to atone
    In the light of high Heaven
    They will sit on tall thrones
    Where playtime lasts forever
    And God's Mercy never ends
    They'll be raising the Little Ones
    And they'll all be best friends
    They'll be raising the Little Ones
    And they'll all be best friends
  • Options
    MrBrian wrote:
    If you DL the pearl jam cover of the song you'll hear mr eddie vedder sing "cha cha cha" right at the end of it.
    so "don't gimme no" was just finishing it off for yea.

    cha cha cha.....!

    Ahhhhh. :D

    Well, that makes perfect sense now. hehe

    cool beans :)
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • Options
    69charger69charger Posts: 1,045
    Metallica - Seek and Destroy

    All right
    We are scanning the scene
    In the city tonite
    We are looking for you
    To start up a fight
    There is an evil feeling
    In our brains
    But it is nothing new
    You know it drives us insane

    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy

    There is no escape
    And that is for sure
    This is the end we won't take any more
    Say goodbye
    To the world you live in
    You have always been taking
    But now you are giving

    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy

    Our brains are on fire
    With the feeling to kill
    And it will not go away
    Until our dreams are fulfilled
    There is only one thing
    On our minds
    Don't try running away
    Cause you're the one we will find

    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy

    ;)
  • Options
    69charger wrote:
    Metallica - Seek and Destroy

    All right
    We are scanning the scene
    In the city tonite
    We are looking for you
    To start up a fight
    There is an evil feeling
    In our brains
    But it is nothing new
    You know it drives us insane

    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy

    There is no escape
    And that is for sure
    This is the end we won't take any more
    Say goodbye
    To the world you live in
    You have always been taking
    But now you are giving

    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy

    Our brains are on fire
    With the feeling to kill
    And it will not go away
    Until our dreams are fulfilled
    There is only one thing
    On our minds
    Don't try running away
    Cause you're the one we will find

    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy

    ;)

    Whatever floats your boat, dude. Being pro death and killing seems pretty sick and sad to me, though. To each his own.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • Options
    depopulationINCdepopulationINC Posts: 2,074
    Whatever floats your boat, dude. Being pro death and killing seems pretty sick and sad to me, though. To each his own.

    yes, but sometimes you have no alternative but to fight
    The only thing I enjoy is having no feelings....being numb rocks!

    And I won't make the same mistakes
    (Because I know)
    Because I know how much time that wastes
    (And function)
    Function is the key
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    yes, but sometimes you have no alternative but to fight

    there is living in peace and acceptance or there is never ending conflict where each will always think of themselves as right and the other as wrong. There has to be somewhere, sometime to come together and work these things out civilly or there is no hope for us all, imo.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • Options
    depopulationINCdepopulationINC Posts: 2,074
    there is living in peace and acceptance or there is never ending conflict where each will always think of themselves as right and the other as wrong. There has to be somewhere, sometime to come together and work these things out civilly or there is no hope for us all, imo.

    who ever said there had to be hope?

    these battles have been here as long as man....they are not going anywhere.
    The only thing I enjoy is having no feelings....being numb rocks!

    And I won't make the same mistakes
    (Because I know)
    Because I know how much time that wastes
    (And function)
    Function is the key
  • Options
    who ever said there had to be hope?

    these battles have been here as long as man....they are not going anywhere.

    Hope is better than accepting our doom, to me at least. I don't care how long battles have been fought, wrong is wrong. I will never agree with them and support murder. I know not everyone will agree with this but it's how I feel.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • Options
    69charger69charger Posts: 1,045
    To each his own.

    Or her own ;)
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    Infinity_NowInfinity_Now Posts: 188
    I (heart) Buffalo Springfield!
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    Infinity_NowInfinity_Now Posts: 188
    NOFX
    The Decline

    Where are all the stupid people from?
    And how'd they get to be so dumb?
    Bred on purple mountain range
    Feed amber waves of grains
    To lesser human beings, zero feelings

    Blame it on
    Human nature, mans destiny (mans destiny)
    Blame it on the greediocracy (greediocracy)
    Fear of God
    The fear of change
    The fear of truth

    Add the Bill of Rights, subtract the wrongs
    There's no answers
    Memorize and sing star spangled songs
    When the questions
    Aren't ever asked
    Is anybody learning from the past?
    We're living in united stagnation

    Father what have I done?
    I took that 22
    A gift to me from you
    To bed with me each night
    Kept it clean
    Polished it well
    Cherished every cartridge, every shell

    Down, by the creek, under brush, under dirt
    There's a carcass of my second kill
    Down, by the park, under stone, under pine
    There's a carcass of my brother William
    Brother where, have you gone to?
    I swear, I never thought I could
    I see so many times
    They told me to shoot straight
    Don't pull the trigger, squeeze
    That will insure a kill
    A kill is what you want
    A kill is why we breed

    The Christians love their guns
    The church and NRA
    Pray for their salvations
    Prey on the lower faiths

    The story book's been read
    And every line believed
    Curriculum's been set
    Logic is a threat
    Reason searched and seized

    Jerry spent some time in Michigan
    A twenty year vacation, after all he had a dime
    A dime is worth a lot more in Detroit
    A dime in California, a twenty dollar fine

    Jerry only stayed a couple months
    It's hard to enjoy yourself while bleeding out the ass
    Asphyxiation is simple and fast
    It beats seventeen fun years of being someones bitch

    Don't think (Stay)
    Drink your wine (Home)
    Watch the fire burn (Be)
    His problems not mine (Safe)
    Just be that model citizen

    I wish I had a schilling
    (For each senseless killing)
    For every senseless killing
    I'd buy a government
    America's for sale
    And you can get a good deal on it
    (A good deal on it)
    And make a healthy profit
    Or maybe, tear it apart
    Start with assumption
    That a million people are smart
    Smarter than one

    Serotonin's gone
    She gave up, drifted away
    Sara fled, thought process gone
    She left her answering machine on
    The greeting left spoken sincere
    Messages no one will ever hear

    Ten thousand messages a day
    A million more transmissions lay
    Victims of the laissez faire
    Ten thousand voices, a hundred guns
    A hundred decibels turns to one
    One bullet, one empty head
    Now with Serotonin gone

    The man who used to speak
    Performs a cute routine
    Feel a little patronized
    Don't feel bad
    They found a way inside your head
    And you feel a bit misled
    It's not that they don't care, yeah

    The television's put a thought inside your head
    Llike a Barry Manilow, jingle
    I'd like, to teach the world to sing
    In perfect harmony
    A symphonic blank stare, yeah
    It doesn't make you care (make you care)
    Not designed to make you care (make you care)
    They're betting you won't care (you won't...)

    Place a wager on your greed
    A wager on your pride
    Why try to beat them when, a million others tried?

    We are the whore
    Intellectually spayed
    We are the queer
    Dysfunctionally raised

    One more pill to kill the pain
    One more pill to kill the pain
    One more pill to kill the pain
    Living through conformity

    One more prayer to keep me safe
    One more prayer to keep us warm
    One more prayer to keep us safe
    There's gonna be a better place

    Lost the battle, lost the war
    Lost the things worth living for
    Lost the will to win the fight
    One more pill to kill the pain

    Na na na na na
    La na na na na
    Na na na na na
    Na na na na na

    The going get tough, the tough get debt
    Don't pay attention, pay the rent
    Next of kins pay for your sins
    A little faith should keep us safe

    Save us
    The human, existence
    Is failing, resistance
    Essential, the future
    Written off, the odds are
    Astronomically against us
    Only moron and genius
    Would fight a losing battle
    Against the super ego
    When giving in is so damn comforting

    And so we go, on with our lives
    We know the truth, but prefer lies
    Lies are simple, simple is bliss
    Why go against tradition when we can
    Admit defeat, live in decline
    Be the victim of our own design
    The status quo, built on suspect
    Why would anyone stick out their neck?

    Fellow members
    Club "We've Got Ours"
    I'd like to introduce you to our host
    He's got his, and I've got mine
    Meet the decline

    We are the queer
    We are the whore
    Ammunition
    In the class war
    We are worker
    We love our queen
    We sacrifice
    We're soilent green

    We are the queer
    We are the whore
    Ammunition
    In the class war

    ^It's THE best political song ever written. 18min long, poetic, furious, well varied and unabridged... It defies the "genre" gender of it's punk rock roots, it isn't even punk rock - once you've heard it you just might call yourself an "independent," and like it.
  • Options
    rightonduderightondude Posts: 745
    El_Kabong wrote:
    Jimi Hendrix - 1983 ... (a Merman I Should Turn To Be)

    Hurrah i awake from yesterday
    alive but the war is here to stay
    so my love catherina and me
    decide to take our last walk
    through the noise to the sea
    not to die but to be re-born
    away from a life so battered and torn....
    forever...

    I was jamming yesterday to some Purple Haze, Little Wing, Wind Cries Mary. I turn them essentially into nonstop drum solo fills as often as possible but as not to overwhelm the groove or feel. That generic Hendrix tempo allows for a nice wide expression of rolling fills and time warping ;)
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    Eliot RosewaterEliot Rosewater Posts: 2,684
    yes, but sometimes you have no alternative but to fight
    fuck that. if that's your attitude then fine, but post elsewhere.
  • Options
    Eliot RosewaterEliot Rosewater Posts: 2,684
    69charger wrote:
    Metallica - Seek and Destroy

    All right
    We are scanning the scene
    In the city tonite
    We are looking for you
    To start up a fight
    There is an evil feeling
    In our brains
    But it is nothing new
    You know it drives us insane

    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy

    There is no escape
    And that is for sure
    This is the end we won't take any more
    Say goodbye
    To the world you live in
    You have always been taking
    But now you are giving

    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy

    Our brains are on fire
    With the feeling to kill
    And it will not go away
    Until our dreams are fulfilled
    There is only one thing
    On our minds
    Don't try running away
    Cause you're the one we will find

    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Running,
    On our way
    Hiding,
    You will pay
    Dying,
    One thousand deaths
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy
    Searching,
    Seek and Destroy

    ;)
    debbie fucking downer. this thread is about peace. start a thread about war and killing if that's what your hell-bent on.
  • Options
    Infinity_NowInfinity_Now Posts: 188
    debbie fucking downer. this thread is about peace. start a thread about war and killing if that's what your hell-bent on.

    I do believe, you have to realize a lot of Metal bands usualy write songs based entirely in the narrative form we call, "irony."

    So, when they say, "seek and destroy," - what they mean is, "...it's a shame so many people actually run around the world killing each other like homicidal maniacs and then come home calling themselves honorable soldiers and demanding respect for their evil and heinous deeds."

    Except, "Seek and Destroy," is MUCH MORE METAL.

    Metal bands tend to have a good sense of the world around them, well - they used to anyway, "flashback to Iron Maiden," even through the endless seas of beer cans and mullets I think Metal music can be quite socially prolific when focused on politics and such...

    Just remember:

    Irony

    Iron Maiden

    ...METAL!
  • Options
    Eliot RosewaterEliot Rosewater Posts: 2,684
    I do believe, you have to realize a lot of Metal bands usualy write songs based entirely in the narrative form we call, "irony."

    So, when they say, "seek and destroy," - what they mean is, "...it's a shame so many people actually run around the world killing each other like homicidal maniacs and then come home calling themselves honorable soldiers and demanding respect for their evil and heinous deeds."

    Except, "Seek and Destroy," is MUCH MORE METAL.

    Metal bands tend to have a good sense of the world around them, well - they used to anyway, "flashback to Iron Maiden," even through the endless seas of beer cans and mullets I think Metal music can be quite socially prolific when focused on politics and such...

    Just remember:

    Irony

    Iron Maiden

    ...METAL!
    But I'm thinking 69Charger is a pro-war neo-con....and irony may or may not have applied to her post. She's a debbie downer, trust me.
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    dayandayan Posts: 475
    fuck that. if that's your attitude then fine, but post elsewhere.

    whoa...now there is a fascist comment if ever I've heard one. "it's ok for you to have your opinion, just not here." Free speech anyone? Open exchange of ideas? You know, the basic values of Western civilization?
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    PaperPlatesPaperPlates Posts: 1,745
    fuck that. if that's your attitude then fine, but post elsewhere.

    cha cha cha
    Why go home

    www.myspace.com/jensvad
  • Options
    PaperPlatesPaperPlates Posts: 1,745
    dayan wrote:
    whoa...now there is a fascist comment if ever I've heard one. "it's ok for you to have your opinion, just not here." Free speech anyone? Open exchange of ideas? You know, the basic values of Western civilization?

    only when it protects their opinions, cha cha cha
    Why go home

    www.myspace.com/jensvad
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    PaperPlatesPaperPlates Posts: 1,745
    http://www.reason.com/links/links051303.shtml

    Earlier this month, an Arabic dance track called "Longing Brought You to Me" hit Number 1 for the sixth consecutive week on one of the region's leading music countdowns, the Beirut-based Top 20. The song is a slickly produced disco throwback, a kind of track that often does well in the region's music market. What makes its continued success noteworthy, however, is that the woman who performs it, a Kuwaiti singer named Nawal, had recently taken an interesting political risk.

    Even as nearly every other popular Arab singer was still bewailing U.S. "aggression"—the inevitable term—against the Iraqi people, Nawal had publicly congratulated Iraqis on getting rid of Saddam Hussein and his murderous regime. She was able to break with the Pan-Arabist line on the war —that the whole Arab world had been under attack by Western imperialism— which had totally subsumed the region's pop culture, while not paying any price in popularity.

    Does that have any meaning? Thanks to the manner in which the Iraq war ended, the Pan-Arabist paradigm is in apparent disarray at the top of the cultural ladder among journalists, essayists, and political reformers who are offering alternative narratives. If the same thing is true at the cultural bottom as well, it might actually matter more.

    According to a Kuwaiti newspaper, "Nawal said that when she watched the joy in the eyes of the Iraqis after they broke free of Saddam Hussein's regime, she realized how much in need they were of freedom and a chance to live in a democratic country." She wished Iraqis the chance to live in peace, and hoped their new beginning is one that will prove to be prosperous and happy.

    The pop context in which Nawal sent her congratulatory message to Iraqis is worth pausing over. When the war began in March, it brought much Middle Eastern entertainment activity to a standstill. Those singers who were touring, such as the Lebanese star Nawal Zoughby—who was actually in the middle of a North American tour—quickly cancelled their concerts. Others, like the leading star Najwa Karam, announced that they could not conceive of performing in public while their Iraqi brothers and sisters were under attack, and cancelled all appearances of any kind anywhere. Some performers, like the Egyptian Ehab Tawfiq, announced that under the terrible circumstances they would be unable to do any work on their scheduled future albums, and even ceased recording. At least one singer announced that she would spend the war in isolation in her home documenting American atrocities against Iraqi women and children.

    In brief, many performers decided that it would be the better part of professional valor to make a public point of their sympathy with Iraq and then to disappear for the duration. Of those songs that were released during the war, quite a few seem to have been about the war, and were harsh in their criticism of the U.S. and its allies. Such wartime releases demanded to know by what right the U.S. was making war in the region, portrayed Americans as the murderers of Iraqi children, and asked if there was no limit to the American appetite for global aggression.

    One such singer, Shaaban Abdel-Rahim, received serious attention in the American press; his anti-U.S. song, "The Attack on Iraq," was featured in The Washington Post as a marker of Arab outrage at America, and Abdel-Rahim himself was placed in a tradition of cultural activism stretching back to the revered Nasserist, Umm Kalthoum. He went to record such war songs as "I'm Going to Take Out My Gun," in which he portrayed himself as a warrior-protector of Iraq.

    That's the context in which Nawal addressed the Iraqis not as victims of bloodthirsty American aggression, but as beneficiaries of a war that eliminated the Ba'thist regime. Of course, the fact that Nawal is a Kuwaiti national is a factor in her action, but not a deciding one. As the victims of Saddam's brutal 1990 invasion, many Kuwaitis were strongly behind the recent war, and the nation's press and cultural establishments intentionally removed themselves from the Pan-Arabist discourse so critical of the U.S. In the end, however, Nawal is not a Kuwaiti star; she's an Arab star with a career dependent on continued acceptance by audiences, the celebrity press, and even her fellow performers throughout the Arab world.

    Of course, given that the war ended in scenes of Iraqi jubilation, very few of the Arab world's previously outspoken cultural figures hazarded much of any postwar comment at all. Performers who had abided strictly by the Pan-Arabist line, and who had expressed a literally immobilizing personal grief at the war, quietly resumed their careers. To her considerable credit, the Moroccan singer Samira Sayeed (who had also interrupted her career) did suggest publicly in mid-April that certain singers could now shelve their anti-American music and do something useful, such as "sign up with medical aid groups and give support where it is really needed." In general, however, while the spectacle of the wartime Arab culture industry was a testament to the power of the Pan-Arabist idea, the behavior of the postwar culture industry suggests Pan-Arabism's shortcomings.

    Nawal's situation is all the more noteworthy because of the long history of public "punishment" for those Arab cultural figures perceived as having transgressed the Pan-Arabist political line. The Egyptian playwright Ali Salem became a shunned figure after writing a book arguing that Israel should be judged as a normal nation; the work of Tunisian film director Khaled Ghorbal was thrown out of regional film festivals last year after he expressed the hope for a region-wide "normalization" of Arab-Israeli relations; the singer Shireen Ahmad was harshly attacked as a "fake" by a rival singer when Ahmad allowed for the existence of "kind" Israelis. All of these examples involve Israel, but for many in the Arab world, so did the U.S. war against Saddam Hussein. (According to the usual street conspiracists, U.S. actions were part of a long-term imperialist/Zionist plot aimed at Israel's enemies.)

    The most spectacular recent case of public punishment involves Iraq's own biggest singing star, Kazem Al-Saher, whose career has tottered on the verge of ruin for several months. Al-Saher was touring the U.S. during the weeks prior to the war, and was widely criticized in the Middle East for traitorous behavior. In fact, Al-Saher had been planning a long-shot effort to break the Western market, and even recorded an English-language duet with Lenny Kravitz under the auspices of Rock the Vote. Under heavy criticism for being in the U.S., however, he returned to the Middle East (in fact, he'd been living in Europe for years), claimed he'd been teaching Americans the truth about Iraq, and that he'd angrily refused to sing any song that didn't express his loyalty and devotion to his native land. During the war, Al-Saher recorded songs about suffering Iraqi children, and led tearful anti-war demonstrations through the streets of Cairo.

    When Iraqis celebrated the war's results, however, Al-Saher was stuck. Apparently deciding he couldn't switch directions yet again in such a short time, and under heavy pressure to react to the war's end, he threw in with the Pan-Arabist line. Among other things, he distanced himself from the anti-Ba'thist opposition, reportedly refused to sing any songs expressing a positive side to the fall of Saddam, and even suggested, in a now-disputed letter to a Jordanian newspaper, that the only possible response to the occupying Americans was "throwing an old shoe in their faces."
    Why go home

    www.myspace.com/jensvad
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    Eliot RosewaterEliot Rosewater Posts: 2,684
    dayan wrote:
    whoa...now there is a fascist comment if ever I've heard one. "it's ok for you to have your opinion, just not here." Free speech anyone? Open exchange of ideas? You know, the basic values of Western civilization?
    well obviously you can post whatever you want wherever you'd like, but why the fuck would you try to bring people down when we're having our own little peace pipe dream on this one little thread? Every other goddamn thread on this board is filled with hate and killing etc. so it seems more appropriate to post the bullshit comments there, yeah? cha cha cha
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    I don't get it...oh well :)
    something they've added the few times they've played it live... well.. the crowd added it :)
    Come on pilgrim you know he loves you..

    http://www.wishlistfoundation.org

    Oh my, they dropped the leash.



    Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!

    "Make our day"
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    69charger69charger Posts: 1,045
    I do believe, you have to realize a lot of Metal bands usualy write songs based entirely in the narrative form we call, "irony."

    So, when they say, "seek and destroy," - what they mean is, "...it's a shame so many people actually run around the world killing each other like homicidal maniacs and then come home calling themselves honorable soldiers and demanding respect for their evil and heinous deeds."

    Spin Spin Spin...

    Yeah, so when Metal bands write songs about getting laid getting drunk and getting stoned they are basically just putting out PSA's for how bad that all is? They never partake and enjoy that lifestyle?
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    69charger69charger Posts: 1,045
    But I'm thinking 69Charger is a pro-war neo-con....and irony may or may not have applied to her post. She's a debbie downer, trust me.

    I'm not a woman. :D
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