15 Songs About Soldiers
This Monday is Memorial Day, a time to remember those brave men and women who have paid the ultimate price for the crazy freedoms so many of us take for granted.
Kenneth Partridge
Kenneth Partridge is Editor-in-Chief of Diffuser.fm, a website he joined in August 2012 after having served as weekend editor and staff writer at AOL Music and reviews editor of M Music & Musicians magazine. His work has appeared in such publications as USA Today, the Village Voice and the Hartford Courant, as well as online at MTV Hive and HowAboutWe, among other sites. He's helped to edit two encyclopedias -- one on Latin music, the other on reggae -- and penned biographies about Louis Armstrong and the opera singer Marian Anderson. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., with his beloved wife and slightly less beloved record collection.
Drive-By Truckers, ‘The Sands of Iwo Jima’ – Songs About Soldiers
The Drive-By Truckers universe is populated by plenty of shady characters, but here, we meet one of the good guys. George A. is a "family man," and in 1941, when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, he first seeks a deferment, since there's work to do on the farm
Dropkick Murphys, ‘Far Away Coast’ – Songs About Soldiers
Told from the perspective of a homesick soldier stuck "in the trenches, the fist of the beast," this acoustic folk ditty from Dropkick Murphys' 1998 debut carries neither a pro- nor antiwar message
Tom Waits, ‘Soldier’s Things’ – Songs About Soldiers
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, ‘Army Bound’ – Songs About Soldiers
There's a difference between antiwar and anti-soldier, and on this stomping Clash-meets-Thin Lizzy jam, left-leaning punk poet Ted Leo is nothing if not sympathetic to the men and women in uniform. The song isn't about war, but rather the economic factors that drive many to enlist in the military. "Some modest dreams, t
‘The Good Soldier,’ Nine Inch Nails – Songs About Soldiers
"How can this be real? / I can barely feel anymore," Trent Reznor sings on this 'Year Zero' cut, trying his best to capture the numbness known only to those who've actually seen active combat. NIN could have made this a much angrier song -- t
Sharks Discuss New ‘Selfhood’ Album, Morrissey’s Glam Period and a Possible U.S. Move
Early in his recent chat with Diffuser.fm, Sharks singer and guitarist James Mattock revealed that his band is plotting a trip to America -- and not just to tour. The U.K. foursome is thinking of relocating, and while their sound owes much to homegrown influences -- the Clash, most notably -- such a move would make sense. Sharks' biggest tours have been with American roots-punk heavies Social Distortion and the Gaslight Anthem, and they're arguably more popular here than they are at home. They're even signed to Oregon-based Rise Records, which recently released 'Selfhood,' their second full-length set of brisk pop-punk burners.
Doors Keyboardist Ray Manzarek Dead at 74
Ray Manzarek, founding keyboardist for the Doors, died earlier today (May 20) at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, according to a press release. The 74-year-old rock legend had been battling bile duct cancer, and he's said to have died with his wife, Dorothy, and two brothers by his side.
Secret Colours Discuss Stepping Out of the ‘New Psychedelic’ Bubble
Secret Colours have one of the least appropriate band names on the planet. The Chicago rockers have made absolutely no secret about what colors their sound, and really, why would they? They could lie and say they're not into '60s garage and psychedelia and '90s Britpop and shoegaze, but their 2010 self-titled debut outs them as unabashed fans of the Jesus and Mary Chain, Stone Roses and Brian Jonestown Massacre. So are lots of other bands, and following the release of that first album, the group got in good with the giants of their backward-looking, pedal-stomping scene. They've since shared stages with the likes of the Raveonettes and Warlocks and fuzzed it up at such festivals as Austin's Psych Fest.
Win an AWOLNATION T-Shirt and Injustice: Gods Among Us Video Game Soundtrack
Remember when you were a kid, and you'd spend hours pondering questions like, "Who would win in a fight: Batman or Superman?" Well, thanks to the new video game Injustice: Gods Among Us, you can finally find out. Better still, as you fulfill your childhood fantasies and pit characters from the D.C. Comics universe against one another in Mortal Kombat-style fighting, you can listen to some kickass tunes. That's because the game boasts its own soundtrack album, which includes 'THISKIDSNOTALRIGHT,' a brand-new song from L.A. electro-rockers AWOLNATION.