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, they just don't pay out," Leo sings, speaking to the hopelessness that can make the Army seem pretty attractive. If Leo hates the way the government railroads poor folks into fighting its wars, he's smart and compassionate enough not to blame the rifle-toting folks just doing their best to get by.

Watch Ted Leo Perform 'Army Bound' in Paris