Friday, December 24, 2004

Allah Akbar War

War
War
What the hell are we fighting for?
These people we fight don’t care
They don’t care who we are
They commit atrocities and
All the while chant “Allah Akbar”.
Allah Akbar, what are we fighting for?
Allah Akbar, what is this war?
Allah Akbar means “God is Great”
Well I know God too and I’m sure
He doesn’t condone this hate
So Allah Akbar – well Jesus Christ!
They’ve got guns, mortars, and rocket grenades!
And Allah Akbar? Well Jesus Christ!
They don’t care if I live or die, they’re full of hate!
And now you punish me for this war I fight
You punish me because you say I have no right
What the hell are these conventions?
Do you think they live by them too?
My buddies die left and right
In this hellhole milieu
And I’m supposed to be above this
Cuz I represent our country
Yet I’ve been sent back to this wasteland
On a second tour of duty
And I’ve seen what they do to others
I’ve seen what they do to us
But cuz I killed a man near a gun
I am being brought to justice?
What justice is this bullshit?
What crap do I have to pay?
For a man who wanted to take my life
But I took his instead that day.
This is a war
People will die
These so-called conventions
Is something we all decry.
Come take our place
And hold a gun in your hand
Sit on top of a hummer
While people shoot at your head
We’re given very little
But we’re expected to do a lot
We’re armoring our vehicles
In our make shift chop-shops
Scavenging for metal
Because our forces are on a budget
While our country gives more money
To other countries on this planet.
Allah Akbar, what are we fighting for?
Jesus Christ, why am I here?
These people kill in your name oh God
And this war is very unclear.
It’s nothing like we’ve fought before
These people are not organized
But we’re being punished left and right
While these people don’t even get chastised.
They don’t want their country healed
They want to tear it all to pieces
I say let them have at each other
And let us return back to our beaches
As long as they stay off our land
They won’t face us as a problem
If they attack us one more time
Then this war will be about freedom
Freedom from the tyranny of their attacks
Freedom from this guise of religion
Freedom and there will be no-holds barred
Because my life and my land they won’t ruin.
Allah Akbar is an unknown tongue
But I know a God who is great
And I am more than quite sure
He doesn’t condone their hate.


Originally I picked up my guitar and strummed three or four chords and something on my heart about this Middle East war came spewing out in poetlyre fashion... something like above. I took the gist of it - it was more detailed in the improv. Uncaptured. This is a tamer ("lamer") version. Poetlyre is a word I came up with in the 80s and it means to me the
ability to speak prose in the form of lyrics. I was into both back then. Still am. So...I'll say it's a "Poem", but it's both Poem & Song... But not a singable song... more like... poetlyre.

This is written from the point-of-view of a soldier.

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