Grumble. I've never been a fan of "Support The Troops" holidays, at least not since I made O-2. I'm a big fan of putting your money where your mouth is, so when I hear people say "I support the troops" I at least expect a cursory understanding of how underfunded the VA is, or maybe that wars are just really really expensive. So maybe it's the increasing amounts of Mastodon I've been listening to, or maybe I saw this GWAR video at exactly the wrong / right time, but I felt like making a song instead of just grumbling and bitching, seemed slightly more productive.
So, in observance of Veterans Day, I conceived of, recorded, and uploaded a cover of People Who Died, personalized with nowhere near all the guys I know who were snuffed out a little too soon. Lyrics below the fold, if I'm super unintelligible. If I'm not around in the comments, I'm probably keeping my almost-three-year-old from pooping back and forth forever, so stick around and I promise I'll come back.
Warning: I am not a professional musician. I don't know how to sing into a microphone, and make no guarantees about sound quality.
People Who Died
by Jim Carroll
Adapted by CendoJr
K-Mac and Pat were on the passenger side
Ran into a semi, ended their ride
At the memorial we gave them their wings
Then helped their parents pack up their things
The boss wanted us to fly the day of the funeral
We lost Stevie Ray at home in the night
His jet fell left when he pulled the stick right
Andy did a loop then his engine quit
His wife was nursing, didn’t see him hit
The new daughter was only 12 days old
Those were people who died
Those were people who died
Those were people who died
Those were people who died
Those were my friends, and they died
Kevin and Rich taught how to lead the brave
Anbar province became their graves
Mike volunteered to replace the fallen
Just a month later he came back in a coffin
At least they brought back what bits they could find
Jonesy spoke radar with a beep and a squeak
Hit a MiG-28 going beak to beak
Aaron lost a cowling that wasn’t secure
It hit the tail rotor the rest is a blur
My church still burns a candle for him
Chorus
Loosh flew helos but saw the light
As a warrior and teacher his light burned bright
Cancer turned him into an early ghost
But even through chemo he was a servant host
His running shirt said “if you can read this you’re failing”
Turned out Psycho lived up to his name
Sent a shotgun blast right through his brain
He was my mentor, teacher, and friend
Left me a hole that never seems to mend
Goddammit, you left us way too soon.
Chorus