The military is a complicated thing. Certainly, citizens of this country can thank the armed forces for helping to keep the nation safe. The folks who sign up to serve in the military often display heroic characteristics and many have done heroic things. But life in the military, by definition, can be dangerous and damaging, both physically and mentally.
Videos by American Songwriter
Here below, we wanted to examine three classic rock songs by timeless artists that delve into what it means to be in the military. A trio of tunes that understand the complicated nature of the armed forces and both highlight and question certain outcomes. Indeed, these are three classic rock songs that deal with life in the military.
[RELATED: 3 Eternal Songs About the Vietnam War That Have Stood the Test of Time]
“Rooster” by Alice in Chains from Dirt (1992)
One of the big grunge groups also released one of the most important rock songs about the life of a solider. “Rooster,” which was written by the band’s Jerry Cantrell, is about Cantrell’s father, a Vietnam War veteran who was nicknamed “Rooster” for his cocky attitude in his youth. But the song itself is about the ill-effects of war and how they helped to drive Cantrell’s family apart. Said Cantrell in the liner notes of 1999’s Music Bank box-set collection, “It was the start of the healing process between my Dad and I from all that damage that Vietnam caused.” Sings Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley on the track,
Ain’t found a way to kill me yet
Eyes burn with stinging sweat
Seems every path leads me to nowhere, hmm
Wife and kids and household pets
Army green was no safe bet
The bullets scream to me from somewhere, hmm
Here they come to snuff the rooster, ahh yeah
Yeah, here come the rooster, yeah
You know he ain’t gonna die
No, no, no, you know he ain’t gonna die
“Civil War” by Guns N’ Roses from Use Your Illusion II (1991)
This is a song by the Los Angeles-born rockers Guns N’ Roses about the damaging nature of war itself. Famously, the band’s lead singer Axl Rose says on the track, What’s so civil about war, anyway? The lyrics deal with the repetition of the cycle of war and how it seems to only harm everyday working people while seemingly benefitting the rich and powerful, whose families rarely put their own members’ lives on the line. Indeed, to that end, Rose opens the song singing,
Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they’ve always done before
Look at the hate we’re breeding
Look at the fear we’re feeding
Look at the lives we’re leading
The way we’ve always done before
“The Good Soldier” by Nine Inch Nails from Year Zero (2007)
This song is about the very real reality of war. Not the philosophical arguments for or against, but the tangibility of it—bodies lying fetid in the streets, blood drying on the sand in clumps. And how those things can make a human being go numb and then depressed. Singing over catchy electronic music, Nine Inch Nails lead singer Trent Reznor sings with his signature whisper-piercing voice about those very things, offering,
Gun fire in the street
Where we used to meet
Echoes out a beat and the bass goes
Bomb right over my head
Step over the dead
Remember what you said you know, the part about
Life is just a waking dream
Well, I know what you mean
But that ain’t how it seems right here and now
How can this be real
I can barely feel
Anymore
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