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Utopian Turtletop. Monsieur Croche's Bête Noire. Contact: turtletop [at] hotmail [dot] com

Wednesday, February 21, 2007



I heard it on country radio Tuesday. I Googled it that night but turned up nothing -- it’s that new. Don’t remember the singer.

The words were something like this, more or less.

He was a high school star quarterback, the pride of the county high school.
He could have gone to any college he wanted.


The music had a foreboding quality, so I knew this wasn’t merely a feel-good sports song.

But after high school he enlisted.
And went overseas to fight a war in the desert.
And after a year there he came back.
Thank God and three cheers for the heroes.

“Touchdown in a small town.”


The tagline, the chorus, the one in quotes, is the only line I remember verbatim, a nice line, football and returning plane -- and the music swells with patriotic power.

The song works because its war has no reason -- which is the truth. The heroism is empty of content -- it’s pure patriotism, with patriotism defined as obedience no matter what and no matter why, with the generic cliche that virtue lives most robustly in rural areas. I cannot imagine country radio lining up in the same way behind a lying, corrupt, incompetent, crony-capitalist Democratic President who had launched a disastrous war for no reason connected with humane hopes or the national interest, for no discernable or articulate-able reason at all. People would still
“Support the troops,” but no Democratic President would remain politically viable in such circumstances -- as well he or she shouldn’t. Bush’s political viability is diminishing fast, but the Party Loyalty gene is far more likely to be dominant in Republicans than Democrats, and when songs like these turn up, Republican -- I mean country -- radio will play them. (Not that all country listeners or performers are Republican, but the genre as a whole is very.)



(Goya: Disasters of War: Is This What You Were Born For?)


Comments:
I KNOW! i love that song too! i googled it.. the song is called "touchdown" i know that for sure, i think its sang by Jason Brown. keep looking, i will too!
 
http://www.myspace.com/jasonbrowncountry

that's the website to the guys myspace...He's a local band out of des moines and his music is only played in iowa and nebraska...and his cds can only be purchased in des moines...Hopefully he'll make it big so I can get one of his cds without driving to des moines :) Anyway, he has the song on his myspace.
 
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