Pick Up My Guitar and Play
After a single listen, I really like Richard Thompson’s new song about soldiering in Baghdad (mp3). Great instrumentation and a more sympathetic account of the US soldier’s perspective than you might expect.
One surprise is that Thompson’s statement ” ‘Dad” is common US soldier slang for “Baghdad.” The list is endless of things I don’t know, but in four years of obsession with the Iraq War I’d never read or heard that. Is it something anyone reading this has come across prior to the Thompson song?
Comment by Michael —
February 1, 2007 @ 7:44 pm
I’ll ask at the office tomorrow.
Comment by matthew hogan —
February 2, 2007 @ 4:46 am
I was afraid of that: ‘Nam. Will we have ‘Raq too?
Comment by Tom B. —
February 2, 2007 @ 10:04 am
“At least we’re winning on the Fox Evening News.”
Heh, indeed.
Comment by brucedene —
February 2, 2007 @ 4:59 pm
A dozen pages into a Google search and I can’t find any other reference like that. What are the popular singer/songwriter/soldiers’ forums? Look there, but don’t hold your breath.
Comment by Jim Henley —
February 2, 2007 @ 5:07 pm
Bruce! Or should I say, Brooooooce!
Yeah. Problem is that it’s damned hard to search for a three-letter term that is also a common English word that comes up in every third story about the strain on military families. FWIW, I lit on a couple of Iraq/military slang pages and - nothin’.
Richard Thompson wouldn’t lie about something like that because it makes for a better song, would he? Because I don’t think I could take it.
Comment by Tom B. —
February 2, 2007 @ 5:44 pm
Well, if it ISN’T soldier slang for Baghdad, it should be. And maybe now it will be.
Kickass song.
Comment by Nell —
February 3, 2007 @ 1:11 am
Not sure I’d expect any troops who use the term, if they do, to put in the apostrophe, but RT should…
That fiddle’s haunting and delightful at the same time.