"I Hate The War"

It opens with 27 seconds of instrumental. Then the vocal kicks in:

It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes

Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh


"It" is The Ballet's "I Hate The War" which was written by Greg Goldberg. The 2006 track by the band (available for purchase on CD as well as free download at the group's website) is intoxicating. As Trina noted yesterday, "I normally start off with a recipe; however, that's the opening to The Ballet's 'I Hate The War.' Between my husband and Mike (my son), I have heard that song for about seven days straight. Rebecca burned copies from when it was played on WBAI's Out-FM two Mondays ago. The song is now permanently etched in my mind so, thankfully, it is a wonderful song. I told Ruth I'd include it in my post." The melody, the arrangement and the na-na-nas (fifty seconds into the song) will stick in your head.




I'm sick of the news, it's the same every day
But I can't turn it off
So I'm trying to choose every word that I say
But it's never enough and I'm lost
So I go


Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh


At a minute and fifty a seventeen second instrumental bridge brings to mind both both the arrangement of the Madonna recording "Papa Don't Preach" and Carly Simon and Jacob Brackman's instrumental break leading into the final verse of "Haven't Got Time For The Pain."


What I'm trying to say is
It's time to get in the way
It's crazy that thing is still going on
I can't believe this thing is still going on
And it goes



Prosody: "What I'm trying to say . . . is." Note the brief pause, note the stumble. Goldberg isn't writing (or singing) blindly. The vocal melody includes, as speech would, the stumble. You should also note the two-note figure that appears throughout in the opening as well as the first and third lines of the first and second verse (a variation of which appears after every line in the final verse).

Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war



This is a classic song. The melody is easy to sing, the arrangement shows a grasp of what the ear needs to make a song instantly memorable and it's fun to sing along with.



And what a song to find many singing along a march. "Na na na na na na na I hate the war . . ."



Oregone has posted a self-made video for the song and credits it to Gay Secret. For some reason, that name also shows up if you play the MP3 in Windows Media Player; however, the band is The Ballet. (If you play the MP3 in Winamp, it is properly credited to The Ballet.) Watch Oregone's video and see if you don't grasp how well it would work in a march and at rallies.



Last week, we noted the band and Kent e-mailed to complain about a quote from Goldberg that we reposted. He decried it as "filth" (which made us wonder if he'd ever read anything else that's been up at our site?) and said he was under the impression that we were "work safe." "We" aren't. The Common Ills is. Here, we will give a heads up to community members who check on work computers and could get in trouble for the language in certain pieces. That's for Common Ills community members and we're really not concerned about passer-bys.



For Kent, we'll again note that section of the interview conducted by Jeff Klingman for Merry Swankster:



JK: How do you feel about straight bands like Franz Ferdinand feigning gay in their lyrics, for some sort of a "hip" factor?

GG: It's totally wrong and unethical. Just kidding -- it's fine as long as they're willing to suck a little cock from time to time. Also, if you're fat and have a beard, then you're a cub/bear in my book, and that makes you fair game.



Why did that get quoted? We were hunting down everything we could find on The Ballet. That interview was one thing we found. We were suggesting passages from everything we found. When we'd all read that and began suggesting quotes it was "work-safe" C.I. who brought up that section noting, "Oh come on, the eye catching section, the one everyone's going to remember is that and it's funny. If Dylan had said it, people would put on t-shirts." Ty and Rebecca agreed (and Rebecca noted that if she still did public relations and The Ballet was her client, she'd grab that quote and put it on every press release). Excluding the song's lyrics, that excerpt was the sixth and final paragraph and obviously it does stand out or Kent wouldn't be e-mailing to complain about it.



To Kent we say, na na na na na na na, I hate the war.