Many rock and metal acts have shown their support for the members of the military over the years, and some have gone so far as to write songs about those who serve their country. Whether the songs are personal accounts of military family or friends of the musicians or a general tale of a soldier’s struggle in battle, these tracks have left a lasting impression on music fans.
Loudwire joins with our partner sites Ultimate Classic Rock and Diffuser.fm in saluting the military personnel who have risked or given their lives in battle by shining the spotlight on some of the great tracks penned with soldiers in mind. So, stand at attention and click on the button below to begin your journey through 15 Great Songs About Soldiers:
ALICE IN CHAINS, ‘ROOSTER’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
Alice in Chains guitarist/co-vocalist Jerry Cantrellneeded to look no further than his own father for inspiration for the band’s hit song ‘Rooster.’ The title came from the nickname given to his father while he was serving in the Vietnam War.
Cantrell stated in the ‘Music Box’ liner notes that doing the song brought he and his father closer together. He recalled, “The first time I ever heard him talk about [Vietnam] was when we made the video and he did a 45-minute interview with [director] Mark Pellington and I was amazed he did it … It even brought him to the point of tears. It was beautiful. He said it was a weird experience, a sad experience and he hoped that nobody else had to go through it.”
METALLICA, ‘ONE’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
It doesn’t take long for anyone to identify Metallica‘s ‘One’ as a song of war. The opening sounds of helicopters and artillery drive home the point quickly and the machine gun-like guitar and drum parts also sell the story.
For inspiration, the band pulled from the 1939 novel ‘Johnny Got His Gun,’ which tells the story of a soldier hit by an artillery shell who loses his limbs and ability to communicate while his mind inside functions perfectly. For the video, the band included scenes and dialogue from the 1971 adaptation of the novel.
IRON MAIDEN, ‘THE TROOPER’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
Iron Maiden dug a little deeper in history for their soldier song, ‘The Trooper,’ using the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava in 1854 as their inspiration for the track. Bassist Steve Harrispenned the lyrics, inspired not only by the history of the war but also the Lord Tennyson poem of the same name.
In the video for the track, the band took the association one step further by featuring film clips from the 1936 film ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade,’ which starred Errol Flynn. In keeping with the military theme, frontman Bruce Dickinson can often be seen waving a Union Flag during live performances of the song.
DROWNING POOL, ‘SOLDIERS’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
Drowning Pool had developed quite a military following over the years and after a trip in which they toured through bases in Iraq, Kuwait and South Korea, they decided to write the song ‘Soldiers’ for those fighting for the United States.
Since its release, the song has become an anthem for soldiers and the video for the track finds the band performing for the troops with them singing along to the song. In addition, the band used proceeds from the song’s sales to raise money and awareness for servicemen and women to undergo mandatory mental health screenings when they return from combat.
DISTURBED, ‘INDESTRUCTIBLE’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
Disturbed‘s powerful and anthemic sounds had become a favorite amongst military personnel over the years and in 2008 the band decided to pen a track that paid tribute to members of the military with the anthemic ‘Indestructible,’ the title track from Disturbed’s album of the same name.
Frontman David Draiman stated in a Rolling Stone interview, “[It's] an anthem for soldiers. It’s meant to be something that would make them feel invincible, take way their fear and make them strong.” The song’s video shows a progression of war through the ages, with warriors from all eras donning weaponry and charging into battle.
THE DOORS, ‘UNKNOWN SOLDIER’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
The Doors voiced their not-so-veiled opposition to the Vietnam War with ‘Unknown Soldier,’ the first single from 1968′s ‘Waiting for the Sun.’
It’s a trademark Doors track marked by Ray Manzarek‘s signature organ riffing, topped off with an ironic Jim Morrison musing on how children were watching the war at home on TV as their fathers were getting killed: “Breakfast where the news is read / Television children fed / Unborn living, living, dead / Bullet strikes the helmet’s head / And it’s all over for the unknown soldier.”
Morrison directed a promotional clip that featured him getting killed, which the band then re-staged live at their concerts for the song’s finale.
Watch the ‘Unknown Soldier’ Promotional Clip by the Doors
METALLICA, ‘FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
Few modern rock songs have portrayed the brutal realities soldiers experience in war as effectively asMetallica‘s ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls,’ from the thrash metal bible ‘Ride the Lightning.’
The song was inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s novel of the same name, which portrayed the human cost underlying the Spanish Civil War and the dark undercurrent of all armed conflict.
Metallica’s take on the subject is as brutal lyrically as well as musically, portraying the soldiers as men caught up in something bigger than they can comprehend or control: “On they fight, for they’re right / Yes, but who’s to say / For a hill men would kill / Why, they do not know.”
Listen to ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ by Metallica
CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL, ‘FORTUNATE SON’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
Creedence Clearwtaer Revival‘s ‘Fortunate Son’ was inspired by the marriage between Julie Nixon and David Eisenhower.
The song draws a bleak contrast between a wealthy class whose connections shield them from the consequences of war and a working class soldier who has no choice but to go off and fight because “I ain’t no Senator’s son.” Instead, he ends up serving at the pleasure of those who seek to profit: “Some folks inherit star spangled eyes / Ooh, they send you down to war / And when you ask them ‘How much should we give?’ / Ooh, they only answer more, more, more, more.”
Listen to ‘Fortunate Son’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival
GUNS N’ ROSES, ‘CIVIL WAR’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
Guns N’ Roses asked the musical question, “What’s so civil about war, anyway?” with this landmark track, which showed the group moving in a more mature direction thematically.
The song references the assassinations of both Martin Luther King and JFK, making a historical parallel between all wars, all down throughout human history.
The lyrics lament the soldiers whose lives have been expended in the pursuit of financial, religious and political agendas, saying of war, “It feeds the rich while it buries the poor / Your power hungry selling soldiers in a human grocery store.”
Listen to ‘Civil War’ by Guns N’ Roses
SAMMY HAGAR, ‘REMEMBER THE HEROES’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
Sammy Hagar showed his more serious side with ‘Remember the Heroes,’ from his classic ‘Three Lock Box’ album. The patriotic rocker gave a poignant reminder that no matter what your position on war itself, it’s important to acknowledge the sacrifices made by our soldiers.
The powerful track was co-written by Journeykeyboardist Jonathain Cain, and featured vocals byLoverboy singer Mike Reno. The lyrics portray a wounded veteran returning home, and struggling to re-assimilate in a society that doesn’t understand or seem to care what he’s been through. “Stranger in a foreign land / Fearful cries surround him / Returning home a wounded man / To find he’s been forgotten.”
Listen to ‘Remember the Heroes’ by Sammy Hagar
DROPKICK MURPHYS, ‘FAR AWAY COAST’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
Told from the perspective of a homesick soldier stuck “in the trenches, the fist of the beast,” this acoustic folk ditty from Dropkick Murphys’ 1998 debut carries neither a pro- nor antiwar message. The narrator is simply doing his duty, and as much as he’d like to be back home, enjoying the freedoms he might die at any minute for, he’s not bitter. Honor and loyalty, of course, are hallmarks of the DKM catalog, whether they’re singing about troops or firefighters, fallen buddies or their beloved Boston Red Sox. ‘Far Away Coast’ arrived when the Dropkicks were still a street-punk group, but it pointed toward the folked-up, Pogues-y style that’s made them Scorsese-approved stars.
Listen to the Dropkick Murphys’ ‘Far Away Coast’
TOM WAITS, ‘SOLDIER’S THINGS’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
What’s interesting about this tune from ‘Swordfishtrombones’ — the 1983 album that sawTom Waits trade his lounge-lizard piano-balladeer persona for the crazy carnival barker he’s played ever since — is what the lyrics don’t tell us. Essentially, the song is a yard-sale pitch, a listing of items that once belonged to a soldier. Whether he died in combat or came home and lived until old age is open to debate, but either way, his life has been reduced to odds and ends (“cufflinks and hub caps / trophies and paperbacks”) priced at a buck apiece. Even the medal he received for bravery winds up in the box, and that image, coupled with the somber piano, makes for a heartbreaking commentary on the fleetingness of human life.
Listen to Tom Waits’ ‘Soldier’s Things’
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS, ‘THE SANDS OF IWO JIMA’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
The Drive-By Truckers universe is populated by plenty of shady characters, but here, we meet one of the good guys. George A. is a “family man,” and in 1941, when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, he first seeks a deferment, since there’s work to do on the farm. He winds up serving (“he believed in god and country”), coming home and leading a life that involves yearly reunions with his old war buddies. If George is keen on remembering his time in the South Pacific, he knows the difference between commemorating and glorifying combat. When his grandnephew, the narrator, asks him whether his experiences resembled the movie referenced in the title, the old-timer responds, “I never saw John Wayne on the sands of Iwo Jima.”
Watch the Drive-By Truckers Perform ‘The Sands of Iwo Jima’
‘THE GOOD SOLDIER,’ NINE INCH NAILS – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
“How can this be real? / I can barely feel anymore,”Trent Reznor sings on this ‘Year Zero’ cut, trying his best to capture the numbness known only to those who’ve actually seen active combat. NINcould have made this a much angrier song — the album on the whole is critical of the U.S. government and set in a dystopian future — but ‘The Good Soldier’ has a relatively soft, muted synth-rock sound. You can imagine a shell-shocked grunt marching along to the tune’s mid-tempo beat, and the swimming keyboards create a feeling of disjointedness or floating through space. “This is not where I should be,” Reznor concludes. “I am trying to believe.” Sometimes, that’s the best you can do.
Listen to Nine Inch Nails’ ‘The Good Soldier’
TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS, ‘ARMY BOUND’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
There’s a difference between antiwar and anti-soldier, and on this stomping Clash-meets-Thin Lizzy jam, left-leaning punk poet Ted Leo is nothing if not sympathetic to the men and women in uniform. The song isn’t about war, but rather the economic factors that drive many to enlist in the military. “Some modest dreams, they just don’t pay out,” Leo sings, speaking to the hopelessness that can make the Army seem pretty attractive. If Leo hates the way the government railroads poor folks into fighting its wars, he’s smart and compassionate enough not to blame the rifle-toting folks just doing their best to get by.
Watch Ted Leo Perform ‘Army Bound’ in Paris
ALICE IN CHAINS, ‘ROOSTER’ – SONGS ABOUT SOLDIERS
Alice in Chains guitarist/co-vocalist Jerry Cantrellneeded to look no further than his own father for inspiration for the band’s hit song ‘Rooster.’ The title came from the nickname given to his father while he was serving in the Vietnam War.
Cantrell stated in the ‘Music Box’ liner notes that doing the song brought he and his father closer together. He recalled, “The first time I ever heard him talk about [Vietnam] was when we made the video and he did a 45-minute interview with [director] Mark Pellington and I was amazed he did it … It even brought him to the point of tears. It was beautiful. He said it was a weird experience, a sad experience and he hoped that nobody else had to go through it.”
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