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The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range -- Roger Waters

Guest poem sent in by Anyesha Mookherjee
(Poem #1684) The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range
 You have a natural tendency
 To squeeze off a shot
 You're good fun at parties
 You wear the right masks
 You're old but you still
 Like a laugh in the locker room
 You can't abide change
 And you're home on the range
 You opened the suitcase
 Behind the old workings
 To show off the magnum
 You deafened the canyon
 A comfort a friend
 Only upstaged in the end
 By the Uzi machine gun
 Does the recoil remind you
 Remind you of sex
 Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
 Old timer, who you gonna kill next

 I looked over Jordan and what did I see
 Saw a U.S. Marine in a pile of debris
 I swam in your pools
 And lay under your palm trees
 I looked in the eyes of the Indian
 Who lay on the Federal Building steps
 And through the range finder over the hill
 I saw the front line boys popping their pills
 Sick of the mess they find on their desert stage
 And the bravery of being out of range
 Yeah the question is vexed
 Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
 Old timer who you gonna kill next

 Hey bartender, over here
 Two more shots
 And two more beers
 Sir, turn up the TV sound
 The war has started on the ground
 Just love those laser guided bombs
 They're really great for righting wrongs
 You hit the target, win the game
 From bars 3,000 miles away
 3,000 miles away
 We play the game
 With the bravery of being out of range
 We zap and maim
 With the bravery of being out of range
 We strafe the train
 With the bravery of being out of range
 We gain terrain
 With the bravery of being out of range
 We play the game
 With the bravery of being out of range
-- Roger Waters
Note: From the album "Amused to Death"

A friend of mine once send me the lyrics to this song after a heated
discusssion on modern day war. It has remained with me and it seems more
relevant now than it did six years back when I read it for the first time.
The vivid imagery of modern war which is fought with an invisible enemy
juxtaposed with the complex psychology of those who fight it is truly
moving.

Anyesha

[Links]

Biography:
  http://www.ingsoc.com/waters/info/biography.html (I like the disclaimer!)
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Waters