I think it's a great song but Tina probably shouldn't have let slip that she was aiming for the biggest anti-war lyric she could do... I felt it could have been far more powerful in that sense. I found the final lyric clever but that was all it really had in terms of being anti-war... It needs something more affecting, more powerful, more 'cripple for life' moments...
I also think the music could have done more in terms of making the song powerful. It was good music, but it seemed liked it could have been good music in any song with any message. It didn't feel like it suited those lyrics, like it was the only thing that could have ever been put to them...
I think one of the more masterful anti-war songs is 'Hero of War' by rise against, and what it does musically is so incredibly simple. It has that single guitar the whole time which reminds one of those 'hippie protest' sorts of songs (not using that term negatively, just couldn't think of a better one) and brings in that single snare. That snare is where the genius lies IMO, it's a piece of music someone would associate with the military.
So perhaps the music for this should have sounded like a battle march, or gone with the 'solemn snare' of 'Hero of War' and 'Like Toy Soldiers', or used the grandiose sound of 'The Captain'. I just think the music was goo, but it wasn't
right.
Songs mentioned:
