[1685] The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range

Title : The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range
Poet : Roger Waters
Date : 28 Apr 2005
1stLine: You have a natural t...
Length : 52 Text-only version  
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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

[this poem is archived, accessible and awaiting your comments at]
http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1685.html
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