APRIL 2003 …rock reacts to the Iraq War
“We do not want this war, this violence.” NATALIE MAINES
APRIL 9
War had come to Iraq. After long-simmering allegations that the Arab republic ruled by Saddam Hussein had illegally amassed weapons of mass destruction, and were assisting Osama bin Laden’s international terror group Al-Qaeda, a coalition which included America, the UK, Australia and Poland mounted a ground invasion on March 20. Today, the Iraqi capital Baghdad fell, the regime collapsed and a huge city centre statue of the dictator was toppled.
After huge anti-war demonstrations across the world in February, much global opinion was against the invasion. Inevitably, musicians took their stances. One of the most conspicuous was when Texan country trio Dixie Chicks – now The Chicks – played London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire on March 10, and criticised bellicose US President George W. Bush. Said singer Natalie Maines, reported The Guardian, “We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.”
Coming from a band that played country music – a form often associated with God, homeland and other traditional values – this was potent stuff. The reaction was telling. The group’s sales dropped off, country stations stopped playing them and in one Louisiana town, a 33,000-pound tractor was used to crush their CDs. On March 12, Maines released a statement saying, “I apologise to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful… I love my country. I am a proud American.”
But the damage was done. Instead, the patriotic country faithful turned to songs like Darryl Worley’s Have You Forgotten?, The Warren Brothers’ Hey Mr President and, a song inspired by the 9/11 attacks, Toby Keith’s Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American). Keith called the Dixie Chicks “big-mouthed celebrities” and used, in concert, a Photoshopped image of the group with Saddam Hussein.
Elsewhere, reactions were more cautious. Acts including Tenacious D, Tom Petty and Matchbox 20 cancelled European shows and returned to the US. Madonna announced that she was withdrawing a graphic video juxtaposing high-fashion and warfare for her single American Life, and Detroit’s Electric Six postponed their single Gay Bar to remove references to nuclear war. James Brown, meanwhile, donated 400 tickets for military personnel at a show in Houston.
Other voices had registered fiercer disquiet. Speaking at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on March 10, Neil Young observed, “We’re having fun tonight, but we’re gonna start killing people next week… I feel like I’m in a great gas-guzzling SUV, driven by someone who’s drunk as fuck.” On March 15, the One Big No gig – again at Shepherd’s Bush Empire – featured performances from Ian McCulloch, Chris Martin and Paul Weller, plus recorded messages from Yoko Ono, Cat Stevens and Elton John. The title of Radiohead’s next LP
Hail To The Thief – released in June but partially leaked at the end of March – was interpreted as a judgement on President Bush: on March 22 Thom Yorke had joined in a demonstration outside RAF Fairford where, reported NME, he said, “America is being run by a bunch of religious maniac bigots who stole their election and their only way of regaining power is to wage a war.”
Other songs of the moment continued to pose urgent questions, such as R.E.M.’s Final Straw, Beastie Boys’ In A World Gone Mad, DJ
Shadow and Zack de la Rocha’s March Of Death, OutKast’s re-popularised 2000 track B.O.B (Bombs Over Baghdad) and System Of A Down’s Boom!, whose Michael Mooredirected video depicted Bush, UK PM Tony Blair, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden riding cartoon missiles. There was, of course, music in the combat zone too. Jonathan Pieslak’s 2009 book Sound Targets: American Soldiers And Music In The Iraq War (Indiana University Press) considered the listening tastes of American forces. Specialist Colby Buzzell, a machine gunner and blogger, told Pieslak, “Right about when we’re about to go on a raid… I’d listen to Slayer to get all into it.” Other music listened to by troops steeling their nerves included the themes to Rocky and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, Go To Sleep by DMX, Eminem and Obie Trice, Metallica’s Seek & Destroy and, oddly, an Alvin And The Chipmunks Christmas album.
There were also concrete attempts to assist. On April 29, the War Child charity released the Hope compilation to raise funds for the children of Iraq. Artists included David Bowie, George Michael and Paul McCartney, who commented, “I am delighted to be able to make this small contribution to a magnificent project.”
On May 1 President Bush prematurely declared ‘Mission Accomplished’ from an aircraft carrier off the coast of California. In January 2004, the Bush administration admitted its pre-war justifications regarding chemical, biological and nuclear weapons were incorrect. US troops finally left Iraq in December 2011.