There Is Truth In Hadji Girl

Andrew Sullivan disappoints with his half-hearted apology as regards an initial post on the Hadji Girl video. Lyrics transcribed at BlackFive. One would think he of all people might have given the song some thought.

Both comedy and song writing are art - and all art springs from a certain depth of emotion experienced by the creator. When you go beneath the surface of Hadji Girl, you find, not only great emotion, but also the rationale for creating something so seemingly dark. It's time someone looks at what the song says, as opposed to simply the superficial impression it leaves. Strip away the cover of comedy and Hadji Girl tells a very different story.

Is this opening below so hard to understand and appreciate?

I was out in the sands of Iraq
And we were under attack
And I, well, I didn't know where to go.

What is Burger King if not a comfortable or usual place? Yet, the Marine is still compelled to "hit the floor." Such is the minute by minute experience of these Marines while on patrol.

And the first think I could see was
Everybody's favorite Burger King
So I threw open the door and I hit the floor.
Then suddenly to my surprise

And he finds something ... something what? Beautiful, positive, comforting, perhaps?

I looked up and I saw her eyes
And I knew it was love at first sight.
And she said

(yes, the South Park bit brings the comedy)
Hadji girl I love you anyway.
 
Then she said that she wanted me to see.
She wanted me to meet her family
But I, well, I couldn't figure out how to say no.
Cause I don't speak Arabic.
So, she took me down an old dirt trail.
And she pulled up to a side shanty
And she threw open the door and I hit the floor.
Cause her brother and her father shouted

They pulled out their AKs so I could see

It's important to note this next part because it seems to be the most horrendous, draws a huge reaction from the live audience ... but is, in some ways, the most telling. The terrorists we are fighting in Iraq constantly hide themselves among the population, including, if not, especially the children. I'd suggest the reaction of the audience isn't anything like laughing at the thought of a child about to be killed, so much as it might be a decompression of sorts, while at the same time acknowledging the ugliness of the war they fight.

So I grabbed her little sister and pulled her in front of me.
As the bullets began to fly

And this below? Why are some so quick to assume this equates to relishing a the death of a child in some way? I never took it to mean that. From the first time I heard it, I assumed the Marine was acknowledging the impact of seeing death, particularly the death of innocence, can have on you. Is it so surprising that one would react maniacally and take revenge for that? For heaven's sake, it's what they're trained and paid to do in some ways.

The blood sprayed from between her eyes
And then I laughed maniacally

And I locked and loaded my M-16
And I blew those little f***ers to eternity.

The song Hadji Girl isn't laughing at the deaths of others ... it isn't really even laughing in the face of ones own death. It is whistling past the graveyard.

Only a fool would begrudge our military the right to do that. It's having been shared with the world is an anomaly of new technology. But our world is really no worse off for it. But the carrying on over it by pundits and the military does serve to make the job of our military personnel in Iraq that much more difficult. And maybe that suits some critics just fine.

If so, that's much more ugly than the lyrics of one silly song from Iraq.

Comments

[pb]

This song should be understood within the context of the cadences soldiers and Marines sing when the run and march. They often are veiled references to sex, complete nonsense and black humor cadences about killing. One cadence I remember singing when I was in the Army in the 90s had verses like: Go down to the schoolyard where all the children play/ set up all my claymores and blow them all away/ go to the church where all the people pray/ set up all my claymores and blow them all away. This can be very easily misinterpreted by people who have no experience with the military and don't get the black humor that is part of the culture.

[Adam]

I fail to see what's funny about "blood spraying from between the eyes" of a little girl. And I fail to see how chastising a soldier for making such a terrible song undermines the war effort. People who make songs like this are what undermine our credibility in Iraq. The insurgents love to tell Iraqi civilians that we're the bad guys. What does this video do except prove their point? The soldier who made it should be ashamed.

[Steve W]

Thanks for breaking it down like that Dan.
We have too many thought police in this country - and no room left for artists.

Imgine if Tom Clancy wrote a book today about hijakking & flying a jumbo jet into the White House - well he would probably get away with it (he did) - but not any kid in high school - no they'd be thrown in a Federal pen.

Will we allow the thought police to rule the future - or give them a taste of 'Hadji Girl'

[Steve]

There is nothing to be ashamed of in writing a song. it was never meant to be viewed by closed minded civillians, but since it has... YOU trained us to fight and kill if necessary, YOU elected a president Hell bent on taking over the world, And then YOU condenm us for sitting in a circle and playing music peacefully. Every thing we do out here is under a microscope. We provide the blanket of safety for the American people, and get our noses rubbed in the dirt for every silly song we write? Allow me to quote "A FEW GOOD MEN" "You can't handle the truth!" go back to live in your parent's basement because life is waaaaayyyy too complicated for you.

-from Iraq