A lot of ink can, and will, be spilled on what makes young men blow childrens’ brains out in a war that doesn’t make sense. But a song is worth a thousand words, and there’s no more chilling (if unintentional) soundtrack to the news from Iraq these days than a song by a Marine that has lots of defenders on conservative websites.
Now it’s worth remembering that there’s a long tradition of this kind of thing-there was a song in Vietnam called Napalm Sticks to Kids–and of course it’s more metaphor than description; horror breeds its own kind of self-caricature. But what makes it work, what makes the Hadji Girl audience chuckle and guffaw, is how close the horror of caricature is to the horror of reality.
As the bullets began to fly
The blood sprayed from between her eyes
And then I laughed maniacally
