Has Darryl Worley Forgotten?

Three years ago, at the start of the Iraq War, small-time country singer Darryl Worley filled a void left by the Dixie Chicks - his song "Have You Forgotten?" was the jingoistic tripe Americans needed to wash Natalie Maines' treason out of their palates. Next week Worley is releasing a new album with a song, "I Just Came Back From A War," that takes a completely different spin on things.

I just came back
From a place where they hated me
And everything I stand for
A land where our brothers are dying for others
Who don't even care anymore
Chances are I never will be the same
I really don't know anymore
I just came back from a war

So has country's second-biggest jingoist (Toby Keith still wears the crown) turned into a Hate America First thoughtcriminal? We'll find out if/when Melanie Morgan bombs his house.

Comments

[Adam W.]

Ugh, I hated "Have you forgotten?". I was like "No you stupid fuck I haven't forgotten about bin Laden, that's why we shouldn't go into Iraq and should instead go after him in Afghanistan."

[Charles Oliver]

Worley denies it's an anti-war song, but one radio station programmer seems to think otherwise.

"I just think the heart of America is like, 'hey we support the troops, but it's time to get out of there and bring the guys and gals home,"' said Philip Gibbons, assistant program director at radio station WGSQ, "The Country Giant" in Cookeville, Tennessee.

[joe]

It doesn't read like an anti-war song to me.

It looks like he's bitching because the Iraqis aren't grateful enough for the wonderful war we've brought them.

Worley is still an asshole. He's just a sadder asshole.

[Lamar]

C'mon now. Support our oops.

[Buckshot]

From the Melanie Morgan link:

"Are we just going to leave Iraq, pack up our guns, our Humvees, our kids and come home?"

What kids? Those are grown men fighting this lost cause. Pack 'em up and bring 'em home, you can leave the guns and Humvees to the Iraqis, they'll find a use for them.

"We need to honor the deaths of almost 3,000 young men."

No we don't. This is what Harry Browne calls "The Previous Investment Trap". If you've invested a lot of time, money or lives in an endeavore that later turns out to have been a mistake, you don't continue to invest, you accept your losses and stop investing. In poker, if you've invested money in the pot and on a later betting round are convinced that you're holding a losing hand, you fold. You don't "protect" your previous bets by continuing to bet, the money you put in the pot is no longer yours and doesn't require protection. The money still in your stack needs the protection.

Darryl Worley is an honest thinking man who allowed the facts to influence his viewpoint.

[joe]

"We need to honor the deaths of almost 3,000 young men."

...by sending a few thousand more to join them.

I though human sacrifice to please the dead had gone out of style.

[David]

I though human sacrifice to please the dead had gone out of style.

Style is cyclical, joe.

[ed]

the wonderful war we've brought them

I think most Iraqis are happy to be rid of Saddam and his sons.
What they ultimately do with the opportunity remains to be seen, but the clock is surely ticking.

[Websters]

jin?go?ism n.

Extreme nationalism characterized especially by a foreign policy positions that differ from Mr. Weigel.

[Aresen]

"but the clock is surely ticking."

It's not the ticking of the clock that worries me. It's the high explosive it's wired to.

[Lamar]

"I think most Iraqis are happy to be rid of Saddam and his sons."
Especially the shiite militias, the sunni deathsquads and the foreign terrorists. They couldn't be happier. Regular workaday Iraqis? I'm not so sure they love the daily violence and tens of thousands of deaths.

[damon]

It sure has gotten a little more authoritarian around here, opinion wise. Pre-election heeby-jeebies I hope? Or are we all getting infected with the vitriol bug as of late....

sniff... what about the children?!?

[madpad]

I think most Iraqis are happy to be rid of Saddam and his sons.

Certainly...they're just a little let down that they were replaced by factional psychotics with a zeal for indiscrimnant killing. Also a little disheartened that the liberators (us) are in the unenviable positions of not being able to tell who's NOT a factional psychotic.

What they ultimately do with the opportunity remains to be seen, but the clock is surely ticking.

Unfortunately who "they" are is a little fluid. There are a lot of "they"s in hearty and bloody competition with one another. We can't even figure out which "they" to support.

[Jennifer]

"I think most Iraqis are happy to be rid of Saddam and his sons."

I think if our military went around chopping off Iraqis' feet, there would be Americans saying "I think Iraqis are happy to be rid of their nasty case of athlete's foot."

[johncjcakson iii]

Not anti-war to me.

Just sounds like another "They hate us for our freedoms. The US is such a great Christian nation, Why do they hate us when we are being so nice and trying to help them" thing to me.

[whit]

i love the reason rhetoric -

"jingoism"

it is so transparent.

What are the dixie chicks then? Erudite sages?

At least Worley can WRITE a song. IIRC, the Dixie Chicks hadn't written any of their hits at the time they made their "we're embarassed of bush cause he's from texas" comments

[fillahbuster]

"I just came back
From a place where they hated me
And everything I stand for"

Maybe he just came back from a trip to the San Fransisco bay area.

[Legate Damar]

Actually Jennifer, a better analogy would be cutting off a gangrenous foot with a hacksaw, then leaving them to bleed to death afterwards. Acceptable idea in certain circumstances (allowing additional future threats in order to remove a current one), terrible follow through (no abatement whatsoever of newly-introduced future threats.)

Some surgeries are unnecessary, some are not. Whether this one was or wasn't can be debated intelligently on both sides. The fact that we were standing in the recovery room with naught but a used band-aid and a fifth of whisky makes the original argument somewhat moot. And yes, some people do thing we're doing a bang-up job. Some people are stupid.

[Karen]

The fact that we were standing in the recovery room with naught but a used band-aid and a fifth of whisky makes the original argument somewhat moot.

If we were even letting the patient have a slug of hooch now and then, it would be an improvement. As it is, we're letting the poor slob watch us guzzle while he bleeds to death.

[Charles Oliver]

I thought one of the Chicks wrote "Cowboy Take Me Away," which was one of their bigger hits. Maybe some more, but I recall that one.

[Lamar]

Whit:
You recall poorly. They've co-written most of their songs (sometimes lyrics, sometimes music), which is rare in Cuntry music. More importantly, they can actually play musical instruments. Darryl Worley can only play the one string guitar. I think they all kind of stink. But its hard to deny that the Chicks have some talent, unlike Mr. Worley, who is laughable.

[Jon H]

It looks to me like Worley is complaining about the nasty raghead ingrates, and saying that Americans should clap louder.

[ed]

We can't even figure out which "they" to support.

I'm fairly certain it's the "they" who choose to resolve their disputes with dialogue and law, not violence. You know, like civilized people do. "They" do exist in Iraq. The question is whether there are enough of "them" to make a difference.

[Legate Damar]

Thank you, Karen. Your addition to my imagery made it much, much more accurate as well as much funnier.

[independent worm]

I actually thought that "Have You Forgotten?" was a clever swipe at the administration. The line "dont tell me not to worry about Bin Laden" was penned not terribly long after Bush had said he wasnt worried about Bin Laden, a comment later resurrected by John Kerry and Michael Moore.

PS -- Firefox wont let me make apostrophes again today.

[John in Nashville]

The shot at Toby Keith is unwarranted. His song, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" was written at the time of the war in Afghanistan, and Keith has been publicly skeptical, if not critical, about the Bush Administration's conduct of the war in Iraq. Keith has also described himself as a lifelong Democrat.

[joe]

"I'm fairly certain it's the "they" who choose to resolve their disputes with dialogue and law, not violence."

And our attempts to do so have led us to spend our soldiers' lives for the government whose #2 is Muqtada al-Sadr, and whose Interior Ministry forces have been carrying out campaigns of torture and murder among Sunni civlians.

Even by your reconning, you must agree that this support is pretty strong evidence for the statement "We can't even figure out which "they" to support."

[andy]

"Keith has also described himself as a lifelong Democrat"

That won't get you too much praise at this site.

[Homer J. Simpson]

Rock stars, is there anything they don't know?

[The Wine Commonsewer]

Keith has also described himself as a lifelong Democrat

That won't get you too much praise at this site.

You'd be surprised, many of the libertarians around here would vote for a dem without even considering if there's a libertarian on the ticket. That seems to be the consensus over the years IMO anyway.

[whit]

first of all, i never said the dixie chix weren't talented. they are very talented, although I would never buy one of their albums after the comment they made, any more than I would buy a Roman Polanski film. That's my choice.

Second of all, what is a "one string guitar?"

i spent a fair amount of time in the music industry. I take claims of "co-written" with a big grain of salt. it's kind of like when a politician hires a writer for his biography and claims to be a co-writer. Usually the process goes like this.

"yeah, that sounds good. "

"ok. we cowrote it"

🙂

My point was that when somebody is mainly singing other people's songs, they have less "cred" in regards to their commentary (imo) than an actual singer-songwriter. I don't agree with john mellencamps or john walker lindh's (many of his) comments either. but i have infinitely more respect for their pov as being informed.

I was also EXTREMELY unimpressed when i saw a dixie chix interview after their comment on a news program. they were incredibly ill-informed. again, i saw them as aping others opinion, without being even moderately informed.

toby keith, otoh, had a long interview with dan rather (iirc) and was far far more informed than any member of the dixie chix. also, contrary to popular belief, he has been a registered democrat most of his life (contrary to many in the media's impression), and is hardly a kneejerk supporter of the iraq war.

[Lamar]

Whit, you may be right, but in my experience (and pursuant to copyright law) the person who writes the words is on equal footing with the person who "wrote" the music, even if that music is rather basic.

[Hardin County]

I'm not really sure as to why I am posting anything here, as it seems the majority of you have your minds made up about Mr.Worley. The one thing that bothers me is the negative attitude most of you have of him. Why would you feel that way about someone you don't even know? It is so 3rd grade.I have known him personally for 20 years, and I can tell you this about him, he truely loves our country and the soldiers that fight to protect it. He is once again going back this year at Christmas to spend time with the soldiers. This will be his 3rd time to go, and believe me he doesn't go for the money. If people knew how little money was paid for one of these trips, they would be amazed that someone was willing to go. But he goes to show his support and appreciation of the men and women who are over there risking thier lives everyday. I truely wish that people knew his background before they based an opinion on what everyone else had to say. Just curious, how many of you have a degree in Chemistry? Mr. Worley does. Did anyone know that before he started his music career, he had his own chemical company? My point being, that he chose to be a country music singer, because he loves everything about it. To him, it is a way to reach out to people and help, not just through songs and music, but also by raising money to help several different charities. Thanks to him, we now have The Darryl Worley Cancer Treatment Center her in our hometown. We have the Darryl Worley Foundation, which has helped so many families in our hometown and surrounding areas. One more thing before I go, all of you that seem to know so much about him personally, I would pay big bucks to see you on a stage with him having a political debate or any debate . I think the majority would leave with your head down in shame, because this is a man that knows what he is talking about before he opens his mouth, unlike a lot of you opinionated people..

[MAZ]

Has anyone who has commented actually heard the song? It's called, "I Just Came Back (from A war)" not THE war. Darryl actually wrote this song because of a marine who told him about his experiences returning home from war. This young marine was distraught because people expected him to be the same person, and he was having trouble readjusting to society. It's not political at all. It's about how war changes people. When soldiers, from WWII, Vietnam, Gulf War, etc. come back from fighting, they are different people and see the world from a different perspective. The "they" he speaks of ("a place where they hated me") are the people whose homes are being invaded by war. Wouldn't you resent soldiers if they were fighting a war in your front yard? People -- if you are going to be so opinionated about someone or something, why not at least give an educated opinion?