Rock-tober 22, 2017

One fall day in '95 I was in a record store in Birmingham and saw a new Garth Brooks release. I know this guy who's been described as a thumb wearing a cowboy hat may be out of place in these pages, but one song on that album had special merit. As I listened to "Ireland" for the first time in that record store, I was halfway between tears and a fist pumping, "Hell, yeah!"

"We are forty against hundreds
in someone else's bloody war.

We know not why we're fighting
or what we're dying for."

For the entirety of the 19th century, countless Irish joined the ranks of the British army out of necessity. Lack of prospects and the Irish Potato Famine at home led a great number to enlist in order to feed their families. Considering the breadth of the British Empire at the time, they could find themselves in any corner of the world fighting skirmishes for a foreign crown on foreign soil.

"They will storm us in the morning
when the sunlight turns the sky.

Death is waiting for its dance now.
 Fate has sentenced us to die."

A last stand is a tactic of last resort. They're made when retreat or surrender are not viable options or if the defense of a strategic point is critical to a campaign. Thermopylae, Masada, Rorke's Drift, the Alamo, Little Round Top. All were podunk, unassuming place names until they became associated with and then immortalized by a small band of defenders facing a vastly superior force.  

"The captain he lay bleeding.
I can hear him calling me.

'These men are yours now for the leading.
Show them to their destiny.'"

A meme circulating on the Internet declares, "I would rather suffer in the company of good men than live comfortably surrounded by delicate men." Certain stories resonate with most people. Glory, Band of Brothers, even the fictionalized accounts of Braveheart, and Gladiator strike a chord. Was it charismatic leaders? Noble causes? Sometimes it's just the simple, but unassailable bond of camaraderie that can only be born on the battlefield. 

"As I look up all around me,
I see the ragged tired and torn.

I tell them to make ready
'cause we're not waiting for the morn."

Andrea once asked if I'd rather deal with someone who was neutral or dogmatic on an issue. I told her it was sometimes advantageous to deal with someone dogmatic because their actions and responses were predictable. Sun Tzu once said, "When you are weak, appear strong. When you are strong, appear weak." Being inscrutable and unpredictable to the enemy and attacking when least expected is classic Sun Tzu.

"Now the fog is deep and heavy
as we forge the dark and fear.

We can hear their horses breathing
as in silence we draw near.

There are no words to be spoken
just a look to say good-bye.

I draw a breath and night is broken
as I scream our battle cry."

This conjured up images of the Charge of the Light Brigade, Gallipoli, and the 54th Massachusetts's assault on Fort Wagner. I can't fathom why this song isn't belted out at every Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day.

"Ireland I am coming home

I can see your rolling fields of green

And fences made of stone

I am reaching out won't you take my hand

I'm coming home Ireland"