Doth Benjy protest too little?
Friday, September 28, 2007
With the lead single “Whose God?” off new album Dust, Benjy Davis Project enters the small modern fray of pop music protesting the war in Iraq.
The song quickly frames the War on Terror as a spiritual, if not holy, war, with Davis asking an unnamed victim, “Little one, what are you dying for?” Less a condemnation of Bush policy à la Bright Eye’s torrid “When the President Talks to God,” the song is more a passive lament for the innocent victims and civilian casualties in Iraq, those unfortunate enough not to be born on “the winning team”—Davis’ athletic descriptor for the good ol’ USA.
But the song still leans on the band’s hummable Southern rock sound more than it does any anti-war dogma, and Davis seems at times as ambiguous as the ongoing conflict he derides as a metaphor. Asking “Whose god would want it this way?” is fine as a cozy philosophical awareness statement disguised as a question. The problem is, singing “I don’t know what to say” may make the song more honest, but it doesn’t make it a protest.
Comments
Posted by benjy on October 2, 2007 at 1:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I've never done this before, but in this case I feel like I need to clear up some things from the above article:
I wrote Who's God? after watching the movie "Munich". It's about differing religious beliefs, the violence that ensues, and the bullheadedness that keeps wars marching on. Look closer for God's sake. Whichever one that may be.
Peace to all,
Benjy Davis
Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)