December 6, 2007

18 Comments »

1. I know I will be changing the channel if I hear it.

   Comment by Jonathan — December 6, 2007 @ 7:31 am

2. Billy Joel is a gifted artist, no doubt about that. I just lost a lot of respect that I had for him, though. This is clearly an anti-war, anti U.S. Government rant on his part.

   Comment by RoyS — December 6, 2007 @ 6:46 pm

3. No more dollars for Billy from me.

   Clueless ‘tard.

   Comment by yak — December 6, 2007 @ 10:03 pm

4. I attended Billy’s concert at the Sprint Center 12/6/07. Before the song, he said: I’m not telling anyone how to vote. I’m not telling anyone what to think. But I’m not making shit up, either. This is what they [soldiers who have written numerous letters to him] told me.

   Given that five soldiers were on the stage to shout the “HooRah!” in the song’s refrain, I don’t feel it is either a pro-war or an anti-war song. Rather, I think it is simply a pro-soldier song. “Downeaster Alexa” was neither a pro-fishing nor an anti-fishing song–it was simply about the tough life of a fisherman. I think the same is true of Fallujah.

   Comment by DanB — December 7, 2007 @ 4:38 pm

5. I also attended the Sprint Center concert. Because I am not and have never been against the war, I grew very tense when he said the next song would be about Iraq. My uneasiness continued through the intro. However I soon saw that, much like Goodnight Saigon, Christmas in Fallujah conveyed the realities and complex perceptions of war in a mature manner. Billy Joel does an excellent job of writing lyrics with such imagery and emotion that they resonate without the limitation of political agenda.

   Comment by KatD — December 7, 2007 @ 10:53 pm

6. I don’t see this as anti-soldier. I see this as more of this is what is real. It is cold and depressing sitting in the middle of a desert at Christmas far from your loved ones. Christians have been invading the Middle East for different reasons for over 1000 years. It can feel as though your never coming home especially when Mr Bush or whomever changes your rotation date without warning. And most important, it’s a call that we have to show the troops that we do care so they don’t feel that no one gives a damn.

   Comment by Terri — December 8, 2007 @ 5:38 am

7. It was a great song making us think about and thankful for the troops who are in a very difficult fight. They need to know we care and the fight is not in vain.
   I hope this is played for congress.

   Comment by Mike — December 8, 2007 @ 6:44 am

8. It’s more anti-Christ than anti-war, in my opinion that is.

   Comment by Wisecarver.PGR — December 8, 2007 @ 7:23 am

9. Life must be really sad for a Godless, Countryless, HONORLESS man like Mr. Joel, and anyone willing to sing such a song.
   John D.
   “smokyMTNsporty” of the Patriot Guard Riders

   Comment by smokyMTNsporty - PGR — December 8, 2007 @ 8:09 am

10. KatD mentioned “Goodnight Saigon”. Do you know that it is the Vietnam Veterans who are the ones who request this song to be played even to this day? I witnessed a whole roomful of them singing along to this song this Veteran’s Day weekend. I would be curious how many of the Iraq War veterans will ask for this song, now and in the many years to come, if they will know all the words to the song, and sing along with it. Their opinion is what matters.

    Comment by SnapShot — December 8, 2007 @ 1:52 pm

11. Terribly interesting coincidence. Jefferson Pepper wrote a song called “Christmas in Fallujah” three years ago. Like Joel’s song, it’s also an anti-war ballad from the perspective of the soldier.

    But don’t believe me, check it out for yourself:
    http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.asp?epk_id=41253

    Comment by Ruth Etters — December 9, 2007 @ 5:54 pm

12. Thankyou Mr. Joel for helping us remember every day that there are men and women who have chosen to fight for our freedom.
    My prayers are with them and I wish them all a PEACEFUL Christmas, if only for one day, until they can, once again be home with their families. Because that is what they have given up so that you all can be with yours.
    OO-RA

    Comment by wilson — December 10, 2007 @ 6:03 pm

13. […] By now, you may have seen Billy Joel’s new song, Christmas In Fallujah, on the internets. There’s been a lot of commenting on blogs both pro and con. Much is being made of the fact that he enlisted a young singer, Cass Dillon, to do the song since Cass is the same age as a typical soldier serving in Iraq. […]

    Pingback by It’s Christmas In Fallujah All Over Again | slackercountry.com — December 15, 2007 @ 1:38 pm

14. There is little doubt what this song is trying to say… it’s anti-war in Iraq as it gets. Some folks will never get it, they think we went into Iraq over oil… they just can’t see the snakes in the true mother den of terrorism. No matter how many terror training camps, mobile chemical labs, paper trails of promotions of terror we uncover in Iraq… there are those who will down play Iraq and Saddams role in the Jihad against the free world. Billy Joel, you once were thought of as being a good artist by myself… now I see you as a mis-guided leftist who has no clue.!!

    MusicmanM58

    Comment by Mark K — December 18, 2007 @ 4:30 pm

15. My first awareness of the song was from a story aired on the CBS Evening News on December 20, 2007. Katie Couric interviewed Billy Joel, and coming out of that I was of the opinion that the song was rather neutral in its stance on the war (at least it wasn’t openly, “in-your-face” anti-war.) I sensed, between the lines, a subtle indictment of our news media for allowing the war (and our soldiers fighting in it) to slip from the minds of the people.

    However, the brief clips of the song played in the CBS News story did not reveal all of the lyrics. After reviewing the lyrics in their entirety, I find that, on the whole, the song takes an anti-war sentiment. Phrases such as “the Crusaders,” “armies of the empire,” and “legionnaires of Rome” do not create a positive impression of the USA or its military. The line “a sea of oil in the sand” is nothing more than another big gulp out of the Liberal Left’s Kool-Aid tank.

    As for the indictment of our news media: In the song, the line “I’m fading from your memory/ so I’m just as good as dead” begs the question of *why* our brave soldiers are fading from our national memory. Since the troop surge took full effect, there has been progressively less news about the war reported in the mainstream media. It may be argued that the Presidential campaign has been taking an increasing share of coverage, since it began earlier than usual (some states even moved their primary elections earlier.) However, the troop surge has been highly effective in that the rate of terrorist violence in Baghdad, Fallujah, and other cities has been cut to one-third or less of what it was prior to the surge. Normally, this is *great* news. However, for all of the John Murthas and leftist news editors out there, it is not news at all. Good news is not news; how sad! A year or two ago, the TV news reminded us nightly about how many more American soldiers were killed that day (this constant drumbeat of bad news tends to create anti-war feelings among the people;) but now that the rates of mayhem, violence, and death have dropped dramatically, there is nothing in Iraq worthy of a report. Apparently, all of the Democrat editors would rather have us just forget about our troops than say anything that would make Murtha and the Democrats seem foolish, or make President Bush look good.

    Normally, I am one to give a person the benefit of my doubt; I would rather look at all of the evidence carefully before pronouncing judgement. “Christmas in Fallujah” has definite anti-war sentiments, but I am not certain if that is because Billy Joel is a hard-line left-winger, or simply because he has been influenced by the same leftist, “mainstream” media that has befuddled many of us.

    Sincerely,
    Kenneth Reighard

    Comment by Ken Reighard — December 20, 2007 @ 8:26 pm

16. I have read many comments related to the song, soldiers, Billy Joel and Cass Dillon. In my opinion this is a wonderful song. Anyone with family that is miitary knows the hardship of military life and the impact that war has. As pro-war or anti-war I think it is wrong to say Joel is godless, honorless or to judge the lyrics of a song that tells of war. It is not all uplifting and support should not always be sugar coated.Sometimes telling the truth of your feeling is the hardest part. War is cold, destroys lives and affects generations but remains nessecary in the world in which we live. As an American I support the war, our loyal soldiers, and the right to freedom of speech and exspression that they protect everyday with their lives. Many inlisted military were interviewed regaurding this song and supported it, so why should we as a nation feel it is our duty to go against these men for a song. When the people it is regaurding have no issue with it.

    Comment by Donna Freibel — January 24, 2008 @ 10:49 pm

17. sounds depressing to me so i felt it was anti soldier and war…it would be very discouraging for a soldier in iraq to hear it…..

    Comment by e.leonard — March 1, 2008 @ 4:07 pm

18. reading those negative commets pisses me off so bad, he is supporting the soldiers, some people that live in our country clearly dont deserve it

    Comment by d.griffiths — March 24, 2008 @ 6:00 pm

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