Christmas in Fallujah

I've always been a Billy Joel fan. He sings amazing songs and plays a mean piano. Who hasn't jammed to Piano Man, Uptown Girl, River of Dreams and tried to sing along with We Didn't Start the Fire? He even has an entire play/musical, Movin' On, based on his music and it is one of the best I've ever seen on stage. I've got to say though, I'm less than impressed with his new song, Christmas in Fallujah. Now granted, he is only the songwriter. There is no piano and it is sung by Cass Dillon, an up-and-coming new artist, but it is still be touted as a Joel song.

Apparently, the song was written because Joel received several letters from servicemen and women and Joel feels (perhaps because of what was expressed in the letters) that the American people are forgetting about our soldiers overseas. After listening to the song though, I feel it is more anti-war than support our troops. Maybe Joel is hoping that lyrics such as, "I'm fading from your memory/So I'm just as good as dead" and "And we ain't never coming home" will help Americans to remember that our troops are fighting overseas.

I'm not really sure what Joel was going for, but I'm almost insulted by the song. I say "almost" because I can't really make up my mind. On the one hand, maybe this is a way to remind those who have forgotten, but on the other hand, everyday I read blogs and comments from other spouses, friends, and readers, as well as talk to the families of Stonewall's unit, who do nothing but remember every single second of every single day and it insults me that a songwriter is going to write what he thinks my soldier is thinking when he's actually in Fallujah for Christmas.

I have mixed feelings about this song. This is a video of the performance in Chicago. The lyrics are posted at the bottom of the screen. Take a look and let me know what you think.