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Sound Targets: American Soldiers and Music in the Iraq War
Though a part of American soldiers' lives since the Revolutionary War, by World War II music could be broadcast to the front. Today it accompanies soldiers from the recruiting office to the battlefield. For this book, Jonathan Pieslak interviewed returning veterans to learn about the place of music in the Iraq War and in contemporary American military culture in general. Pieslak describes how American soldiers hear, share, use, and produce music both on and off duty. He studies the role of music from recruitment campaigns and basic training to its use "in country" before and during missions. Pieslak explores themes of power, chaos, violence, and survival in the metal and hip-hop music so popular among the troops, and offers insight into the daily lives of American soldiers in the Middle East.
- GenresMusicNonfictionWar
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
54 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 26, 2015
I started to read this book as soon as I bought it, back in January 2011. Then it got lost among all my books and moved from one room to the other and finally I decided to pick it up again and finish it once and for all.
Why did I buy it in the first place?
Well, I have a weird relationship with the military world. It attracts me but it repulses me at the same time. The strict dress code, the loss of indivualism, being given orders... I'd go crazy in 3,5 seconds. On the other hand, the two people I fell in love with were both in the military. Totally different guys but with an uniform nonetheless. No, I'm not one of those uniform-obsessed girl; it's just that... I don't know, it's like military people don't give off any vibes. And it's relaxing to be close to them.
Guy #1, a farm boy from Minnesota, went to Iraq. He loved country music and this is the reason why I still sing along with Toby Keith, Tim McGraw or Garth Brooks, even if I'm more of a rock girl myself. I've never known what he actually did there and I still find myself wondering about it even if I haven't seen him in almost three years. And I'd like to know more. Still, I have to be very careful reading about Iraq: sometimes I get so emotional that I get panic attacks.
This book was a way to learn more about the Iraq war through music. The author is a musicologist and a Professor of Music and he focuses on the tight correlation between music and the military. His main points are: music in the recruiting videos, music as an inspiration for combat - for both US and Iraqi soldiers, how anti-American feelings are expressed through music; music as a form of torture and the production of music in combat zone.
Every chapter is very detailed and reports real stories from soldiers the author has interviewed or E-mailed with. He just doesn't explained the present but also give some interesting explanations about how things were in the past. It also describe metal and rap from a cultural point of view and that chapter was really impressive. I've never thought about the specific target for metal being a middle-class white male but I could somehow guess that it's a male-centered music genre. It would be interesting to see if this apply to metal listeners throughout the world...
All in all it was a very interesting reading. Maybe a musicologist would have made more of it but I found it very fascinating nonetheless.
Why did I buy it in the first place?
Well, I have a weird relationship with the military world. It attracts me but it repulses me at the same time. The strict dress code, the loss of indivualism, being given orders... I'd go crazy in 3,5 seconds. On the other hand, the two people I fell in love with were both in the military. Totally different guys but with an uniform nonetheless. No, I'm not one of those uniform-obsessed girl; it's just that... I don't know, it's like military people don't give off any vibes. And it's relaxing to be close to them.
Guy #1, a farm boy from Minnesota, went to Iraq. He loved country music and this is the reason why I still sing along with Toby Keith, Tim McGraw or Garth Brooks, even if I'm more of a rock girl myself. I've never known what he actually did there and I still find myself wondering about it even if I haven't seen him in almost three years. And I'd like to know more. Still, I have to be very careful reading about Iraq: sometimes I get so emotional that I get panic attacks.
This book was a way to learn more about the Iraq war through music. The author is a musicologist and a Professor of Music and he focuses on the tight correlation between music and the military. His main points are: music in the recruiting videos, music as an inspiration for combat - for both US and Iraqi soldiers, how anti-American feelings are expressed through music; music as a form of torture and the production of music in combat zone.
Every chapter is very detailed and reports real stories from soldiers the author has interviewed or E-mailed with. He just doesn't explained the present but also give some interesting explanations about how things were in the past. It also describe metal and rap from a cultural point of view and that chapter was really impressive. I've never thought about the specific target for metal being a middle-class white male but I could somehow guess that it's a male-centered music genre. It would be interesting to see if this apply to metal listeners throughout the world...
All in all it was a very interesting reading. Maybe a musicologist would have made more of it but I found it very fascinating nonetheless.
Displaying 1 of 1 review