This Is Why We Fight

Listen while you read:  https://youtu.be/oLSOzcEQjiE

Come the war
Come the avarice
Come the war
Come hell

Come attrition
Come the reek of bones
Come attrition
Come hell

This is why
Why we fight
Why we lie awake
And this is why
This is why we fight

When we die
We will die
With our arms unbound

. . . 

Come hell

~  Colin Meloy (The Decemberists)

I have had a love / hate relationship with The Decemberists (and in particular, Colin Meloy) since their debut in 2001. While I do appreciate many of their songs, I often find Meloy, the lyricist, a little too full of himself, especially when he thinks he can get away with rhyming "Miranda" and "veranda," as he does in "We Both Go Down Together." And he's such a drama queen! Of course, this is just my opinion, and it did not stop me from choosing this Decemberist song from their 2011 release The King Is Dead.

If you haven't already, you should probably watch the linked video to appreciate my commentary here. It's a cheesy take-off on Lord of the Flies, the 1954 William Golding allegorical novel which analyzes the age-old conflict of human vs. society. The video features a Jack-type character who claims leadership and power, a Ralph-like savior (credit due here: the character is female), and a Piggy-type weakling, complete with wire-rimmed glasses. Whether the play is intended to be a scene out of a "post-apocalyptic wasteland" or an innocent enactment of Capture the Flag played by kids with access to thrift shop costuming, answers do not come through any more clearly than they do in "This Is Why We Fight." Why do we fight, Colin? Did you intend to be evasive? Or is that just your default songwriting tactic?

When asked if the song was about the war in Iraq, Meloy gave this evasive answer: "I think of it more as a song for somebody who's up against great odds, whether political or social."

Needless to say, the song reappeared on my radar after the airstrikes in Syria. As a tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, peace-loving, bleeding-heart liberal hippie, I will never be able to wrap my head around "why we fight." And maybe Meloy is being deliberately coy, as there is no definitive answer to the question. Interesting that The Decemberists got their name from the 1825 Decemberist Revolt, an uprising in Imperial Russia that Meloy believes was an attempt at a Communist revolution. Russia.  It's always Russia.

Come hell.