Music and War ... What Is It Good For???

So last weekend I had a couple of hours of free time believe it or not and was chillaxing on my couch watching TV when I came across a great movie ... The Patriot with Mel Gibson. I have always been interested in the Revolutionary War and especially the Civil War. I was watching one of the battle scenes and the British were marching forward with drums and flutes a blazin. I started wondering "why in the world did they play music during battle?"

I started reading up on the history of music during war and it goes back a long ways. Apparently it has always been used to help build morale and as a psychological weapon against opponents. Dating all the way back to the Old Testament when they used ram's horns which are also used by the orcs in Lord of the Rings. The Greek and Roman armies both used brass (tuba and trumpet type instruments) and percussion during war. Of course Scotland used bagpipes which were somehow banned by the British after Prince Charles Edward Stuart's Scottish army was defeated in 1746. What I want to know is who is the governing body of war. Do you think they are like the NCAA and dish out suspensions when you hire mercenaries to hide in the bushes and use unfair tactics during battles or are they like the NFL and hand out ungodly fines to people who do not obey the gentleman's rules of combat?

It has always baffled me that two foes used to line up straight across from each other in a wide open field so they can easily gun down a large percentage of each other's forces but that could be another blog all together. In the middle ages military bands were used to transmit orders sort of like a morse code I guess. I also like that after fighting another country soldiers would bring back new ideas of how they could improve their military band. It eventually became where trumpets were not used in combat as much but more as a wake up call or like a buzzer to assemble the troops. Drums and flutes became the battle instruments to help soldiers march to a certain beat and stay together during infantry maneuvers.

Just think about how it would be now if music was used during war. They would probably design an AKA47 with a built in speaker and a place you could plug your IPOD into. How would the Afghanistan soldiers feel about hearing Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA or Toby Keith's Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue coming from the bushes? Some may even stand on the sidelines and play Edwin Starr's War (What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothing). I would think they could also advance their strategies and include dance fighting like in Zoolander or South Park. Our troops could do the Dougie or break out the sprinkler and yell "You Got Served!!" when dominating another soldier with our sweet dance moves.



Back during the Gulf War why didn't soldiers carry boom boxes on their shoulders during battles. Why don't soldiers install subwoofers and high dollar stereo systems in the humvees and fighter planes? The government already spends a boat load of money on the military so might as well go all out to provide some great music for the troops during battle. If nothing else I think they should get this group of soldiers to perform during combat because the girl is really good.