Bradley Manning

Album: A Folk Set Apart (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Cass McCombs tells the story here of US soldier Bradley Manning, who later transitioned to Chelsea Manning. The American army whistleblower was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 and sentenced to 35 years in prison, after disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly three-quarters of a million classified or sensitive documents.

    "With politics, sometimes it needs to shoved in people's faces, other times people like myself have to use more subtle means of revolutionizing people," explained McCombs to Uncut. "With that song I just wanted to get away from a political song that was preaching to the people. I just wanted to tell a story - it's a biographical song, it could be about anyone, it just happens to be about Chelsea Manning."
  • McCombs premiered the song on the Democracy Now News Hour in 2012, a year before Bradley Manning's trial.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

John Kay of Steppenwolf

John Kay of SteppenwolfSongwriter Interviews

Steppenwolf frontman John Kay talks about "Magic Carpet Ride," "Born To Be Wild," and what he values more than awards and accolades.

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17Songwriter Interviews

Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.

Sugarland

SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Meet the "sassy basket" with the biggest voice in country music.

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."