Hard-On for War

Album: Buddyhead Presents: Gimme Skelter (2003)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Mudhoney wrote this song in the buildup to the Gulf War in 2003, when the United States invaded Iraq. In our interview with Mudhoney frontman Mark Arm, he explained: "You could feel this thing was coming for a year before the invasion happened. There was that drumbeat to war and it was like, 'This seems inevitable; I've got to say something about it.' So I started to try to get the idea of who are these people that want to go to war so bad, and what would their motivations be? And it seems like the people who are most behind it were older men.

    So my idea was: they're in it for the chicks, and they can't get chicks without getting rid of the younger men, and what better way to get rid of the younger generation of men than to send them off to war? It was a horrible thing, but there's humor in even the darkest situations, I think."
  • Mudhoney singer/guitarist Mark Arm was inspired by two specific anti-war songs while writing this: Bob Dylan's "Masters Of War" and "Sacrifice" by Flipper. "Those two songs say it all in terms of real terms," he says.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Concert Disasters

Concert DisastersFact or Fiction

Ozzy biting a dove? Alice Cooper causing mayhem with a chicken? Creed so bad they were sued? See if you can spot the real concert mishaps.

Jimmy Webb

Jimmy WebbSongwriter Interviews

Webb talks about his classic songs "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman" and "MacArthur Park."

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star RidersSongwriter Interviews

Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.

Amy Lee of Evanescence

Amy Lee of EvanescenceSongwriter Interviews

The Evanescence frontwoman on the songs that have shifted meaning and her foray into kids' music.