This was a song recorded originally in 1992 by Eric B. & Rakim; two of original hip-hop's greatest artists; sometimes art reads the future better than science.
We featured it when the US/K launched it's war in Afghanistan, then Iraq; and it gets truer day by day . . .
What's done in our name 'over there' will always return . . human tragedy has no statute of limitations.
Eric B. & Rakim
Casualties of
War (1992)
Casualties of War! Casualties of
war;
as I approach the barricade
Where's the enemy? Who do I invade?
Bullets of Teflon, bulletproof
vest rip
Tear ya outta ya frame with a
bag full of clips
Cause I got a family that waits
for my return
To get back home is my main concern
I'ma get back to New York in one
piece
but I'm bent in the sand that
is hot as the city streets
Sky lights up like fireworks blind
me
Bullets, whistlin over my head
remind me...
President Bush said attack
Flashback to Nam, I might not
make it back
Missile hits the area, screams
wake me up from a war of dreams,
. . . heat up the M-16
Basic training, trained for torture
Take no prisoners, and I just caught
ya
Addicted to murder, send more bodybags
They can't identify em, leave the
nametags
I get a rush when I see blood,
dead bodies on the floor
CASUALTIES OF WAR! (4X)
Day divides the night and night
divides the day
It's all hard work and no play
More than combat, it's far beyond
that
Cause I got a kill or be killed
kind of attack
Area's mapped out, there'll be
no,Stratego
Me and my platoon make a boom
wherever we go
But what are we here for? Who's
on the other side of the wall?
Somebody give the President a call
But I hear warfare scream through
the air
Back to the battlegrounds, it's
war they declare
A Desert Storm: let's see who reigns
supreme
Something like Monopoly: a government
scheme
Go to the Army, be all you can
be
Another dead soldier? Hell no,
not me
So I start letting off ammunition
in every direction
Allah is my only protection
But wait a minute, Saddam Hussein
prays the same
and this is Asia, from where I
came
I'm on the wrong side, so change
the target
Shooting at the general; and where's
the sergeant?
Blame it on John Hardy Hawkins
for bringing me to America
Now it's mass hysteria
I get a rush when I see blood,
dead bodies on the floor
CASUALTIES OF WAR! (4X)
The war is over, for now at least
Just because they lost it don't
mean it's peace
It's a long way home, it's a lot
to think about
Whole generation, left in doubt
Innocent families killed in the
midst
It'll be more dead people after
this
So I'm glad to be alive and walkin
Half of my platoon came home in
coffins
Except the general, buried in
the Storm
in bits and pieces no need to look
for em
I played it slick and got away
with it
Rigged it up so they would think
they did it
Now I'm home on reserves
and you can bet when THEY call,
I'm going AWOL
Cause it ain't no way I'm going
back to war
when I don't know who or what I'm
fighting for
So I wait for terrorists to attack
Every time a truck backfires I
fire back
I look for shelter when a plane
is over me
Remember Pearl Harbor? New York
could be over,
G Kamikaze, strapped with bombs
No peace in the East, they want
revenge for Saddam
Did I hear gunshots, or thunder?
No time to wonder, somebody's going
under
Put on my fatigues and my camoflouge
Take control, cause I'm in charge
When I snapped out of it, it was
blood, dead bodies on the floor
CASUALTIES OF WAR!
CASUALTIES OF WAR!
CASUALTIES OF WAR!
CASUALTIES OF WAR!
Casualties of War
- MCA 1992 (54492) Casualties of War (Militant Remix) Casualties
of War (Soulpower Remix) Casualties of War (Extended Club Camouflage
Version) Casualties of War (Instrumental) Casualties of War/Relax
With Pep - MCA 1992 (2384) Casualties of War Relax With Pep Casualties
of War - MCA 1992 (2386) Casualties of War (Militant Remix) Casualties
of War (Moor Militant Mix) Casualties of War (Extended Club Camouflage
Version) Casualties of War (Radical Radio Edit) Casualties of
War (Instrumental) Casualties of War (Dub Version) Casualties
of War (Jazz Version)
