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Singer dedicates ‘Hey Saddam’ to Soldiers on line
Army News Service ^ | Feb. 4, 2004 | Lee Elder

Posted on 02/04/2004 7:12:21 PM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl


 
Singer dedicates ‘Hey Saddam’ to Soldiers on line

By Lee Elder

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Army News Service, Feb. 4, 2004) -- Like many Americans, country songwriter Dave Gibson was glued to the television and the Internet the Sunday morning when the world learned of Saddam Hussein’s capture.

“I thought to myself, ‘Somebody ought to write a song about this,’” said Gibson, a former front man for the famed country act, the Gibson/Miller Band.

So he picked up his guitar and started playing it. The song was done in two hours.

The result of Gibson’s efforts was “Hey Saddam,” a humorous yet satirical account of Saddam’s capture. The song begins with an electric guitar playing chords from the “Star Spangled Banner” before erupting into a rowdy rebuke of Saddam.

“We recorded it and mixed it in two days,” Gibson said. “It’s the quickest thing I’ve ever done.”

Gibson said what struck him as most hilarious was Saddam’s declaration that he was president of Iraq, to which an Army officer replied, “President Bush sends his regards.”

It became the basis for the song’s chorus, “Our president sends his regards/Just an old-fashioned American greeting card/From the land of the free and the home of the brave/Hey Saddam, I guess it just ain’t your day.”

The song concludes wishing Army units like the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and 4th Infantry Division “high fives and compliments.”

“I really wrote (the song) for the Soldiers over there,” Gibson said. “It’s tough every day getting up and seeing more Soldiers killed.

“They are putting their lives on the line every day, and I thought we can all use a little more humor.”

Besides his work with the Gibson/Miller Band, which was the Academy of Country Music's Best New Vocal Duet/Group Of The Year in 1993, Gibson is a renowned songwriter. He has written five No. 1 country singles for other artists including Alabama (“Jukebox In My Mind”), Joe Diffie (“Ships That Don’t Come In”) and Montgomery Gentry (“Lonely and Gone”).

An El Dorado, Ark., native, Gibson is the son of an Army National Guardsman. He is a University of Arkansas graduate who initially taught school before heading to Chicago to pursue a career as a commercial artist. While there, he began fronting a country band and decided to move to Nashville in 1982 to pursue music full time.

The single, “Hey Saddam,” was released to country radio on Jan. 12. Gibson’s management team has also e-mailed copies of the song to Soldiers serving in Iraq.

One Soldier wrote to tell Gibson he believed the song was “a morale booster for all the troops overseas,” according to Gibson’s manager, Roger Sarchet.

“They just love it,” Gibson said. “I have a real affinity for those guys.

“I’m so proud of them, and I think of them every day. I watch the whole thing over there really closely.”

The song is included on Gibson’s upcoming album, “The Money, The Gun, and The Bible.” Another single on the album also praises the U.S. effort in the war against terrorism.

On “Enduring Freedom,” Gibson sings, “We didn’t come to conquer anyone, but sometimes you have to go out and slay the dragon.”

Gibson says he’s proud of this new ballad. He said he hopes the song will rally citizens to support the war on terror.

“The whole idea of this campaign is to root out these people who are out to get us,” Gibson said. “’Enduring Freedom’ is a song I really want people to hear.

“The song is all about the Soldiers. I’m really, really proud of it.”

Gibson asks listeners to remember those fighting the war on terror before they criticize the war effort.

“Just ask the Soldiers protecting me and you before you take sides, before you criticize/Take a walk in their shoes,” he sings.

Since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the war on terror has taken center stage in several popular country songs including Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning),” Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” and Darryl Worley’s “Have You Forgotten?” While all of these songs hit No. 1 on the country charts, each, in turn, inspired controversy.

For his part, Gibson said he doesn’t want to wade into a political conflict.

“I like to keep politics out of the whole thing,” Gibson said. “I am an American citizen, and I believe that whoever is the president we should support the choices they make.

“These songs are for the Soldiers who put their lives on the line every day. I realize this is an unpopular war with a lot of people, but I like to talk about the Soldiers and why we’re free.”

(Editor’s note: Lee Elder serves as a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command.)

www.ARMY.mil OCPA Public Affairs Home www.ARMY.mil OCPA Public Affairs Home


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: countrymusic; davegibson; decapitation; gnfi; heysaddam; viceisclosed

1 posted on 02/04/2004 7:12:22 PM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl
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To: MJY1288; xzins; Calpernia; TEXOKIE; Alamo-Girl; windchime; Grampa Dave; anniegetyourgun; ...
“Our president sends his regards/Just an old-fashioned American greeting card/From the land of the free and the home of the brave/Hey Saddam, I guess it just ain’t your day.”


2 posted on 02/04/2004 7:17:13 PM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Looking for a web site to this guy and can't find one...would love to hear a clip of this!!!
3 posted on 02/04/2004 7:33:29 PM PST by Jewels1091
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
If he comes out with a single for this song, let us know and I am sure just with our sales, it will be number one in no time.
4 posted on 02/04/2004 7:38:33 PM PST by Cate (Bush is da' man.)
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To: Jewels1091
Me too, I'd love to hear it.
5 posted on 02/04/2004 7:38:46 PM PST by McGavin999 (Evil thrives when good men do nothing!)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl; Jewels1091
Try this audio clip link for a little info on the song and a quick snippet of the song. Click here.
6 posted on 02/04/2004 7:41:03 PM PST by mewzilla
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To: mewzilla; Cate
Thank you!

Cate, check out mewzilla's #6. (^:

7 posted on 02/04/2004 7:56:58 PM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Hey Saddam sample.
8 posted on 02/04/2004 8:07:44 PM PST by LibWhacker (<a href="http://www.michaelmoore.com/">Miserable Failure</a>)
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To: LibWhacker
That's a scream!
9 posted on 02/04/2004 8:13:43 PM PST by armymarinemom (My Son Liberated the Honor Roll Students in Iraq)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Bump!
10 posted on 02/04/2004 9:40:38 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
I like it! Good picture.

11 posted on 02/04/2004 11:18:43 PM PST by FairOpinion
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Bump!
12 posted on 02/04/2004 11:39:19 PM PST by windchime (Podesta about Bush: "He's got four years to try to undo all the stuff we've done." (TIME-1/22/01))
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Even though I grew up in TN., I've never been a Country Music fan (sacrilege, I know. LOL) but I may have to break down and buy this tune and the others.

I did have the pleasure of hearing Darryl Worley sing "Have You Forgotten?" at a troop support rally in Nashville last year, right at the time the song was released. I believe it was the same day of the release, now I think about it. Talk about a crowd being moved! Whew! I have goosebumps thinking about it.

My thanks to Dave Gibson for boosting the morale of the troops with this song!

13 posted on 02/05/2004 1:03:34 AM PST by radu (May God watch over our troops and keep them safe)
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To: radu
I was at that rally! It was a few weeks after he introduced the song.

It was fun! A great crowd even in the wet atmosphere and the muddy park.

I was talking to the police there and we were making jokes about how we were all so polite and left the park cleaner than when we arrived unlike the liberal war protestors.
14 posted on 02/05/2004 1:06:48 AM PST by Fledermaus (Democrats are just not capable of defending our nation's security. It's that simple!)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
“Our president sends his regards/Just an old-fashioned American greeting card/From the land of the free and the home of the brave/Hey Saddam, I guess it just ain’t your day."

~~ Big Bump ~~

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

15 posted on 02/05/2004 8:19:13 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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