Posted on 04/13/2003 7:09:48 PM PDT by foreverfree
Songwriter takes shot musically at Saddam
By Robin Huiras
Reading Eagle
As Americans watched U.S. troops help topple a 20-foot-tall statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, local country music artist Pat Garrett was thrilled.
Garrett was pleased with the pace of the war in Iraq, but the singer-songwriter also was happy that the people who felled the statue last week stomped on it afterward.
It was as if they had read his mind or at least heard his latest release, The Saddam Stomp.
We're USA and we're on the way. It's gonna be a romp, you're gonna get stomped, the lyrics say.
Radio stations across the county are playing the song and getting repeated requests for it.
Two weeks ago Billboard magazine charted the country single at No. 66. Last week it slipped to No. 75. New Music Weekly posted the song at No. 65 last week.
Garrett, who has been recording country music for years and frequently writes songs about current events, said a remark by Secretary of State Colin Powell just before the U.S.-led coalition attacked Iraq inspired The Saddam Stomp.
It was the very end of January, and it was near the end of the speech when he said, Saddam, the clock's ticking,' said Garrett, who lives in Upper Tulpehocken Township. I heard that, and I wrote it down and I continued on.
Hey there Saddam, the clock is a tickin'
Better run and hide, or you're gonna get a lickin'
Smoke them big cigars, while you got em,
Cause you'll be living in a cave with Osama Bin Laden.
At the urging of his wife, Suzy Dalton, Garrett booked the couple on a flight to Nashville, where they recorded the song for their Gold Dust label. Within days, they signed a deal with Door Knob Records of Nashville to distribute the album.
Gene Kennedy, owner of Door Knob, said the first time he heard the song, he knew it would be a success.
I flipped out over it personally, Kennedy said. I just thought it was something that the public would adhere to, something that would support our troops and say something that needed to be said.
Garrett couldn't agree more.
The neat part about it is I say what everyone else is thinking, Garrett said. I'm the spokesman for the common man.
His wife added, That's what makes a hit song: putting words to what other people cannot put words to.
Well our President's daddy, let you keep your pride,
But George W. Bush, is gonna cut you down to size
Like many Americans, Garrett and Dalton say they are not pro-war, but they do support the U.S. military.
We're saying if our young men and women have to be there, we're going to be behind them 100 percent, Dalton said.
Radio station programmers, especially those at stations near military bases, seem to share that view, the couple said.
Reports from stations near Fort Hood in Texas and the Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Va., indicate the song is among their most requested, they said.
Some local listeners also consider the song a favorite.
Sam Malone, assistant program director for CAT Country 96 in Bethlehem, said that a few weeks ago the station would receive several daily requests for the tune.
Recently the station has cut back the number of patriotic songs it plays, limiting airing of The Saddam Stomp, Malone said. But people still call and request it by name, he added.
Here's what the song reminds me of: Nobody is happy to be at war, but this puts a little lighter side to it, Malone said. After you're done hearing God Bless the U.S.A.,' then you get to hear something like that (The Saddam Stomp) and it proves that we are still living, trying to have fun and a sense of humor.
Contact reporter Robin Huiras at 610-371-5037 or rhuiras@readingeagle.com.
foreverfree
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