Masters of War

So while the Cher fan club is still in lock down, I make a different kind of Cher-related purchase today. I bought a copy of the documentary “The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends.” News reports this week have Cher promoting this documentary, trying to get 5,000 copies into the hands of active US soldiers abroad.

Patricia Foulkrod made the film about the soldier experience from recruitment to discharge, in particular—about the difficult experience of returning home from Iraq.

Allegedly the US military has prevented Cher’s distribution efforts to soldiers. I forwarded these reports and a film review to a close friend of mine who has worked closely with the Veterans Administration office in Los Angles and is well trained in the claims process.

We’re going to watch this documentary so we can have a heated debate for the benefit of all Cher scholars. We’ve already discussed the issue of the distribution block. The problem might be due to the fact that the US government is unable to accept any kind of gift distributions or perceived political distributions of any kind by law, whether positive or negative. They can’t even accept free tickets to pro-vet events. I’ll debate this and other issues raised in the movie concerning possible gaps in benefits for returning soldiers and other perceptions about VA support.

If the military believes the documentary is an activist piece, many reviewers do not. Christopher Cambell says the film tries to be apolitical: “…to think of the film primarily in terms of politics would be unfair to its subjects, the vets who are simply looking for an outlet.” Read the full review.

Here is a synopsis of major reviews to date on the film which have mostly been good:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_ground_truth/

You can order a copy for yourself here: http://thegroundtruth.net/. Ten percent of the proceeds go to another project Cher is passionate about: Operation Helmet.

This week I also received a Cher care-package from fellow Cher scholar Robrt Pela: a home-made bootleg of the unreleased Cher album from 1968, “Backstage.” Cher recorded a smattering of anti-war songs back in the 60s during the Vietnam War era (mostly Dylan-covers), but my favorite was the in-your-face “Masters of War.” I recently heard Mike Stinson do a good version of this song at the Cinemabar on Sepulveda in the Culver City area of LA. I’ve always loved the lyrics and Cher’s passionate punctuation of certain lines, especially the final ominous ones.

Masters of War
by Bob Dylan

Come here masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothing
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like the Judas of old
You lie and deceive
This world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You can fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As the young people’s blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You’ve thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
A fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain’t worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
And I’m younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death will come soon
Well I will follow your casket
In a pale afternoon
Well I’ll watch while you’re lowered
Into your death’s bed
And I’ll stand over your grave
Till I’m sure that you’re dead

These lyrics were found on the Russian Cher site: http://lyrics.procher.org/.