wordplay: Orangepeelmoses.com
When the film version of the musical Hair hit theatres in 1979, Mike Doughty was there. It impacted the future lyricist in a profound way. “Sodomy” has a tendency to do that to you. While on a visit to D.C.’s Walter Reed Army Hospital just last year, Doughty met a few Iraq War amputees. Vets missing limbs in the flesh inevitably moved him. “Fort Hood”, the opening cut on his second record for Dave Matthews’ ATO label, was inspired by that heart-wrenching experience. No other U.S. Army base has suffered more casualties than Fort Hood, Texas. For the chorus, Doughty appropriated Hair’s “Let the Sunshine In” refrain. It just felt right. After all, his eardrums had been raised on hip hop’s co-opt happy culture. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? He even went so far as to name drop a modern hip hop artist--Young Jeezy--in the final line of the final verse.
"It sounded best, of all the things somebody could hang out in a gas station parking lot blasting. Maybe Toby Keith would have been another more ironic choice."
April 23rd @ The Fox
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