Ryan Sings About His Views On Iraq

After many months of being stationed in Iraq, Ryan Conklin created a musical lament of how he felt about being there. It's a song he wrote about some of the things make him him unhappy about the experience. To showcase the song, Ryan also recorded a performance video of himself singing it, showing him in various scenes around his Army base.

Ryan chose a rap music style for the piece (in sort of a Gettysburg version of hip-hop), but he does an excellent execution of it. The accompaniment parts are topnotch, especially considering they are all vocally produced. The refrain of "this place blows" that Ryan sings melodically is memorable and will stay in your head for awhile. The repeated punch word of "Iraq" fits perfectly with the musical theme, using drawn out and striking stress and intonation.

Oh, as if it were possible to be any other way, Ryan of course looks mighty fine throughout.

The song mentions several subjects that are of concern to Ryan. These include the understandable things, such as the terrible heat, the fear of being attacked, the lack of food quality and variety, and the weight of protective equipment. There is also the unfortunate situation with the uniform, which doesn't blend in or go with anything, and the military-issue boots that are not as good for the feet as are commercially available ones.

Ryan also adds some issues that are meant to be light-hearted. For example, men's magazines with scantily clad women are popular, but they lead to long occupations of port-a-potties as the men use the magazines there as an aid for masturbation.

Ryan's greatest expression of frustration is focused on his experience with the Iraqi army. He relates several difficulties that he has had in his interactions with them.

Finally, an important message contained within the song is a call to President Obama to make good on his promise to withdrawal troops from Iraq. The message requests that he do so soon so that the U.S. military personnel in Iraq can return home as quickly as possible and enjoy the simple satisfactions of life once more.