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Little Tin Soldier

By BrianRobertNeal

09 September 2006

Lyrics by Kate Bush adapted from "Army Dreamers" Interspersed prose-original.

LITTLE TIN SOLDIER

“My little army boy
Is coming home from B.F.P.O.
I've a bunch of purple flowers
To decorate a mammy's hero.”

*****************
The communication said quite simply that, “It is our tragic duty to have to inform you that yesterday, your son was killed in action.” The rest of the words were lost in my tears. He was dead what else did I need to know.

*****************
“Mourning in the aerodrome,
The weather warmer, he is colder.
Four men in uniform
To carry home my little soldier.”

*****************
They sent a car to take me to the Chapel of rest that he now lay in. My senses were frozen and they registered nothing till I was stood by the open coffin.

******************

"What could he do?
Should have been a rock star."
But he didn't have the money for a guitar.

"What could he do?
Should have been a politician."
But he never had a proper education.

"What could he do?
Should have been a father."
But he never even made it to his twenties.”

**************************
He’d always wanted to be a Soldier, nothing else had interested him. He’d joined up at sixteen and had been in his third year. He looked so small and helpless, I wanted to suckle him.

**************************

What a waste --
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste of
Army dreamers.

***************

He had been knifed to death by an injured enemy he had offered water to. I was told that he would not have felt a thing. Death would have been instantaneous; the man had obviously been a trained assassin.

****************
Tears o'er a tin box.
Oh, Jesus Christ, he wasn't to know,
Like a chicken with a fox,
He couldn't win the war with ego.

*****************
They were going to give him a posthumous award; I’m not sure which, cos I wasn’t listening. I asked them to take me home, for I’d things to do, like clear his room and organise his funeral, he’d given them his soul but they weren’t having his body.

*****************

Give the kid the pick of pips,
And give him all your stripes and ribbons.
Now he's sitting in his hole,
He might as well have buttons and bows.

Reviews

beautiful
Written by Gill21 (566 comments posted) 9th September 2006

A really different and original idea which moved me tremendously. It could have been a scene in a movie actually. I pictured a woman standing still in disbelief, tears streming down her face, these thoughts running through her mind while the song plays in the background. Fair enough not much of it was yours (although i'm not familiar with the song) but you punctuated it beautifully with your own prose and made it your own. I am quite lost for words actually. I simply loved it.
Well done.

Experimental
Written by mishmish (389 comments posted) 9th September 2006

Hi Brian

The prose and the lyrics mix worked well here and made my skin run cold. Death can be dressed up in sympathetic words and flowery prose, but the result is the same...Death is what it is. Final. And somehow, you have have to move on. Mothers who have sons/daughters as soldiers learn that the moment their loved ones enlist, this story showed that very clearly. A stark reality captured here in your piece.

Thank you for this...You've done very well.

best wishes

mish x

Written by Phil (7008 comments posted) 9th September 2006

Moving piece. Your words and lyrics mix very well. You've done a very good job not allowing your text to jar at all with the verses.

For me - a classy piece.

Phil.

Poetry or prose? :)
Written by Fledermaus (3506 comments posted) 9th September 2006

The mix of poetry and prose made that it read as both. Very nice how you used the cold hard and clear prose explained in much more metaphoric poetry. Especially in the second half that works very well.

Hi gill
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 9th September 2006

Kate Bush is a remarkable poet and I resonate to her words. Kate writes to make an emotional impact on her listeners, and on occasion so do I.

This piece has obviously moved you, as I hoped it would.

Thanks for your time and comments,

Brian

Hi MM
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 9th September 2006

"Mothers who have sons/daughters as soldiers", this is written with conviction do you fit into this category?

Once again thanks for your time and comments.

I can't fathom this site; Four reviews one could only dream of getting and 35 hits!

Brian

Hi Phil
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 9th September 2006

Thanks for your time and comments.

"Moving piece"-Army Dreamers has haunted me since I first heard it years ago. Sainsbury's are selling a cheap k
Kate Bush compilation (3.99) which i bought today and the track was on it.

And bang it all happened.

Brian

poignant and powerful
Written by Leo (573 comments posted) 9th September 2006

A great piece of work stitching this together. I very much enjoyed reading this Brian. Very moving.

Furthermore i hadn't realised kate Bush was such a great writer. I will check her out.

Thank you.

Hi Batty
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 10th September 2006

Tihs is the second time I've written a piece of this nature.
The first was called something like, "No illusion left unshattered."

That however merely used the a line/comment combination.

Thank you for your time and comments.

Brian.

Kate and Brian- brilliant
Written by Bottleblondesurfer (3590 comments posted) 10th September 2006

Well no-one is going to accuse you of being unoriginal. What a brilliant way of expressing these feeling: it could have been mawkish but not in your hands. Honest sentiment without sentimentality and only a brave man would use Kate Bush words as they are so powerful and concise but I think yours stand well with hers in a very moving piece (and I am a huge Kate Bush fan so that is a bigger compliement than you know.
It's not often I'm driven to read a piece over again before commenting but I just had to
cheers
BBS

Hi Anne
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 10th September 2006

Praise indeed, to get 6 positive reviews that clearly show that the piece has got home to others is more than one could hope for.

Re KB I must confess I found her last album a bit disappointing.

Brian

Hi leo
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 10th September 2006

Re Kate Bush try a compilation called "The Whole Story" currently available at Sainsbury's for £3.99.

Thanks for your time and comments,

Brian

Written by Bottleblondesurfer (3590 comments posted) 10th September 2006

I thought the same thing about her last album but like all Kate's work it needs repeated playing to get the best out of it. Try playing it again. It's not as obvious as some of her work but after awhile the genius shines through
P.S I owe you a pm I haven't been able to access the site as I said in my email but I'll PM you soon
cheers
A-J

There will always be....
Written by woody44 (777 comments posted) 10th September 2006

Neat idea Brian. Wars? At least they were fighting for something then. Now?...
Saw Kate Bush in concert once. Brilliant.

happy writing
woody

Hi Woody
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 10th September 2006

You, me and Bubbles should form a kate Bush society!

Thanks for your time and comments

Brian

Hi Anne
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 10th September 2006

I was going to re-post my first attempt at using Kate Bush's Lyrics and found that you were one of its few reviewers.

The piece is called, "No illusion Left Unshattered ", do you remember it?

BriAN

Written by MikeMorris (106 comments posted) 11th September 2006

I only wish this and other pieces like it could be put on school curriculae.
But who am I kidding. We read Wilfred Owen at school but still had Hiroshima and Korea and Malaya and Vietnam and Iraq and...and...?
Thanks again for trying to make a difference, Mike

Hi Mike
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 11th September 2006

Thanks for all your time and comments.

Brian

Little Tin Soldier
Written by Josie (2849 comments posted) 11th September 2006

My husband can tell you how it feels - to identify the body of a younger brother, killed in his 20s, having to identify his young playmate who has suffered for 4 days with 98 per cent burns after an explosion. How to live with this knowledge shut inside. Years ago people didn't get the help that they get today, no counselling then. It took him 30 years before he got help and could speak about it. It is no laughing matter. We have been talking about the subject of our soldiers being sent to slaughter in Afganistan this morning, and it brought it all back. But, wherever there is evil in full force, love does find a niche. (See my poem about the small voice).

Well done Brian. You have done well in bringing how people feel to life. There will be many people who will be thinking of the young people killed in 9/11 who never had a chance to do the things they wanted to.

Hi Josie
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 11th September 2006

Thanks for your time and comments.

Brian

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