Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Hero's Song (Brendan James)
2. American Terrorist (Lupe Fiasco)
3. Light Up Ya Lighter (Michael Franti)
4. Guerilla Radio (Rage Against The M)
5. Son Of A Bush (Public Enemy)
6. Empty Walls (Serj Tankian)
7. Let Them Eat War (Bad Religion)
8. White People For Peace(Against Me
9. Letter From Iraq Bouncing Souls
10. War Dilated Peoples
11. Overcome The Recapitulation RX B
12. Fields Of Agony No Use For A Nam
13. Bushonomics Talib Kweli & Cornel
14. The 4th Branch Immortal Techniqu
15. B.Y.O.B. System Of A Down
16. No More (Live) Eddie Vedder/ Ben

Disc 2:

1. Devils & Dust Bruce Springsteen
2. Masters Of War (Live) Pearl Jam
3. When The President Bright Eyes
4. Gimme Some Truth John Lennon
5. The Restless Consumer Neil Young
6. Battle Hymns The Nightwatchman
7. Anthrax Kimya Dawson
8. WMD Blow Up Hollywood
9. State Of The Union David Ford
10. Yo George Tori Amos
11. Love Vigilantes Laura Cantrell
12. Black Rain Ben Harper
13. To Kill The Child Roger Waters
14. Day After Tomorrow Tom Waits

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2136 in Music
• Released on: 2008-03-18
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Explicit Lyrics, Soundtrack

Amazon.com
Body Of War is an intimate feature documentary about 25-year-old Tomas Young, who was paralyzed from a bullet to his spine while serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq. His story about dealing with his disability and finding his own unique and passionate voice against the war so moved Eddie Vedder that he wrote the song No More for the film. That song headlines the 2-CD set Body Of War: Songs That Inspired An Iraq War Veteran, a musical anti-war statement that spans genres and generations, from country to punk, hip-hop to Modern Rock. The songs collected here are the sounds that have helped to inspire me and keep me going as I struggle to find the strength to deal with my new physical limitations while trying to find the energy to fight when many parts of my body and brain are telling me to stop.... Each song you hear you're hearing because I found a meaning in it that helped focus a number of emotions and turn them into something that I hope will ultimately be positive.(Tomas Young)

Customer Reviews

buy this CD, and see the movie
Full disclosure: I'm a child of the 60s, now nearing 60 myself, and my musical tastes are what you'd might guess. So most of disc one are not my cuppa tea - I say most because track 14, "The Fourth Branch" by Immortal Technique is a revelation - I keep playing it, can't get enough of it, it's almost hypnotic in its combination of musicality and politics, which are broad, deep, and acute. It's worth the price of the disc. But the second disc, to me, is gold - Pearl Jam's cover of "Masters of War" is ground-shaking. I'm in love with this disc. And do yourself a favor, go see the film and take everyone you know with ya.

Motivate.
I do not need this music, more of a jazz guy, but I still want to give props to the guy its for. Music is such a big part of what people in the military use to help them cope, it is fitting that this man who has made near the ultimate sacrifice, shares his with us. Thank you.

The Soundtrack of a Generation
I came upon this compilation after watching a Bill Moyers special on PBS about the documentary "Body of War." I haven't had a chance to see the film yet, but from the clips I saw on television it looks to be a sensitive and politically conscious look at some of the human costs of the Iraq War.

Tomas Young, the protagonist of that documentary, assembled this compilation album and he's done an amazing job. The term "protest song" has a pejorative ring these days, especially among people who forget that "The Star-Spangled Banner" was a kind of protest song in its day. These are songs that speak to our time, and to the profound agony into which this senseless war has hurled our country, but that doesn't make them any less powerful, beautiful, or affecting as songs. As long as war, hypocrisy, and the abuse of power remain a part of human life the themes addressed in these songs will remain timeless. And as long as soldiers keep coming back from Iraq in wheelchairs and body bags, as long innocent Iraqi civilians lose their lives by the thousands, the wounds that these songs yearn to soothe will remain open and raw.

The music spans a range of genres, styles, and moods, from the lilting melancholy of Brendan James's opening track "Hero's Song" to the pounding rage of Fields of Agony's "No Use for a Name" to the edgy, lyrical irony of David Ford's "State of the Union." Legends like Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits share billing with relative newcomers. Nobody (with the possible exception of Young himself) is likely to love every single song in a collection as eclectic as this, but there's really something for everyone, and I guarantee that you'll find at least one track here that you've never heard before, but that speaks to you as strongly as anything else in contemporary music. Highest Recommendation.