2155. “That Man I Shot” by The Drive-By Truckers
Album Cover Video:
I would propose that Patterson Hood’s “That Man I Shot” is absolutely the classic song from this album. It may be one of the most powerful statements about the cost of war that was recorded in the last ten years.
Hood writes:
I was only a kid when we were over in Vietnam, but I somehow did learn a lesson or two from it. I never so much wanted to be proven wrong in my beliefs as with our current situation, but the evidence so far seems to support that it ain’t working out too good for anybody. Now, we’re just trying to save face, at the expense of many young lives that could be ordered to serve our country in more productive ways. Seems our band has some fans over there and we’re always moved by the stories of really fine folks who are sacrificing so much for our privileged existence. The man in That Man I Shot probably doesn’t agree with a lot of my viewpoints, but I tried to be true to what he said and how he said it. You don’t have to agree with someone to respect them and that seemed to run both ways with us. As a writer, it’s not my job to agree or disagree and certainly not to judge. It is my job to be as true to the character’s voice as humanly possible and to tell the story accordingly.
Hood suggests that this song was basically inspired by the story of a man who came backstage and spoke to him at one point.
While Hood does clearly have his own point of view about the war, I think he does succeed in making the soldier’s point of view clear without editorializing on the situation. You can listen to the song and feel empathy for the man regardless of your view on the war - but you can’t ignore the fact that war has its impact. What you choose to make of this is your own business.
Musically, this is one of the hardest rocking songs on the album, in a way that is appropriate for its subject matter. This is a song that could be about almost any soldier in any war. I imagine it will only grow in stature in the coming decades. We’ll see.