https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2duz_H0jvI With all the anti-war hoopla going on among musicians during the 1960s, you'd think that there would be more blatant anti-war songs. Sure, there are a couple, but, for the most part, musicians seemed content to sing about young love or tripping on drugs. Either that, or they laid so much symbolism on their message that they failed to get said message across. One of the strongest exceptions to this attitude, and one of the most overlooked, is Bob Seger's 1969 tune "2+2=?" Bob Seger's anti-war song takes a dirty, tough melody and uses it to drive its point home. Seger tells us stories of soldiers bloodily killed, their corpses rotting in the mud and of relationships torn to shreds. Seger combines his stories with protests to the politicians who are driving the war, accusing them of being war profiteers. Seger tops everything off with the refrain "two plus two is on my mind." Seger's song is all the more powerful when you consider the fact that, only three years earlier, Seger had recorded a song titled "Ballad Of The Yellow Beret," which made fun of those who protested the war. You can tell, three years later, that Seger was angry that he had believed what he now considers to be lies. "2+2=?" is such strong medicine that it blows any memory of "Beret" out of the water.
Alan Howell is a native of Southern California. He loves movies of any and all kinds, Hollywood, indie, and everywhere in between. He loves pizza, sitcoms, rock and pop music, surfing, baseball, reading, and girls (not necessarily in that order).