|
|
Re: Jodies as resistance (long, with examples)
Mr. E (jackechs@EROLS.COM)
Sat, 17 Feb 1996 16:06:05 -0500
Oh yes ... familiar with all. Brings back memories of freezing my arse off
twice, for some reason only beknownst to the gawds I attend in the winter
months both times. I remember one:
I'm an airborne ranger
live a life of death and danger
if I die on the ole drop zone
box me up and send me home
if I die on the Russian front
bury me deep in a Russian c%$t
I've seen books and tapes that illustrate these very well.
At 12:33 PM 02/17/96 -0800, Judith M S Pine wrote:
>It seems to me that a lot of social commentary goes on in some Jodies.
>>From my own service (Army, 85-89), one that particularly comes to mind
>was a marching Jody that included the following:
>
>used to drive a Cadillac
>Now I pack it on my back
>used to drive a Chevrolet
>now I'm marching every day
>Mama, mama can't you see
>what the Army's done to me
>
>Used to wear my old blue jeans
>Now I'm wearing Army greens ...(memory fails here, but the "mama, mama
>refrain continues throughout)
>******************************************************
>
>There was also a Jody with the refrain "Jody's got your girl and gone",
>referring to the stay behind enjoying all the things the soldier has
>lost. And another which comments on what you do have:
>
>They say that in the Army the pay is mighty fine
>they give you a hundred dollars, and take back 99
>
>oh lord I wanna go, but they won't let me go, oh lord I wanna go home
>
>They say that in the Army, the food is mighty fine
>a biscuit fell off the table and killed a friend of mine
>(alternatively "a chicken jumped off the table and started marking time")
>
>oh lord ....
>
>**************************************************
>
> Sometimes, Jody is constructed as a bad influence, a civilian with whom
>the soldier still has contact. I have a rather vague recollection of a
>Jody in which the soldier confesses to having been down by the railroad
>tracks smoking dope or drinking whisky with Jody. Anyone out there
>remember that one?
>
> I'm familiar with the jodie about killing the little yellow bird, and a
>couple which are directed against/construct enemies. Some still in use
>about "commie Cong", despite being hopelessly out of date. The soldiers
>singing are fully aware of the dissonance between what they're singing
>and current reality, which in a lot of ways makes the continued
>popularity of these jodies scarier. Since I was doing most of this
>singing in a Combat Support unit, not an actual Combat Arms unit, the use
>of fight-and-kill sorts of jodies seems less about being able to do what
>you sing and more about being part of the overall organization. I think
>that most jodies are developed in Combat Arms units and then filter down
>to the CS and CSS units, where they are sometimes revised and adapted and
>sometimes simply sung as recieved.
>
>(For non-vets, the Army divides itself into three sorts of unit -- Combat
>Arms, which is the folks who actually fight; Combat Support, which
>are resources used to do this fighting, in my case that wonderful
>oxymoron Military Intelligence; and Combat Service Support, who
>provide the "beans and bullets", and other logistic support for the first
>two sorts of unit. Not a lot of space for "females" in the Combat Arms,
>which is also the place where promotion is fastest and goes farthest.)
>
> Finally, as I sit here in a damp and grey Seattle, I find myself
>thinking about a Jody with the line "In the early morning rain". Again,
>I can't produce the text, but the subject matter was the individual's
>experience of combat, and creates the sense of being trapped in the
>role of a killer. It seems to me that Jodies are a very complex
>discourse between soldiers and the service, and among soldiers themselves.
>They may have originated as a form of resistance, but they have been
>incorporated into daily life, and into standard training, and made
>acceptable. That does not mean that the subaltern have been silenced. I
>remember hearing about some "women's" versions of jodies, developed in
>response to some of the more explicit men's versions. Never got to sing them
>in a mixed unit, and I _know_ there are some men's versions I was never
>allowed to hear due to my gender. I imagine, though, that some of these
>jodies will gradually creep into general usage, and gradually shift the
>discourse to be more inclusive of women as soldiers, rather than just
>civilians.
>
> Gosh, I just wrote "just civilians", and I've been one for quite a bit
>now. Foucault know whereof he wrote, I have been shaped and molded.
>Still sing jodies to myself, especially when I run. From a functionalist
>perspective, jodies help me ignore the pain in my knees and shins, and I
>have a feeling a lot of soldiers use them this way.
>
>Forgive my rambling.
>
>Judy Pine
>Anth grad
>
>
thank you for your time and space ... respectfully submitted,
Anthony Dean Dauer
"We have met the enemy, and he is us." Walt Kelly (1913-1973), Pogo
Copyright 1996 Anthony Dean Dauer. All rights reserved. Permission
it granted to repost or quote from the copyrighted material to members
of ANTHRO-L, ARCH-L, DOROTHY-L, FNORD-L, FORENSIC, HOUNDS-L, and WRITERS
to the listservs listed or in private mail with the author. However, no
permission is given to modify or otherwise to change the material in
question. All rights to quoted material remain with the orginator.
|