DKM: so much more than great music...

This was originally published October 19, 2005, over on my MySpace blog.
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DKM: so much more than just great music...but Oh what GREAT music!

Because I'm poor, it wasn't till a couple days ago that I was able to buy the Dropkick Murphys' latest album, The Warrior's Code. I promise, I'm not writing a review or a shameless plug for the album; I just want to shard something inside the liner notes that makes me want to sing high praises for the band off of every rooftop in the world.

Track 13 on the record is a song called "Last Letter Home." The concept was that it was to be based on general letters to and from soldiers serving in Iraq. There's a note from the band in the lyrics section regarding this song:

"We had already finished this song that was based on general correspondences to and from the soldiers serving in Iraq, when we were contacted by the family of St. Andrew Farrar who had recently died while serving there. The family wanted to tell us he was a big supporter of the Dropkick Murphys. They also passed on a letter that he had written to his mother shortly before his death in which he thanks her for sending him a Dropkick Murphys CD & said that if anything should happen to him while in Iraq, he would like one of our songs played at his funeral. He also left behind a wife, Melissa and two young boys Tyler and Liam. His tour of duty in Iraq was coming to an end & he was due to come home & renew his wedding vows with Melissa to another song of ours, "Forever." Sgt. Farrar died on January 28th, his 31st birthday. We were present at his funeral to grant his wish and played "Fields of Athenry" as his casket entered the church. This song was re-written to include excerpts from that letter."

I have long respected DKM as a band who does way more than just pay lip service to causes they believe in. This is one of many examples of how they do this. They've even released a ballad version of "Fields of Athenry" that they recorded for Sgt. Farrar's funeral. 100 percent of the proceeds from this CD go to a memorial fund in Sgt. Farrar's memory. (See the band's website for more info.)

In an age where bands hop on bandwagons for causes in which they don't really believe, DKM is a shining beacon of hope for humanity. They know, through their upbringing, that people are obligated to use their gifts to help others; they employ the power of music to make life better for their fans. This is from their website:

"In addition to hopefully bringing people together for a good time, we hope to share some of our experiences and beliefs in working class solidarity, friendship, loyalty and self- improvement as a means to bettering society (i.e. You can preach till you're blue in the face but if you're lying in the gutter no one's gonna listen. If you pick yourself up by the bootstraps and live your life to the best of your ability you may set an example that others will follow) THE POWER OF YOUR EXAMPLE IS FAR GREATER THAN WHAT YOU SAY!"

I'm out.