The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #63920   Message #4175567
Posted By: GUEST,LIzzy
26-Jun-23 - 02:55 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: War Correspondent (Eric Bogle)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: War Correspondent (Eric Bogle)
I know this thread is from a long time ago, but it still comes up in the first page of Google results - thank goodness! (Mudcat to the rescue, yet again!) I downloaded the lyrics pdfs from Mr. Bogle's site, but I could hear a couple of syllables in the line about the cricket that I couldn't get - 'in Perth.' Thanks, Bob, for posting the lyrics from your book! (I may not have allowed for Mr. Bogle's accent...lol)

I've known this song for a long time, but recently I was struck by a set of lines that has only felt so significant in very recent years (especially since late 2020 into 2021, and now again since February 2022, and I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone what events I'm referring to!):

-------
Objectively you watch the war, never taking sides.
What you feel, what you really feel, is hidden deep inside,
For you're not being paid to moralise,
-------

Too many 'reporters' and 'journalists' have forgotten that THIS is their mandate - to report the FACTS, and not their opinions. Yes, explaining the facts is sometimes needed - I recently saw a news segment where the reporter began by relating the history that had led up to the latest development, but interpreting them through their own potentially distorted lens is not appropriate, and TRUTH above all, thank you very much, reporters and journalists! The truth, the WHOLE truth, and NOTHING but the truth.

And I either came up with a good rule of thumb or found it somewhere and have forgotten - if you know what side the reporters or journalists are on most of the time (not their guests, though), then probably best to change the channel/buy a different newspaper. (Of course, there are exceptions - a certain war is being disapproved of by the vast majority of reporters and journalists, and with good reason.)

So, slightly more philosophical/political turn this thread gained, but I just found it interesting and good that what is needed from the media is immortalised in this song.