Sadr Don't Surf

Quite possibly the most legendary line in cinematic history is from Apocalypse Now when Robert Duvall says "Charlie Don't Surf". I always struggled to understand what it symbolized about the Vietnam war and that era in history. When I was driving out of the Nevada desert in 2001 after Burning Man, a melodic song by the Clash came on the radio. I dig the Clash, but this song wasn't very punk, just kind of strange. It's tough to decipher the bizarre meaning, but here's the lyrics:

Charlie don't surf and we think he should
Charlie don't surf and you know that it ain't no good
Charlie don't surf for his hamburger Momma
Charlie's gonna be a napalm star

Everybody wants to rule the world
Must be something we get from birth
One truth is we never learn
Satellites will make space burn

We've been told to keep the strangers out
We don't like them starting to hang around
We don't like them all over town
Across the world we are going to blow them down

CHORUS

The reign of the super powers must be over
So many armies can't free the earth
Soon the rock will roll over
Africa is choking on their Coca Cola

It's a one a way street in a one horse town
One way people starting to brag around
You can laugh, put them down
These one way people gonna blow us down

CHORUS

Charlie don't surf he'll never learn
Charlie don't surf though he's got a gun
Charlie don't surf think that he should
Charlie don't surf we really think he should
Charlie don't surf
Charlie don't surf and we think he should
Charlie don't surf and you know that it ain't no good
Charlie don't surf for his hamburger Momma
Charlie don't surf

During these troubling times, the song has been stuck in my head for some reason. So I decided to modify the tune to "Sadr Don't Surf". Seems applicable.

Sadr don't surf and we think he should
Sadr don't surf and you know that it ain't no good
Sadr don't surf for his Imam martyr
Sadr's gonna be a Qom rockstar

Everybody wants to rule Iraq
Let 'em fire another rocket attack
But for us, it's just no fun
EFPs and 240s from Iran

We've been told to keep the Mahdi Army out
We don't like them starting to hang around
We don't like them all over town
Across Baghdad we're going to blow them down

Chorus

The reign of reason must be over
The coalition can't free the earth
Soon the miltia will turn over
Oil money to the Ayatollah

It's a one way street in Mr. Sadr's town
Masked people starting to run around
You can't give them cash to keep them down
These one way people gonna mow us down

cuz
Sadr don't surf and we think he should
Sadr don't surf and you know that it ain't no good
Sadr don't surf for his Imam martyr
Sadr's gonna be a Qom rockstar

H/T to The Clash.