Imagine a sketched, colored-in image of trumpets blazing atop marching troops and clanking tanks—sounds like pro-war propaganda from World War II, right?  Wrong.  It’s a still image from the video for “16 Words” by Margo Guryan, probably the most impressive and creative anti-war protest song since the turn of the millennium.

Protest songs were abundant during the Viet Nam era.  Marches were common and it seemed natural to bank off these anti-war stances with anti-war songs.  Times have changed.  Pop culture has taken over while mainstream lyrical content has, more often than not, gone from the meaningful to the meaningless.  Many artists remain vocal regarding their anti-war stances, but they often fail to put it to music.  Still, every so often, an artist comes along to challenge these new trends, taking us back to “the good-ol’ days” when the rock stars who protested the war wrote songs to back their stances, songs that were anthems of that generation.  Margo Guryan is such an artist.

It's no surprise, then, to learn she began her career over three decades ago with one release, Take A Picture. She had never planned to self-release.  Rather, she hoped to write songs for others, and for the most part, she succeeded.  However, this one album did slip out.  Now, decades later, she's back in full force. 

In “16 Words,” Guryan takes a sentence from George W. Bush’s 2003 State of the Union speech which preceded the United States’ decision to go to war with Iraq.  These 16 words were the basis for our preemptive strike, the so-called “Shock & Awe” campaign, so it is important to understand their history.  But first, the words:

The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. 

As we now know, these words were a blatant lie.  In his 2002 report to the White House on the matter, Joseph Wilson stated that no such evidence existed to prove that these words were true, even remotely.   In 2003 he published it in a New York Times Op. Ed. titled What I Didn't Find in Africa and later wrote a book called The Politics of Truth.

And the consequences for doing so led right wing columnist Robern Novak to expose Wilson’s wife as a CIA agent—a breach of security as she was undercover at the time of the announcement.  Hence, that information was classified.  This, of course, led to the indictment and resignation of Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby.  It appeared the classified information may have come from the top.

It is important to know this brief bit of history when it comes to "16 words."  To understand the history behind the words helps bring the lyrics into context and allows one to enjoy the song to its fullest extent.

Guryan’s approach in “16 Words” retreats to the beginning.  She does not focus on the current failing strategy or how the decision all along was to wage war against Saddam (I remember, upon the announcement of George W. Bush as the next president in November of 2000, stating “Oh fuck, we’re going to war with Iraq”).  No, she focuses on the lie that drew the United States into a right and steady quagmire.  These 16 words, which Wilson had previously disputed, were a lie and they knew it.

That’s much of the genius behind this song: its simplicity.  And the video, by James Reitano, compliments it endlessly.  The video itself consists of a cartoon-ish journey through a quite politically eerie amusement part—not unlike something you’d expect from a more modern Monty Python.  At one time you travel down a hall of Ann Coulters and Condoleeza Rices, all chanting the lie while a static image of Richard Nixon speaks the words in Bush’s voice.  How much more eerie could you get?

I’ll answer that question: by continuing to believe the lie.

Margo Guryan: MySpace

Margo Guryan: Take A Picture