Guerilla Soldier [Lawrence Gowan]

Guerilla Soldier
Written by Lawrence Gowan
Lead Vocals by Lawrence Gowan

Guerrilla Soldier born in Santo Domingo
U.S. Marine down from him home up in Maine
Big Red Machine rolls in patrolling the jungle
All of them baking under tropical rain
Six long months in a forest wasteland

Scenes of terror so fresh and ripe
Found a place to come face to face
Like the gutter-snipes
Whether you like it or not
There ain't no end in sight

For another thousand days
Will it all be over
And another thousand nights
Will the job get done
For another thousand days
Will it all make history
And another thousand nights
Will the war be won

Guerrilla Soldier gives a smile for the camera
U.S. Marine says hi to mom on the news
Big Red Machine shows how to move in a straight line
Would be a shame to see
Should one of them lose

Eighteen months in a foreign wasteland
Scenes of terror still fresh and ripe
Found a place to come face to face
Like the gutter-snipes
Whether you like it or not
There ain't no end in sight

For another thousand days
Will it all be over
And another thousand nights
Will the job get done
For another thousand days
Will it all make history
And another thousand nights
Will the war be won

Interpretation

In the early 1980s the U.S. was involved in helping the guerillas in Central America fight against communist regimes in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala as part of the final decade of the Cold War.  The Big Red Machine is a reference to the Soviet Union and their military assistance to the communist countries, and the U.S. and U.S.S.R. fought proxy wars by supporting opposite sides in what would otherwise be small regional conflicts.