As a young teenager I enjoyed watching the US war TV series 'Tour of Duty'. It was the close friendship the Vietnam soldiers maintained that made the show what it was. Every week I sat in front of the television to watch the 'adventures' (it's a little wrong to call it adventures, this is war and not quite Indiana Jones) of Zeke Anderson, Danny Percell, Marcus Taylor, Ruiz, Duncan and, of course, Myron Goldman. The show didn't focus on the actual war cruelties on fight, but more on other issues such as racism, suicide, fragging, terrorism, civilian deaths and drug abuse. It made the series human. What also heaviy featured was the music of the era. Sixties music. The theme song was 'Paint it black' by the Rolling Stones. This song will forever be connected with how the helicopters landed on the field and the actors jumping out with their shot guns and Zeke looking back over his shoulder, pausing and showing the name of the actor (Terence Knox, in case you're interested). A few years later I was at a Rolling Stones show and waited patiently until they played this song and went nuts for the few minutes it took. The show was a huge success in the Netherlands and was shown on Veronica, then still part of the Public Network. They knew how successful it was, not just the show but also the music and always being a music pioneer (Veronica originally started as a pirate radio network, making radio from a ship at sea, just outside Dutch waters), they released a few compilations, releasing the music from the TV series, a mighty fine collection of the most delicious sixties tracks. Even as a young teenager I wasn't too keen on 'modern music', so that cassette bought from my own money was played constantly. As always, the first part was better than the follow ups. And on that tape was Buffalo Springfield with 'For what it's worth'. I instantly fell in love with that song and I'm both surprised and worried about how valid the words still are today.
I had to think about that just now, as it played on the radio. I had to think of the TV series. I decided to share this song here. Very fitting to my sixties mood I'm in at the moment. Enjoy this (sadly) timeless classic.
