Alice in Chains - Rooster - [1993]

I didn't really know of Alice in Chains until their legendary Jar of Flies came out, but that quickly got me interested in the rest of their catalog. Rooster [video | lyrics] wasn't a huge hit when it came out, only peaking at #7 on US Mainstream Rock Tracks, but since then it has become a classic 90's tune.  Most know it, most love it, but considerably less know the story behind it.

I guess if you have seen the music video you have an idea, but I never saw it and probably wouldn't have grasped the meaning as I was 11.  It's a pretty graphic video and seems like an outtake from Platoon or Apocalypse Now. The father of guitarist/singer Jerry Cantrell was a member of the 101st Airborne Division deployed in Vietnam between 1965-70. Rooster is Jerry Jr.'s perception of what his Dad went though during that time.

Ain't found a way to kill me yet
Eyes burn with stinging sweat
Seems every path leads me to nowhere
Wife and kids household pet
Army green was no safe bet
The bullets scream to me from somewhere

...

                                             My buddy's breathing, his dying breath

Oh god please won't you help me make it through? 

The family had always called Jerry Cantrell Sr. "Rooster" due to the way his hair stood up mohawk -style when he was younger, and the nickname followed him into the war.

Here they come to snuff the rooster
Yeah here come the rooster, yeah

 You know he ain't gonna die
No, no, no, ya know he ain't gonna die

His father never spoke about the war to the rest of the family, so the writing of this song was an attempt by Jerry to reach out to his father. The interview that was used for scenes in the video, was the first time his father had ever spoken about the war and first time he heard it played in the studio he broke down crying.

Walking tall machine gun man
They spit on me in my homeland
Gloria sent me pictures of my boy
Got my pills 'gainst mosquito death

It's hard to describe this, but after hearing a soldier's sad thoughts of kids at home while experiencing the horrors of war, and then knowing he got spit on when he finally did get back, is overwhelming to me.  "Gloria sent me pictures of my boy," mentioned in the second verse is obviously Jerry's Mom, Gloria Jean Cantrell, who sent off pics of their son to Jerry Sr. while he was deployed.

The "pills" he mentions for "mosquito death" were anti-malarial pills all soldiers were ordered to take referred to as 'CP pills' (Chloroquine and Primaquine) though Dapsone was also used in other areas.

Fastball - The Way - [1997]

Yea I know, a lot of people think 'The Way' by Fastball [video | lyrics]is super cheesy, but its yet another catchy pop tune with a very cool chord progression that is quite fun to play.

But this upbeat, poppy and happy-sounding song about a couple that shrugs their kids and responsibilities to walk off in the sunset to live the rest of their lives together, in love was loosely-based on a odd true story. These lyrics pretty much sum up the song version of the story:

 
"Anyone can see the road that they walk on is paved in gold
Its always summer, they'll never get cold
They'll never get hungry, they'll never get old and grey
You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere
They won't make it home, but they really don't care
They wanted the highway, they're happier there today
Their children woke up, and they couldn't find them
They left before the sun came up that day
They just drove off and left it all behind 'em
But where were they going without ever knowing the way?"
 

Unfortunately, most of the facts that are changed are the happy parts. Though not all the exact facts are not known to this day, the true story that is known is much weirder than these lyrics imply. The real couple was Lela and Raymond Howard who drove from their home in Hot Springs, AK, a quick 15 mile trip to a fiddling festival.[1] They never arrived though, and were never seen alive again. The local cops and forest service coordinated to search a 1,000 mile radius of their home. 

The bodies of the couple, along with their crashed car, were eventually in the discovered in the middle of nowhere East of Buffalo Gap, TX, 350 miles from their Arkansas home (map). The question in the song "Where were they going without ever knowing the way?" is certainly interesting to think about. Also, it was later discovered that Raymond had been involved in a serious car accident which had left him with some slight mental issues which may have contributed to the incident.  

The song itself is not exceptional, the lyrics really aren't anything special, but the fact that this dude could take such a grim subject and view it in the best possible light is something we could all do a bit more of. 
So now that you know the story, go listen to the song again and feel cool.

[1] http://goo.gl/ynCbua