I f i was in Baghdad then i would rock Iraq

Posted by - michael franti 11:44:53 06/05/2004

one of the first things you notice in Baghdad is the sound. it roars with engine noise and exhaust. the reason for this is that every bulding has a diesel generator in front of it because no one has electricity. or water for that matter since the bombing began.

we went out to lunch at a traditional iraqui restaurant. we had been warned by our handlers that Baghdad is a place of absolute lawlesness. everyone carries a gun. civilian and soldiers a like. you see them everywhere. on hip holsters, tucked into pants, slung over the shoulder. some are held together with duct tape, some are shiny and new. security is the word on everyones lips. people cannot walk the street or go out at night without fear of being robbed and shot or raped or some other horrible thing.

people here say that before the war they lived in fear of sadaam but there was no crime. today they say there is crime everywhere and they are tired of the abuse and killing by the occupying forces. most people i spoke to said they want them to leave and deal with the problems of their nation by themselves.

we told our handlers that i wanted to meet musicians and everyday people. they said it would be difficult. we went into a neighborhood where the driver was from and had a beautiful iraqui meal. afterward i offered the owner of the restaurat one of my songs. he agreed and we fetched my guitar. i started to sing for him and soon the doorway of the restaurant was filled up with onlookers from the neighborhhod who looked on with curiosity. our handlers had warned us in advance that many people do not know how to relate to foreigners and may be threatened by them and shoot them. luckily the crowd liked the song and had never related to foreigners in anyway before and were happy at them. they clpped to the beat and in the end we were invited tto the hopuse of some people down the block. the man who invited us was a christian living in a formerly jewish owned building, in a muslim nneighborhood.

we talked about the war and he told me about how he huddled with his family in his basement (which was dank dark and small) as pieces of a blown up bridge nearby fell on the roof of his home from blocks away. he told me about the pain and frustration of unemployment in Baghdad. the house had filled with many other families from his building and in the end i gave him a cd, and he gave me a framed photo of the virgin mary.

on the way back to the hotel i saw so much more bombing and so many more barricades and soldiers in tanks. i sat and watched two men play backgammon for a while before someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked if i had a real guitar. he just happened to be from HOT FM baghdad. the first independent radio station in iraq, their slogan "irock- iraq". i went to the station and they played bomb the world. we dont.dtop, rock the nation and two new songs never playe don the radio any where before. i know i'm not alone and yell fire.

one of the guys from the station played guita and we had a killer jamsession together.

i burned my foot bad yesterday at the dead seaso by the time 10 o'clok rolled arounf i had no more enrgy, but on the walk home h stopped to talk to about to about ten G.I's at a check point. and made tentative plans to do an impromptu, performance for them tomorrow.

i'm fallin asleep....michael