JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN (1971)
1. “For democracy, any man would give his only begotten son.”
2. Belle & Sebastian – I Fought In A War
3. “Attendant personnel will remember that good medical care forbids emotional involvement with a patient. Avoid such an involvement by remembering that it is impossible for a decerebrated individual to experience pain, pleasure, memory, dreams, or thought of any kind. It follows, therefore, that this young man will be as unfeeling, as unthinking as the dead until the day he joins them.”
4. Mazzy Star – Into Dust
5. Spokane – Able Bodies
6. “What is democracy?” “Well, I was never very clear on it myself. Like every other kind of government, it’s got something to do with young men killing each other, I believe.”
7. Bruce Springsteen – My Father’s House
8. “There’s a game out there, and the stakes are high. And the guy who runs it figures the averages all day long and all night long. Once in a while he lets you steal a pot, but if you stay in the game long enough, you’ve got to lose. And once you’ve lost there’s no way back. No way at all.”
9. Crooked Fingers – Broken Man
10. “All aboard! Next stop: New York, Atlantic Ocean, and Paris, France!” “Come on boys, on your feet. We’ve got to make that train.” “Are you going with us?” “Of course. I’ve got lots of trains to handle. Lots of dead men. So many dead men, you wouldn’t believe it.”
11. Tom Waits – Down There By the Train
12. Antony & the Johnsons – I Fell In Love With a Dead Boy (edit)
13. “I can’t understand what he’s doing.” “It’s Morse code.” “For what?” “S.O.S. Help.” “Do you mean to say that this man is actually speaking to us?”
14. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Rifles
15. “I’m having a nightmare that says I’m real. Wake me up, mother, and tell me I’m not real.”
16. Sonic Youth – The Ineffable Me
17. “What’s he saying?” “He says, ‘Kill me.’ Over and over again, ‘Kill me.’” “Tell him we’ll do everything we can to make him comfortable. For now he needs rest. Tell him we’ll give him a sedative and come back later.” “He won’t wait for an answer. All he says is, ‘Kill me…kill me…kill me.’”
18. The Earlies – One of Us Is Dead
19. “I guess it always comes down to that. Each man faces death by himself. Alone.”
20. Billy Bragg – My Youngest Son Came Home Today
21. Clark Gault et al. – When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Dalton Trumbo’s novel, Johnny Got His Gun, was originally published in 1939, on the cusp of World War II. Thirty-two years later, in 1971, Trumbo himself wrote the screenplay for and directed the film adaptation. It gained additional exposure in 1989 when clips of the film were used in the music video for Metallica’s song, “One,” which was written about the film. Apparently, rather than negotiate for use of the clips, the band simply bought the rights to the film.
The film tells the story of Joe Bonham, a young American soldier who has been severely injured in World War I. Prior to the beginning of the film, he is hit by a shell and loses not only his arms and legs, but also his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. The doctors believe Joe to be in a vegetative state, but he has retained his consciousness and ability to reason. However, he is wholly unable to communicate with the outside world. As the film progresses, carried along by his inner monologue, Joe drifts through memories and nightmares as he attempts to cope with being trapped within his own body. Among Joe’s visions are recollections and images of his girlfriend, Kareen, and of his childhood with his father. He also envisions himself and other doomed soldiers talking with Jesus (played by Donald Sutherland), who ushers the soldiers onto a train of the dead. With Jesus at the helm, the train hurtles into oblivion.
Joe finally receives benevolence from a kind nurse, and he manages to communicate with the doctors by twitching his head in Morse code. He asks that he be placed in a freak show, so that people can view him as an example of the horrors of war. However, he soon realizes that the doctors will not grant his request, and instead asks to be euthanized. This request, likewise, goes ungranted and Joe comes to the horrid realization that he will likely remain in his current state for the rest of his life.
Dalton Trumbo himself was aligned with the Communist Party USA beginning in the late 1930’s. He was one of the “Hollywood Ten,” a group of professionals that testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 as part of an investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry. Trumbo refused to give up information to the committee and was blacklisted, convicted for contempt of Congress, and served eleven months in a federal penitentiary.
A couple of notes: Throughout the mix I have edited down some of the audio clips for the sake of brevity, or just to serve my purposes. And despite the fact that the Billy Bragg track contains lyrics referencing Ireland rather than America, I felt like it was still very apt for the mix. There were several other songs that I had really wanted to use as well but I had to work hard to keep it under an hour, or I just couldn’t find the right place for them in the mix (namely Loretta Lynn’s “God Makes No Mistakes”).
Yeah, not exactly the most uplifting of mixes, but I hope you find it compelling or listenable in some way, or at the very least that I conveyed some of the horror and despair depicted in the film. The film hasn’t been commercially available in the US since the VHS era, though it is available in other regions or, presumably, through less legitimate means.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/zjcd8f
