American Boys Don't Like To Lose

I went to see the Drive-By Truckers last night. They played for three and a half hours at Webster Hall and, in my opinion, are one of the best bands around. I think Jason Isbell is one of the most amazing singer/songwriters of our time. His songs are just so incredible...they actually hurt me in my heart. There is a song on their website that isn't on any albums save for a Neil Young "protest" record called "Dress Blues." Instead of tired rhetoric on why we shouldn't be in Iraq, Isbell's song is about a Marine who was 22 and died over there. The high school stadium is now filled with mourners, and he hasn't met his baby, and how he joked with his wife about being there two weeks, once saying she would barely miss him. The line "American boys don't like to lose" breaks me.