Talk:Have You Forgotten?

Purpose
There has been a minor, unnoticed edit war about the purpose of this song. Personally, I'm inclined to think that it probably was written in support of the war in Afghanistan and not Iraq, as Iraq really wasn't heavily in people's minds when the song came out, but I have no basis for that. Can anyone cite a reliable source where Mr. Worley or one of the writers, etc. clears it up one way or the other? TysK 02:21, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

The song came out not long after the invasion of Afghanistan, and the song was directed at people who didn't think we should fight a war on terror at all. "This war" refers to the overall war on terror, not the Iraq War. Defense Mechanism (talk) 01:39, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
 * The song came out in March 2003, during the runup to the disastrous Iraq war. The Afghanistan war started in late 2001... 71.200.102.171 (talk) 20:24, 11 September 2008 (UTC)


 * At the risk of someone screaming "original reasearch", just look at the lyrics. For example: "I've been there with the soldiers Who've gone away to war". Clearly, since the song was released BEFORE the invasion of Iraq, he is talking about those who had been to Afghanistan. He also mentions bin Laden specifically 3 times. And there is a quote that shows he was talking about Afghanistan in the article. Niteshift36 (talk) 20:32, 11 September 2008 (UTC)


 * This was at a time when 60% (or some such ridiculous number) of the American people thought there was a Saddam+9/11 connection. Furthermore, the only real debate at the time was Iraq or not -- we were already in Afghanistan and nearly everybody agreed that we should be there.  Yes, the song references soldiers in Iraq -- it's part of the attempt to portray iraq as a needed continuation of the war against bin laden.   Full lyrics here: http://www.lyrics007.com/Darryl%20Worley%20Lyrics/Have%20You%20Forgotten%20Lyrics.html
 * At the time the song was released, liberal opinion site Salon wrote "The song's premise? The best way for Americans to avenge the terror of Osama bin Laden is to wage war on Iraq ... In interviews, Worley has tried to be cute about the song's real meaning". http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/music/feature/2003/03/11/worley/ 71.200.102.171 (talk) 00:41, 16 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Worley himself said it was about Afghanistan. I think the writer knows more about his intentions than the people at Salon Niteshift36 (talk) 03:26, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Of course Worley *knows* more about his own intentions than other people, but that doesn't mean he is being honest about it. The entire purpose of the song is to convince people to support a war, and if he was really trying to convert the 2% of Americans who were against the War in Afghanistan at that time, then writing a song about it would have been pointless. The only way to get 300 million people to agree on something is by using magic. There, I said it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.58.76.109 (talk) 06:12, 12 October 2010 (UTC)


 * In his song video, Iraq War protesters are seen as he sings, "I hear people sayin. 'We Don't need this war.' I say there's some things worth fightin' for." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6yLQRF-cEU&ob=av3n

The plain purpose of the song was to blend together Iraq and Afghanistan into a unitary "war on terror," and to question the moral fiber of people who opposed the Iraq invasion. The song was released in the Spring of 2003, when the United States had already been in Afghanistan for nearly a year and a half, but was only on the verge of invading Iraq. The video featured footage of of Iraq war protests--clearly identifiable as such, just before treating us to lyrics such as "They say we don't realize the mess we're getting in/ Before you start your preaching let me ask you this my friend." The mess we're getting in? That can only mean Iraq, as the reference to "the ones behind bin Laden" almost certainly does. But far be it from me to start my preaching! I'll leave that to Mr. Worley. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.47.2.157 (talk) 01:37, 7 September 2011 (UTC)

I remember when this was released. It was definitely meant to support President Bush's reasoning for tying the Iraq War into the War On Terror. By using the notion that Saddam Hussein was a major supporter of Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. But at the time, there absolutely were people who protested the Afghanistan campaign and the whole idea of a War On Terror. The Michael Moores and Susan Sarandons of the country, who couldn't wait to compare any military campaign to the Vietnam War. Those were the ones being addressed in this song, with the emerging anti-Iraq invasion protest scene being accused of not wanting to protect us from terrorism. It was a common view among conservatives at the time, especially talk radio hosts. What seemed like a logical conservative pro-war statement in 2003 looks foolish and dishonest in 2014, considering how things unfolded. So basically, this song is a "yes, Iraq is a part of the War On Terror" song. 162.72.15.42 (talk) 17:08, 19 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Too bad that the actual evidence says otherwise. Worley has clearly stated it was about Afghanistan. Until you can provide more than opinion otherwise, it isn't getting changed. Niteshift36 (talk) 18:17, 19 July 2014 (UTC)

Word choice
It would be more encyclopedic-sounding if an adjective other than ass-load was used.

Copyright problem?
Isn't quoting the entire lyrics of a song (see diff) normally a copyright violation? Mermaid from the Baltic Sea 23:13, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

"The song was considered one of the worst of 2003, due to its deliberate conflation of the Iraq War with the September 11 attacks, which were not related."
I've deleted the above statement, because it seems to be nothing more than an NPOV opinion and contradicts the rest of the article: can the song be considered one of the "worst" if it reached #1 in a national music chart? The quote in the second paragraph specifically says that the song is about the war in Afghanistan and not Iraq. Was this sentence entirely based on the opinion of just one music critic? That seems to be insufficient justification for including it in the article. Adam McMaster (talk) 17:29, 11 January 2010 (UTC)

"Have You Forgotten" not only by Darryl Worley. There are more than ONE song with the same title
There are several songs with the title "Have You Forgotten", So linking to a specific song by ONE (!) Artist is incorrect and misleading. e.g. 1981 - À La Carte; 1996 - Red House Painters; (and of course also) 2003 - Darryl Worley ... and maybe more. It looks like there is only one who made a song with this title. Please change it to an overview / list with the artist or bands who made such a title, or add the year in the wiki title. Thank you. Greetings, --Merlus (talk) 10:03, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Have You Forgotten? which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 18:48, 19 October 2023 (UTC)