Lyrics for Sixteen Military Wives as interpreted by themunkel

Sixteen Military Wives Lyrics
Sixteen military wives
Thirty-two softly focused, brightly-colored eyes
Staring at the natural tan
Of thirty-two gently clenching, wrinkled little hands

Seventeen company men
Out of which only twelve will make it back again
Sergeant sends a letter to five military wives
His tears drip down from ten little eyes

Cheer them on to their rivals
Because America can
And America can't say no
And America does
If America says it's so
It's so
And the anchorperson on TV
Goes la-di-da-di-da

Fifteen celebrity minds
Leading their fifteen sordid, wretched, checkered lives
Will they find their solution in time?
Using fifteen pristine moderate liberal minds

Eighteen academy chairs
Out of which only seven really even care
Doling out a garland to five celebrity minds
They're humbly taken by surprise

Cheer them on to their rivals
Because America can
And America can't say no
And America does
If America says it's so
It's so
And the anchorperson on TV
Goes la-di-da-di-da-didi-didi-da
La-di-da-di-da-didi-didi-da

Fourteen cannibal kings
Wondering blithely what the dinner bell will bring
Fifteen celebrity minds
Served in a leafy bed of sixteen military wives

Cheer them on to their rivals
Because America can
And America can't say no
And America does
If America says it's so
It's so
And the anchorperson on TV
Goes la-di-da-di-da-didi-didi-da
La-di-da-di-da-didi-didi-da

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themunkel
03-01-2005

Rated 0 
This song's off the new CD, out March 22, enjoy. :)

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skyphilis
03-01-2005

Rated 0 
i thought it was called 16 by 32...

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surfwaxcanada1
03-01-2005

Rated 0 
it is called 16 by 32... :)

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surfwaxcanada1
03-01-2005

Rated 0 
it is called 16 by 32... :)

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themunkel
03-01-2005

Rated 0 
all fixed, thank you.

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Imposs1ble
03-06-2005

Rated 0 
"Sixteen Military Wives" End of story, it's not called "16 by 32," I know the leaked version has it labelled as such, but that is incorrect.

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Biscuits
03-27-2005

Rated 0 
Actually it's "16 Military Wives" according to their site, but whatever...Cool song. Reminds me of classic Decemberists mixed with a little bit of Belle and Sebastian and a lot of New Pornographers.

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fadetoflashes
03-31-2005

Rated +2 
Wow, you guys all really seem to know the meaning of this song.

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marshmallowfellow
04-08-2005

Rated 0 
it's an anti war song. end.

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wrat
05-07-2005

Rated 0 
The cannibal kings are the consumeres of U.S. cable "news" broadcasts and the "la-di-da" dishes of misery their anchorpersons serve out to entertain higher ratings. Thsi is the modern version of the Beatles classic "A Day in the Life" whose narrator "loves to turn (you) on" the news to get a laugh about "rather sad" events.

This song is not really about the war in Iraq or the academy awards. There could just have easily been verses about Terry Schiavo, the death of the Pope, or having to count four thousand rather small holes in Blackburn, Lancashire.

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wrat
05-07-2005

Rated +1 
Updating my own comments.. it's not just a dish of misery that is best for the diet of the cannibals, but a balanced meal of vapidness and misery, as the line below makes clear:

"wondering blithely what the dinner bell will bring
fifteen celebrity minds served in a leafy bed of sixteen military wives"

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Heather200408
06-17-2005

Rated 0 
this is one of the best anti-war songs out there no doubt.

it basically says whatever america says-goes no matter what. and the media reports bull shit and the celebs speak their liberal opinions but have no idea what the hell their talking about, and how men go to war, most of the don't return alive.

I love the irony though, it has a happy upbeat tempo yet its dogging out america and the war..

I love this band!!!

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Ice
06-17-2005

Rated 0 
I believe the song is called "16 Military Wives" . . . the iTunes release has it labeled as 16 by 32, and I'm not sure why.

Although the song can be applied to many events, if you've seen the music video (an excellent video!) it seens to clearly be about the iraq war.

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Louie1462
07-08-2005

Rated 0 
Unlike Heather, I find this song rather complete. It does portray the ruthlesness of the media and their corrupt reporting. Also, the song talks about America doing what it does because it wants to. I suppose that if you're not an American you wouldn't truly understand why we do that. I'm proud to live in a country that does what it thinks is best, instead of kneeling to other countries agendas. The song is good, I do like it. It does have a kind of twist to it that is refresing, however the lyrics are a sharp reminder of sacrifice. I'm especially intersted in it's reference to the loss of life. When it talks about the soldiers not coming back again. I suppose that some one has to fight for Iraq's freedom, unfortunantly the USA and a few other valiant countries are the only ones willing to do it... and if our boys die in the line of duty than it was our choice, so why should you care? Attempting to stay on topic I could see how this anti war song could be empowering to those opposed to America's aggressive attitude, however I smile... because in America I can.

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Louie1462
07-08-2005

Rated 0 
Just a follow up to my last message, and Heather's Post. She says that most of the men don't return alive, when in the song it says 12 of the 17 men will return.

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Ne Plus Ultra
07-19-2005

Rated 0 
If you see the video, it becomes even clearer that this song isn't anti-war so much as commentary, or even satire, on America's fuck-what-they-think attitude.

@Louie: You said "I'm proud to live in a country that does what it thinks is best, instead of kneeling to other countries agendas." I suppose that would make everybody else pussies right? Perhaps standing up for what you believe in doesn't involve forcing everybody else to agree.

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mattd23
07-20-2005

Rated +1 
I guess that does make everyone else pussies. Especially the French. Damn frogs.

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type44
08-01-2005

Rated 0 
The video does make it clear. The US representative is the leader and most people blindly followed his word. Toward the end, they realize that the US is actually wrong to do whatever they say, especially because they like to go to war for no reason (in the video they go to war against Luxembourg with no stated reason).

The song is pretty much about how we (the people of the US) tend to listen to whatever the media says and some of the other countries in the world follow us as well. But in the end they will probably realize how stupod they were to follow. It also seems like they touch on how anyone who doesn't listen to us will be made fun of and alienated.

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.partly.cloudy.
08-10-2005

Rated 0 
Colin Meloy, the frontman of The Decemberists, has a degree in creative writing, which makes me wonder if there is some sort of relationship between all the numbers used in this song. 16 miltary wives, 17 company men, 15 celebrity minds, 18 celebrity chairs, 14 cannibal kings.. one number never mentioned is 13.. (un)lucky thirteen.. anyone have any ideas?

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allofmylove68
08-15-2005

Rated 0 
all i could figure out is that 16 by 32 is 0.5 i cant find anything else though. other than the numbers 14,15,16,17 and 18 all being in it.

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rpupkin77
08-22-2005

Rated +2 
The song isn't exactly anti war inasmuch as it is a commentary on how events and messages get muffled and distorted through the filters of the media.

It seems to be anti-liberal as much as it is anti-war.

As for the video, it seems to me that it is a very literal interperation of a certain aspect of the video.

BTW, the phenomenon described by the song are not unique to America.

The tail wags the dog the world over.

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kid with a camera
09-07-2005

Rated 0 
the song is not anti-liberal at all.

When he talks about the actors and their "pristine moderate liberal minds", hes basically make fun of all the celebrities who are just liberal enough to get attention in the media. For example, Paris Hilton, a lead spokesperson for VOTE OR DIE and come time to voting, she wasnt even registered, and she "forgot".
thats a big part of what the song is about.

So its not anti-liberal

But it is definitely anti-war and anti-imperialism

AND I LOVE IT

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Hyperbole
12-18-2005

Rated +1 
This song is clearly about the Iraq war, the Elite's repsonse to it, the media's coverage and the American public's reaction.

Fairly topical commentary, really.

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crazyeyeskilla
12-19-2005

Rated 0 
Obviousyl a dig at American foreign policy and George Bush. I can't believe the so called World Power voted in such a buffoon as a president. He's painful to watch on tv and does he(or the hillbillies who voted him in) really believe the crap he says. I think we're watching the fall of the Roman Empire all over again. Move over US, I think I hear China limbering up on the sidelines. Oh yeah, A GREAT SONG, TOO!

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loganrapp
12-29-2005

Rated 0 
Clearly, crazyeyeskilla, you just want to believe that your beliefs are reflected in the song, rather than looking at it critically and try to truly figure out what it means.

How about the dig about "pristine moderate liberal minds?" I don't see a single thing about the conservatives who pushed for the war and voted for Bush. Do you? Really, if you're going to talk about what a song is about, take your personal politics out, as well as the personal insults. Go start a flamewar elsewhere.

What the song means to me is simple: The pointing out of inconsistencies of people jumping out in front of the camera and speaking about what they know nothing about. "Pristine moderate liberal minds." "Pristine" by definition means clean, or uncorrupted. Take the first definition and literally they're calling celebrities with their "causes" airheads. Take the second definition and they're sarcastically referring to how celebrities present themselves in front of the camera as uncorrupt individuals.

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