Soldier is a song written and recorded by

Harvey Andrews Harvey John Andrews (born 7 May 1943 in Stechford, Birmingham) is an English singer-songwriter and poet. Andrews has produced 16 albums singing his own songs, many of which have also been recorded by other artists. Andrews began his career i ...

in 1972. It was released as the B-side of the single "In the Darkness", and later featured on the album ''Writer of Songs''. An event inspired the song in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. In 1971 ,

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

Michael Willetts of

3 PARA The 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (3 PARA), is a battalion sized formation of the British Army's Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom), Parachute Regiment and is a subordinate unit within 16 Air Assault Brigade. Roled as an Airborne forces, Ai ...

cleared a room in

Springfield Road The Springfield Road () is a residential area and road traffic thoroughfare adjacent to the Falls Road in west Belfast. The local population is predominantly Irish nationalist and republican. Along parts of the road are several interface are ...

RUC Police Station of civilians because the

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

had planted a bomb with a short burning fuse. After the room had been cleared, an Inspector who helped local people flee then slammed the door to the room which contained the bomb, but realizing the door was not strong enough to absorb the blast, he pressed his body against the door, shielding the people on the other side. The charge exploded, and he was seriously injured. Sgt Willetts, whose post was actually down a hall, heard the screams; instead of saving himself, he choose to run toward the bomb after shouting orders to another soldier to evacuate upstairs. He was left with a man and woman with their two children. He pushed them into a corner and stood between them and the bomb. A chunk of metal from a locker was blasted into the back of his head, and he died on the operating table two hours later. As his and other bodies were carried out Irish Republican supporters clapped, jeered, and sang rebel songs to the disbelief of other soldiers and police. Michael Willetts The incident so struck Harvey Andrews that he wrote the song to highlight the senselessness of violence and to make the point that soldiers, too, are human, and that Sgt Willetts had laid down his life for people who considered British soldiers to be nothing more than "murderers". (The incident of the soldier embracing the bomb was poetic licence.) Broadcasts of Andrews' record were banned for some time by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

lest feelings be exacerbated in the nationalist community of Northern Ireland, or the British public be incited to attack innocent Irish people. The

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

advised British soldiers not to sing the song in pubs where it may incite strong emotive behaviour. Some have interpreted this as a ban. Harvey Andrews' authorship is not always widely known, and many incorrect stories about the song's origin circulate. Harvey Andrews intended the song to transcend

sectarianism Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or Religious violence, religious conflicts between groups. Others conceiv ...

, but some have wrongly interpreted it as glorifying military heroism. The song's merits were debated in ''

Folk Review ''Folk Review'' (known as ''Folk & Country'' for its first four issues) was a British magazine dedicated to folk music, founded and edited by Fred Woods until its final two issues - which were edited by Bill Caddick. The magazine appeared monthly ...

''. It was criticised by

Leon Rosselson Leon Rosselson (born 22 June 1934, Harrow, Middlesex, England) is an English songwriter and writer of children's books. After his early involvement in the folk music revival in Britain, he came to prominence, singing his own satirical songs, i ...

for "catastrophic naivety", and

Dick Gaughan Richard Peter Gaughan (born 17 May 1948) is a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter, particularly of folk and social protest songs. He is regarded as one of Scotland's leading singer-songwriters. Early years Gaughan was born in Glasgow's Ro ...

compared it unfavourably to Andrews's song "Hey! Sandy". Sales of the record "In the Darkness" / "Soldier" could not keep up with demand in

. A record shop on

Shankhill Road The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast ...

broadcast the song by loudspeaker, and subsequently sold 5000 copies. Harvey Andrews has voiced some regrets over the song's legacy for the Troubles:

References

{{Reflist
Brummie heroes. Harvey Andrews

External links

(mp3 clip)
Songs about the military Songs about soldiers Songs about The Troubles (Northern Ireland) 1972 songs Songs banned by the BBC