So ending up this Memorial day, it only seems fitting to have it close with Robert Wyatt and his unforgettable version of the Elvis Costello Classic, Shipbuilding, written in response to the Falkland Islands War in 1982.
Wyatt, founding member of The Soft Machine and the primary force behind a number of other groups from the 1960's onwards, was one of the key figures in the early Progressive Rock movement. Owing to an accident which left him unable to play drums, he has continued to write, produce, sing, play keyboards and has a string of great albums to his credit, in addition to numerous collaborations with everyone from Bjork to Roger Waters.
It's this version of Shipbuilding that is so poignant and the one that ranks as probably one of the best Anti-War songs of the last 30 years. The sentiment is timeless.
And so is Robert Wyatt.
