I never knew the song Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town was about the war. All this while, I’d always thought it was about this call girl named Ruby who was cheatin’ on her man and sleeping around. Oh and she wanted to escape to town *lol*

I guess it’s kinda selective perception – I’d only always focused on the ‘Ohhhh Rubyyyyy … Don’t take your love to town’ line.

Until today, that is.

When I was sitting in the car, waiting for my colleague to ta pau some iced cold coffee (yep, early in the morn), it just struck me that the guy was singing about him being injured from the war and his girl Ruby wanting to leave him cause of it.

You’ve painted up your lips
And rolled and curled your tinted hair
Ruby are you contemplating
Going out somewhere
The shadow on the wall
Tells me the sun is going down
Oh Ruby
Don’t take your love to town

It wasn’t me
That started that old crazy Asian war
But I was proud to go
And do my patriotic chore
And yes, it’s true that
I’m not the man I used to be
Oh, Ruby I still need some company

Its hard to love a man
Whose legs are bent and paralysed
And I won’t serve the needs of a woman your age
Ruby I realize,
But it won’t be long i’ve heard them say until I not around
Oh Ruby
Don’t take your love to town

She’s leaving now cause
I just heard the slamming of the door
The way I know I’ve heard it slamming
Some 100 times before
And if I could move I’d get my gun
And put her in the ground
Oh Ruby
Don’t take your love to town

Oh Ruby for God’s sake turn around

Ouch, ain’t it? Here the poor fellow almost dies for the country and his bird doesn’t even have the decency to stay with him till he poofs off. Sigh.

Anyway, I was free enough to search for this old video of a barely recognisable Kenny Rogers (only cause we see him as a wrinkly man with a beautiful white beard now) singing this song with his band way back when:

I guess my point here is just that even then, they were singing about the war and people dying and relationships being torn apart, not to mention way too many widows and sexually inactive women being left behind.

What’s the difference now?

I’m not going to preach and ask for the war to stop cause inherently, we’re talking about basic human nature. No matter how educated or knowledgeable we are, humans ARE bloodthirsty, gore hunting animals … to even debate that would take forever.

It’s just sad, though, isn’t it … we should totally so know better by now.