No. 79

Rooster - Alice In Chains (1993) Video - Written as an homage to Jerry Cantrell's estranged father, Rooster actually helped to heal the rift. His father was a member of the 101st Airborne in Vietnam. They wore bald eagle patches on their shoulders, but the Vietnamese have no word for eagle, so the closest was the word for chicken or rooster. I imagine a romanticized view a young child might have of his father in battle as I listen to the lyrics.

In 2007, Cantrell's father joined him on-stage for a live performance of the song. The music video led his father to do a 45-minute interview talking about his experiences in Vietnam, which helped them to reconnect. Music that heals:

"Ain't found a way to kill me yet, eyes burn with stinging sweat, seems every path leads me to nowhere. Wife and kids, household pet, army green was no safe bet, the bullets scream to me from somewhere.

Here they come to snuff the rooster, aw yeah, yeah here come the rooster, you know he ain't gonna die.

Walkin' tall machine gun man, they spit on me in my homeland. Gloria sent me pictures of my boy. Got my pills 'gainst mosquito death, my buddy's breathin' his dyin' breath, oh God please won't you help me make it through?"