Dirty

Album: All I See Is War (2018)
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Songfacts®:

  • The opening track of All I See Is War, "Dirty" kicks off with the line, "I'm no stranger to this thing called war." Lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon explained to ABC Radio it was intended to put the listener in the mindset of someone heading off to battle, but it could be military or emotional.

    "I felt like when I was writing that song that it could be a man or a woman going off to war, [or] it could be a kid on a bus," he said. "It could be your grandma on the city bus, seeing things that are going on."
  • Witherspoon explained to Icon vs. Icon why the band titled their record after this song's opening lyric:

    "We didn't realize it until the end of this album, but we said 'war' a lot though the course of it. We say 'all I see is war' within the song 'Dirty'. Funny enough, in this world today, war is a big part of what is going on. I think about the times when I was a kid and how you really only read about old wars.

    Growing up today, war is going on and it's been going on for a while. At the same time, I feel it's a play on words. I don't want to get too political with it, but with the album art, you see the kids playing and still trying to have fun but behind them is fire. For me personally, I feel like that's what's going on. I think people can take it and go with it however they would like."

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