Camilo (4:50)

“Camilo,” is ultimately about a man and war. In October of 2003, Sergeant Camilo Mejia, returned home from Iraq and tried to be a conscientious objector, however he was rejected. A conscientious objector is someone who refuses to participate in military service on the basis of religious or moral principles. Sergeant Mejia was considered AWOL. The first verse explains the life of one man ending. “His eyes shut tight bracing for the blow. Resigning his life to the metal held, in another man’s hand,” explains how this man knew he was going to die and all he could do was shut his eyes and wait. The chorus is about the Sergeant Camilo, or the narrator not wanting to go back to Iraq, and not wanting to be punished for it. It is explained in the lyrics, “And from another land’s war torn corners, to a prison cell in my own. Punish me for not taking your orders, but don’t lock me up for not leavin’ my home.” Camilo does not want to go and fight in this war again. In March of 2004 he turned himself in to military authorities and received nine months in prison. He is telling the government they are locking him up only for the reason that he was rejected to being a conscientious objector and not because he didn’t want to leave his family. “Doorbells are ringing with boxes of bones,” explains to the listener that unfortunately people die when they go into war and then it is the soldiers responsibility to go to the decease’s family and give them the bad news.