Pete Townshend recorded this radio commercial for the United States Air Force while the Vietnam War was raging. U.S. troop levels had reached 463,000 with 16,000 combat deaths to date. Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese civilians had been killed by this point. Were any of them happy, Jack?

The upbeat tone of the music and Townshend’s inane and utterly clueless inducement to “fly the skies, touch the moon and reach for the stars” reduces the Vietnam nightmare to a fairytale vision out of The Little Prince. “It’s a great place to be”...unless you’re on the ground deep-fried in napalm.

I always knew Pete Townshend had his head up his ass I just didn’t realize how far.