Isbell wrote this song after hearing about the death of Marine Cpl. Matthew D. Conley, who was killed at age 21 in Iraq in February 2006 along with 2nd Lt. Almar L. Fitzgerald when their Humvee rode over an improvised explosive device. At the time of his death, Conley, who was a football star at the Alabama high school Isbell attended, had been scheduled to go home in a matter of weeks to be reunited with his wife, who was pregnant at the time with their first child. “I knew Matt Conley not very well, he was a few years younger,” Isbell explained to Uncut magazine in 2014. “I was coming off a tour with the (Drive-By) Truckers, and I called my mom and she told me about his funeral, which she’d attended that day, and when I got home I wrote ‘Dress Blues’ in a time it takes to write it down on a piece of paper.” “Dress Blues” segues between scenes from the hometown funeral procession held for Conley and the hypothetical scenes of his reunion with his family and friends that would have taken place in a fairer world. Isbell finds the telling details in both of these scenarios, details that only a fellow hometown boy would know, such as the “scripture on grocery store signs” or the party that would await his return: “You’d turn twenty-two and we’d celebrate you/ In a bar or a tent by the creek.” Along the way, Isbell asks a series of questions of his former acquaintance. There is curiosity in Isbell’s tone, even a hint of wonder, when he poses the opening query, “What can you see from your window?” It morphs into concern when he asks, “Did you get your chance to make peace with the man/Before he sent down his angels for you?” And, finally, a kind futile disgust arises when he asks his final question: “What did they say when they shipped you away/ To fight somebody’s Hollywood war?” Isbell could easily have left that last bit of editorializing out of the song and still had a moving tribute, but the guts he shows by including it is fitting, especially considering the courage Conley displayed. The final chorus would prod tears from a robot: “Nobody here could forget you/ You showed us what we had to lose/ You never planned on those bombs in the sand/ Or sleeping in your dress blues.” Surely some believe that somewhere Matthew Conley is aware of “Dress Blues,” in awe, like the rest of us who’ve heard it, at the towering tenderness of this eulogy in song. And, just as surely, some would argue that such songs shouldn’t be necessary, that a life so full of promise should never be extinguished in war, humanity’s most unfortunate invention. That both of those views can find purchase in the song is the ultimate tribute to its genius.
Well said. I think though, that his editorial is appropriate. As you mention of man's most distasteful invention of war. And I, a veteran who served aboard ship in the Persian Gulf has seen the fruits of this invention.
There isn't much Jason does that I don't love, but this song is special. A tribute to a friend and to all the boys/men who answered the call for their country. He was a Marine!
This is one of the best live performances I've seen. So dramatic and focused, so full of righteous sadness and anger for the pain of the family and the town
Stopped by after years of avoiding this song. 11 Marines, 1 Corpsman, and a Green Beret were killed in Afghanistan yesterday. This song helps and hurts at the same time.
This is a masterpiece - few, if any, can match Jason in telling a story through song. I hope he’s been able to play this in Stillwater, OK; I have never been anywhere else in the country that takes patriotism more seriously. Picture a scene where they never have to say “Please rise” or repeat “he was a Marine.”
This is so beautiful. Bless the Marines, the Soldiers, the Airmen, and the Seamen who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and who still suffer hardships so that we can lead safe, fulfilling lives here in the States.
As an old Marine combat veteran I always thought that there were only two types of people who could understand Marines; 1. Marines 2. The enemy they fight. Jason just might be a third. In any case this a very moving peice of art and I am now remembering (as if I could ever forget) the faces of every young Marine I couldn't bring home alive. I guess I've got a hell of a night ahead of me...
Simply one of the most gracious and respectful songs ever. Every one of us has at least 2-3 people in our lives that this reminds us of and we need to share it with the people who don't know how to express what Jason said.
Beautiful, touching, heartfelt song. All you folks with your arguments about the war: let it go. This song is about losing a friend, at a young age. It happened to me, and you never forget the friends of your youth. We just get older, having our personal problems, living our lives, wishing and hoping. They don't have to deal with any of this. They just lay there, forever young in our memories, alive in our dreams. Or, in the case of Mr. Isbell's friend, "asleep in his dress blues".
This is not anti-. this guy died for his country and what it stands for he served as a United States Marine honorably in a Corps that i hold dear to my heart. He died so those beside him could live. That is an honor not many Americans can have bestowed upon them.
@@asherhayes2429 omg I made that comment 15 years ago and I still stand by it. I don’t have time to look at your profile, but feel free to let me know when you have a body of work on the level of Jason. Or even one song. Yeah, do that
@@chellerose no I think you misunderstood me I love Jason. He’s one of my favorite artists right now. I was talking about the last part of your comment, he’s not so freakin young anymore. He’s like 45 now but his voice is, in my opinion, even better than it was 15 years ago.
@@asherhayes2429 Got it. Only thing, he is still young! It’s all about our spirit and journey, not the number of years on this earth. Jason is timeless in his writing. Thank you for clarifying for this 56 year old 😝😘
Of all the songs in the world written about the war, this one still brings me to a sobbing wreck every time. I'll listen to it knowing damn well that I'm gonna cry. I miss my brothers in arms. Even the ones I didn't have the honor of fighting alongside. I love them all. They are me and I am them. We've done and seen things normal people couldn't do. It wasn't hate. It was love. I miss them all, and I live every day trying to lead by example in their honor. US Airborne Infantry, Ret (Med) 24 y/o
Yeah, he's the real deal. I was lucky enough to get to see him "making his bones" with the DBT. Then I saw him with the 400 Unit last April. Dammit, boy! He just gets better and better! May Jason live to rock for a while longer.
Not sure exactly why exactly but the recorded version that showed up on his first solo album doesn't come close to being so moving to this performance.
SEMPER FI, Jason and to your friend Matt. Marines: WE LIVE LIKE SOLDIERS, TALK LIKE SAILORS, AND SLAP THE HELL OUT OF BOTH OF THEM. WARRIORS BY DAY, LOVERS BY NIGHT, PROFESSIONALS BY CHOICE, AND MARINES BY THE GRACE OF GOD. Ben Weihrich USMC '69-'79 TEXICAN by Birth MARINE by Choice SEMPER FI
This is such a beautiful song. I cried. You guys have such an amazing way of putting emotion into your songs and making me feel things that I didn't know a song could make me feel
In Memory of Army SSG Michael Lammerts who paid the Ultimate Sacrifice while Serving In Afghanistan 04/03/11... God Bless you Mike and Thank You for your Service. You will not be forgotten ♥
Semper Fi. Proud to have served alongside my brothers in India Battery 3/11. Thanks to those who did and didn't make it back - and thank you Jason Isbell.
Amazing song! I can't believe I only now heard this. I know that news stations across the southeast picked up this story, being an especially sad one; he was a week away from coming home to celebrate his 22nd birthday and recent marriage, and had a baby on the way. A roadside bomb took his life while he was training his replacement. We in the US sleep in peace because so many young men like this are 'sleeping in their dress blues'. Semper Fidelis, Brother.
simply a beautiful and poignant protest song. This guy is truly an american gem. always loved his contributions to DBT and will follow his solo career as closely.
I wasn't aware this WAS a "protest" song; commenting on loss and grief doesn't make it a protest song. People who support the troops have lost loved ones and they grieve like everyone else. Doesn't mean they're against the war, necessarily.
@GunnerMan23 - True statement. I imagine (and I can only imagine) that Jason I. had the same feeling when he wrote this that E. Clapton had when he wrote "Tears In Heaven". Sounds like a songwriter mourning the loss of a friend to me. That's all we listeners need to hear and anything else has nothing to do with it.
@ThePathologist123 It's pretty simple, actually. It's based around G, Em, C, and D. The arpeggio follows the G chord pattern. I could make a lesson for it if you want.
I had to pull my car over the first time I heard this on the radio in 2011, about a month after I got back from Afghanistan. "...bombs in the sand, and sleeping in your dress blues," was indeed a thunderbolt out of a sea of meaningless, empty pop and country on the radio.
it wouldn't be right to have the Drive-By Truckers members sensor their true beliefs, and in turn express their true emotions as well as they have in song. That is what makes them special. If you don't like it, take it with a grain of salt. Would you ask the same of all of Neil Young's songs? Or Rage Against the Machine? It's a good thing artist's still hold the creative hand in this modern world.
@gogoandywolf Well said sir, thanks for your service. ( my pop was 101'st Airborne Ranger in '69 ). I was 21 in 1990 when I joined the Corps after seeing our flag being burned in Iraq on tv. after coming home from work,well...it damned well pissed me off ! For to me, our flag represents all that have fallen,and the survivors still dealing w/ war everyday,since they entered combat. Back to the song,basically at that time, I figured if I died...why not be buried w/ Dress Blues. ^ l l { l\l
![Summer Walker - Heart Of A Woman [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SFddctbZzw8/mqdefault.jpg)
Isbell wrote this song after hearing about the death of Marine Cpl. Matthew D. Conley, who was killed at age 21 in Iraq in February 2006 along with 2nd Lt. Almar L. Fitzgerald when their Humvee rode over an improvised explosive device. At the time of his death, Conley, who was a football star at the Alabama high school Isbell attended, had been scheduled to go home in a matter of weeks to be reunited with his wife, who was pregnant at the time with their first child.
“I knew Matt Conley not very well, he was a few years younger,” Isbell explained to Uncut magazine in 2014. “I was coming off a tour with the (Drive-By) Truckers, and I called my mom and she told me about his funeral, which she’d attended that day, and when I got home I wrote ‘Dress Blues’ in a time it takes to write it down on a piece of paper.”
“Dress Blues” segues between scenes from the hometown funeral procession held for Conley and the hypothetical scenes of his reunion with his family and friends that would have taken place in a fairer world. Isbell finds the telling details in both of these scenarios, details that only a fellow hometown boy would know, such as the “scripture on grocery store signs” or the party that would await his return: “You’d turn twenty-two and we’d celebrate you/ In a bar or a tent by the creek.”
Along the way, Isbell asks a series of questions of his former acquaintance. There is curiosity in Isbell’s tone, even a hint of wonder, when he poses the opening query, “What can you see from your window?” It morphs into concern when he asks, “Did you get your chance to make peace with the man/Before he sent down his angels for you?” And, finally, a kind futile disgust arises when he asks his final question: “What did they say when they shipped you away/ To fight somebody’s Hollywood war?”
Isbell could easily have left that last bit of editorializing out of the song and still had a moving tribute, but the guts he shows by including it is fitting, especially considering the courage Conley displayed. The final chorus would prod tears from a robot: “Nobody here could forget you/ You showed us what we had to lose/ You never planned on those bombs in the sand/ Or sleeping in your dress blues.”
Surely some believe that somewhere Matthew Conley is aware of “Dress Blues,” in awe, like the rest of us who’ve heard it, at the towering tenderness of this eulogy in song. And, just as surely, some would argue that such songs shouldn’t be necessary, that a life so full of promise should never be extinguished in war, humanity’s most unfortunate invention. That both of those views can find purchase in the song is the ultimate tribute to its genius.
Well said. I think though, that his editorial is appropriate. As you mention of man's most distasteful invention of war. And I, a veteran who served aboard ship in the Persian Gulf has seen the fruits of this invention.
I was in Iraq in Feb of 06, out in Anbar, working with Marines - the first time I heard this song it brought me to my knees. I kid you not.
He was a Marine...He was a Marine...He was a Marine!!! I cry every damn time.
Just heard this for the first time....hit like a thunderbolt. I came home from Iraq in 2006....somedays it feels like I didn't.
I was there 2006, 2007 and 2008. Here we are.
Ben S, Thank you for your service to our great country. All the best.
Don't be proud of what you've done.
I was at this show...right up front...to Jason's left. Gave me chills then, and still does. One of the best songwriters we have today.
Me too! Front row.
Semper fidelis, marine. One of the greatest lyricists of our generation has penned another tear-jerker.
One of the best written songs in the world... He was a Marine!
No comments have been censored.
There isn't much Jason does that I don't love, but this song is special. A tribute to a friend and to all the boys/men who answered the call for their country. He was a Marine!
This is the video that turned me on to Isbell. In my opinion the best singer/songwriter/ rocker out there today.
This is one of the best live performances I've seen. So dramatic and focused, so full of righteous sadness and anger for the pain of the family and the town
Drinking sweet tea in Styrofoam cups ....been there done that. What a lyric
Stopped by after years of avoiding this song. 11 Marines, 1 Corpsman, and a Green Beret were killed in Afghanistan yesterday. This song helps and hurts at the same time.
My hero is an artist who spits the truth...
I was at this show, greatest concert ever. This was a touching moment. Isbell really did make the band a lot better.
This version!! Tears in my eyes even though I have heard this song dozens of times.
Every damn time!
Brought this old Marine to tears too.
This is a masterpiece - few, if any, can match Jason in telling a story through song. I hope he’s been able to play this in Stillwater, OK; I have never been anywhere else in the country that takes patriotism more seriously. Picture a scene where they never have to say “Please rise” or repeat “he was a Marine.”
Semper Fi! Brought this old Marine to tears.
Was an honor, Semper Fi
This is so beautiful. Bless the Marines, the Soldiers, the Airmen, and the Seamen who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and who still suffer hardships so that we can lead safe, fulfilling lives here in the States.
Semper Fi gents. Awesome, touching, and chilling tribute.
Chilling. You did this right, Jason Isbell. You did this right.
This is an amazing version of this song!
As an old Marine combat veteran I always thought that there were only two types of people who could understand Marines;
1. Marines
2. The enemy they fight.
Jason just might be a third. In any case this a very moving peice of art and I am now remembering (as if I could ever forget) the faces of every young Marine I couldn't bring home alive.
I guess I've got a hell of a night ahead of me...
Thank you and many others that served. My dad was in Vietnam And my wife’s dad die over there.
My brother was a Marine, as was my husband's brother. I appreciate every soldier if course, but there's just some extra special about the Marines. 💕
Jason's songs are my favorite ones on the last 3 DBT albums. Danko/Manuel and Goddamn Lonely Love are my top played songs.
I was so sad to hear Jason left DBT, but Sirens is proof enough that Jason can hold his own. Now I have two amazing artists to follow! Lucky me....
8 people forgot where their hearts and souls are... amazing song, and Semper Fidelis.
Simply one of the most gracious and respectful songs ever.
Every one of us has at least 2-3 people in our lives that this reminds us of and we need to share it with the people who don't know how to express what Jason said.
Beautiful, touching, heartfelt song.
All you folks with your arguments about the war: let it go. This song is about losing a friend, at a young age. It happened to me, and you never forget the friends of your youth.
We just get older, having our personal problems, living our lives, wishing and hoping. They don't have to deal with any of this. They just lay there, forever young in our memories, alive in our dreams. Or, in the case of Mr. Isbell's friend, "asleep in his dress blues".
This is devestating. Jason, as a songwriter myself, it is everything that I strive for. Thank you for writing this. And thank you for sharing.
This is not anti-. this guy died for his country and what it stands for he served as a United States Marine honorably in a Corps that i hold dear to my heart. He died so those beside him could live. That is an honor not many Americans can have bestowed upon them.
ISBELL raises the bar on songwriting! hands down one of best out there! and he's so freakin young!
Not anymore he isn’t
@@asherhayes2429 omg I made that comment 15 years ago and I still stand by it. I don’t have time to look at your profile, but feel free to let me know when you have a body of work on the level of Jason. Or even one song. Yeah, do that
@@chellerose no I think you misunderstood me I love Jason. He’s one of my favorite artists right now. I was talking about the last part of your comment, he’s not so freakin young anymore. He’s like 45 now but his voice is, in my opinion, even better than it was 15 years ago.
@@asherhayes2429 Got it. Only thing, he is still young! It’s all about our spirit and journey, not the number of years on this earth. Jason is timeless in his writing. Thank you for clarifying for this 56 year old 😝😘
God bless Jason Isbell and the truckers.
Of all the songs in the world written about the war, this one still brings me to a sobbing wreck every time. I'll listen to it knowing damn well that I'm gonna cry. I miss my brothers in arms. Even the ones I didn't have the honor of fighting alongside. I love them all. They are me and I am them. We've done and seen things normal people couldn't do. It wasn't hate. It was love. I miss them all, and I live every day trying to lead by example in their honor.
US Airborne Infantry, Ret (Med)
24 y/o
Sorry you lost your friend, God bless you. A very moving song.
Wish I was here
Oou-rah. What a beautiful, sad song. We are the 1% that stands that post.
beautiful, and poignant ... thank you for sharing that heartfelt performance
This is one of the best songs ever written by anyone, anywhere.
Yeah, he's the real deal.
I was lucky enough to get to see him "making his bones" with the DBT.
Then I saw him with the 400 Unit last April. Dammit, boy! He just gets better and better!
May Jason live to rock for a while longer.
brings a tear to a glass eye
Slow hand salute Jason
unbelieveably beautiful... from an amazing songwriter as well as an amazing person
As a Marine I gotta say y'all forgot the 3'rd type. Corpsmen, hell they understand us better than we do sometimes.
Not sure exactly why exactly but the recorded version that showed up on his first solo album doesn't come close to being so moving to this performance.
SEMPER FI, Jason and to your friend Matt.
Marines: WE LIVE LIKE SOLDIERS, TALK LIKE SAILORS, AND SLAP THE HELL OUT OF BOTH OF THEM. WARRIORS BY DAY, LOVERS BY NIGHT, PROFESSIONALS BY CHOICE, AND MARINES BY THE GRACE OF GOD.
Ben Weihrich
USMC '69-'79
TEXICAN by Birth
MARINE by Choice
SEMPER FI
All men were created equal. Some became sailors. And thank you for your service from this old salt.
Simply amazing tribute.
This is such a beautiful song.
I cried.
You guys have such an amazing way of putting emotion into your songs and making me feel things that I didn't know a song could make me feel
In Memory of Army SSG Michael Lammerts who paid the Ultimate Sacrifice while Serving In Afghanistan 04/03/11... God Bless you Mike and Thank You for your Service. You will not be forgotten ♥
Semper Fi. Proud to have served alongside my brothers in India Battery 3/11. Thanks to those who did and didn't make it back - and thank you Jason Isbell.
India 3/10 here. Semper fi brother.
Jason's Vocal @4:38 are amazing. What a powerful song.
Should be mandatory listening for all music fans, good stuff.
I can't listen to this song and not tear up. Let's remember this Memorial Day why we get to eat and drink, it's because of sacrifices like this.
Such a great song. DBT is an amazing band.
favorite song of all time!!!!
just saw him in columbia sc last night, it was awesome
Amazing song! I can't believe I only now heard this.
I know that news stations across the southeast picked up this story, being an especially sad one; he was a week away from coming home to celebrate his 22nd birthday and recent marriage, and had a baby on the way. A roadside bomb took his life while he was training his replacement.
We in the US sleep in peace because so many young men like this are 'sleeping in their dress blues'.
Semper Fidelis, Brother.
Jason's Vocal @4:38 are amazing. Quite a song
i still cry every time i hear it.
Cant get enough of this guy. Loved him with DBT and solo. Doesnt he look like Matthew Stafford by the way?
Amazing song!
Great song, really gets to you.
simply a beautiful and poignant protest song. This guy is truly an american gem. always loved his contributions to DBT and will follow his solo career as closely.
Great tune ... love live roots music ....
so glad I found y'alls channel ...
God damn.. why did you boys ever have to fight anyway:(
This video is excellent.
"He was a Marine" ...still is.
amazing song. thats it. great story.
Great book....another is Real Stars by Ben stein...God Bless our troops.
I wasn't aware this WAS a "protest" song; commenting on loss and grief doesn't make it a protest song. People who support the troops have lost loved ones and they grieve like everyone else. Doesn't mean they're against the war, necessarily.
Same story here, my friend, except I haven't heard from my recruiting office in over a year. Semper Fi.
This maybe the prettiest song I've ever heard. I'm not exaggerating either...
Should be mandatory viewing before anyone takes a vote to go to war.
That does not change what I said does it? Easy to take it lightly when you are not the one that will do the killing.
this is a great song
everyone is like crying and stuff and he says"THANKS!"
@GunnerMan23 - True statement. I imagine (and I can only imagine) that Jason I. had the same feeling when he wrote this that E. Clapton had when he wrote "Tears In Heaven". Sounds like a songwriter mourning the loss of a friend to me. That's all we listeners need to hear and anything else has nothing to do with it.
agree/disagree
its's a beautiful piece of art, to be admired
Great song, always support our troops
Semper Fidelis.
The war isn't failing, violence is down over 80% in iraq, we didn't take a single casualty in Baghdad last month. You sir, should face the FACTS.
Semper Fi Brothers
You showed us what we had to lose...
go on jason
@marinecoreforce i support you and serve along side of you, but to you my brother, HOOAH!
Oorah! Once a Marine ALWAYS a Marine.
RIP Frankie Watson.
@ThePathologist123 It's pretty simple, actually. It's based around G, Em, C, and D. The arpeggio follows the G chord pattern. I could make a lesson for it if you want.
i agree 100% man
Not a problem. :)
I had to pull my car over the first time I heard this on the radio in 2011, about a month after I got back from Afghanistan. "...bombs in the sand, and sleeping in your dress blues," was indeed a thunderbolt out of a sea of meaningless, empty pop and country on the radio.
it wouldn't be right to have the Drive-By Truckers members sensor their true beliefs, and in turn express their true emotions as well as they have in song. That is what makes them special. If you don't like it, take it with a grain of salt.
Would you ask the same of all of Neil Young's songs? Or Rage Against the Machine?
It's a good thing artist's still hold the creative hand in this modern world.
God protect our boys
hell yea hooah 75th baby
FB won't let me share - says its abusive content - WTF?
Can't really say enough about this song.......ride this horse for yourself and see where it takes you!
@gogoandywolf Well said sir, thanks for your service. ( my pop was 101'st Airborne Ranger in '69 ).
I was 21 in 1990 when I joined the Corps after seeing our flag being burned in Iraq on tv. after coming home from work,well...it damned well pissed me off ! For to me, our flag represents all that have fallen,and the survivors still dealing w/ war everyday,since they entered combat.
Back to the song,basically at that time, I figured if I died...why not be buried w/ Dress Blues.
^ l l { l\l
Some gave all !
if you don't cringe and/or cry when you listen to this you don't have a heart
Guarding the pearly gates
@allengoodman69 My stepfather was in the Corps. He crossed into Kuwait as a Lance Corporal alongside his father, who was a master gunny.
super