Smokey Robinson and The Miracles - 'Tracks of my Tears' (Platoon 1986)
It's 1991, It's hot, it's humid, we're in a bunker somewhere in Khe Sanh, Nam... Actually I exaggerate, it was probably grey and wet and in quite a nice two bedroom flat in Farnham Royal, Berkshire where at 17, my buddy Wesley and I lived together. Our parents were still in Saudi Arabia and I guess they reluctantly shacked us up due to schooling issues.
This is a fabulous scene, soldiers showing camaraderie in times of adversity, in what must have been hellish conditions (despite the fairy light). A bit like us then but to a much lesser extent. Our parents were a phone call away for an immediate 'medevac' but failure wasn't an option and we had to complete our tour (term). However it did feel like we were holed up deep behind enemy lines as we battled the culture shock we had moving back from Saudi Arabia after 10 years. Like proper weirdos, we'd lose ourselves in music and movies, sometimes re-enacting scenes, of which Platoon was our favourite. What a great movie and soundtrack!
After a long week at the front (school) we'd come home on Friday for some serious R+R. We'd throw on Platoon on the VCR, use our ties as head bands, drink copious amounts of Bud and smoke a joint, purely for artistic license of course (besides mum and dad, I didn't inhale) and looked forward to hearing Smokey as we re-created this scene later in the evening. Funny times.
As for the song, well nothing needs to be said, oldie, breakup, classic it's got it all and it doesn't get much better than this. It definitely helped make the worm turn for us.
War is Hell but if you want more classic movie scenes, click here
