Broadcast 2025-09-22

War songs tend to fall into two categories – anthems about heroic valour, or gut-wrenching odes tearing down jingoist attitudes to expose the emptiness of war.

“The firing line” originally meant the line of positions from which gunfire is directed at a target and is still in use in a military context.

Les has put together a dramatic piece, delivered at a stately tempo, lyrics without embellishment.

He asks, “Who wages wars?” 

We know who ends up on the firing line, it’s always the war to end wars, the great war, the great patriotic war, the great waste of people and resources, more like.

This is a worthy addition to the genre.

Wars never decide who is right, just who is left.


Les Thomas - The Firing Line - Tempo Review

Weekly uploads of reviews and interviews from the program, "Tempo". "Tempo" is a weekly radio program presented by John Lamp, highlighting a wide range of music and music reviews on 94.7 the Pulse in Geelong, Wadawurrung country. John has been involved in community radio since 1976, initially with a music program "Parcel of Rogues" on 7CAE-FM in Hobart, Tasmania. After moving to Geelong, he joined 94.7 the Pulse on the program "Folks Alive", which morphed into "~meanderings~." John then spent a decade on the station Boards of Management before returning to the air in 2022 with his new program "Tempo." Full programs can be accessed at the link below.

Les Thomas - The Firing Line - Tempo Review

Tempo on the Pulse