April 8, 2004
Soldier's Music Deals with Relationships, Life
Section: Military (Kevin Maurer)
By Kevin Maurer
Staff writer
While patrolling the streets of Baghdad last summer, Sgt. 1st Class John Proctor could not get a song out of his head.
He had written the music 20 years before. But as he patrolled one of the deadliest routes in the city, new lyrics started to pop into his head. Every time the patrol stopped, Proctor jotted down a line. By the end of the patrol, the song was done.
The song, ''Your Solider is Coming Home, is about the mixed emotions soldiers and their families have during a homecoming. Proctor said the song reflects how he felt about his own homecoming and his feelings for his wife and family.
''When you look death in the eyeballs, you really get to what is important, he said.
Proctor is a chaplain's assistant assigned to the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. His chief duty during the war was to protect the chaplain, who doesn't carry a weapon. He also helped organize and set religious services and Bible study for the troops. Proctor said he often performed during the services.
''Your Solider is Coming Home sounds like something the Beach Boys would have recorded. It has a 1960s sound with an upbeat tempo and multiple harmonies.
The lyrics are a love letter to his wife.
''How I missed you. How I love you. Darling, now it's over, your soldier is coming home, Proctor sings during the chorus.
The song is on his first album, ''Sweet Release. The album was recorded in two sessions, the majority of it before he left for Iraq in February 2003. He recorded ''Your Soldier is Coming Home when he returned in October for two weeks of rest and recuperation. The song was recorded in his bedroom on a digital recorder. He played all of the instruments and sang all of the harmonies on the album.
The 82nd Airborne Division Chorus is considering adding the song to its repertoire, he said.
Proctor started playing music when he was 18. He learned to play guitar while working nights at a gas station. ''I got held up three times, but nobody wanted to steal my ratty guitar, he said.
Music gave him a voice. He said he was angry and wanted to change the world.
''I needed to say something, and that was the way I needed to say it, Proctor said. ''I had a lot of questions but not a lot of answers.
His band, Jammin Joe Realm, had some success in his hometown of Richmond, Va. Proctor said the band's music was compared to Prince and had a real ''pop sensibility. He appeared in a music video on MTV with another Richmond band, Single Bullet Theory.
After a while, he said he realized a career in music may not be for him.
''When you are a rock star, it is all self, self, self. You can't hear the rest of the world, Proctor said. ''I had to make a choice.
Proctor said his faith was re-energized after Jesus Christ spoke to him, and he figured he would have to compromise his integrity to make it in the music industry. ''I had to sell my soul, and I wasn't willing to do it, he said.
Instead, he joined the Army in 1993. He said he wanted to serve his country. The military also offered him the opportunity to work in the ministry without having to go to seminary.
Proctor said his days of playing New Wave songs are over. Now his songs are more Christian pop. They deal with relationships and life.
''I want to make the listener feel loved and to trace that love back to God, he said.
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Sgt. First Class John Proctor
Job: Chaplain's assistant
Age: 43
Unit: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division
Hometown: Richmond, Va.
