"...Hey Melissa it's me don't be afraid
I'm in good hands I'm gonna be home soon
It's time to watch the children grow up
I wanna be more than a voice on the phone..."

So, I anticipated a melancholic pensive ballad, and was at first confused when the tempo and feel of the song was much more of an angry anthem. I'll go as far as to say I felt let down. Not for long though, because after giving "Last Letter Home" a few more listens, it all made sense. The song had to be angry.

With a similar theme, and less anger, is the Murphys rendition of "The Green Fields of France". Here is the slow bittersweet ballad I was looking for. Written by Eric Bogle of Adelaide, Australia, this song also is known as "No Man's Land". The original intent of the song is up for debate, but most view it as 'anti-war'. It's a story about "young Willie McBride" a fallen soldier of the First World War. The author has taken rest by the headstone of the 19-year-old Private, and has a one-way conversation with the deceased. The melody is pretty and unassuming, even the lyrics begin peacefully. Shortly, the words sung wonderfully by Al Barr, become a little more direct.

"...Well I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
or Willie McBride was it slow and obscene"

And then the chorus gradually paints more sorrow:

"Did they beat the drum slowly
Did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

And the drums were beat slowly. Matt Kelly plays subtle military type ruffles, accompanied by Scruffy Wallace on the bagpipes. Incredible.

Following folk tradition is the song "I'm Shipping up to Boston", in which the lyrics, previously unpublished, were written by Woody Guthrie. The Warrior Code is the second time that Guthrie's daughter Nora gave the Murphys permission to go through archives of her fathers work in order to set his words to music.

The best tribute to history and to the present is in the stirring "Tessie". In the summer of 2004, the Red Sox management approached the Dropkick Murphys with a request to come up with an anthem to rally the Sox to victory. "Tessie" was based on an old cheer of a group of fun loving Boston fans of the 1900's, the Royal Rooters. They'd sing the popular Broadway tune for fun and as a way to rattle the opposing teams. The original song had nothing really to do with baseball, but for whatever reason, especially in post-season games, the song worked and World Series contests were won. The Murphys reworked the song quite radically, and the current exhilarating version includes Bronson Arroyo, Lenny DiNardo and Johnny Damon singing backup vocals along with the band. And as we now know - once again - the song worked.

And so does The Warrior Code.