LINE ITEM 0001 · FY1992
BRRRRRRT
One word. The word is the sound. The sound is the point.
- 01BRRRRRRT (The Sound)4:05
Recorded at the band's home studio in Tucson, Arizona, in the summer of 1992, two miles from the perimeter fence at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Marcus Webb, lead vocals. The mission-brief cadence in the bridge is preserved from Webb's original delivery and has not been re-recorded in the thirty-three subsequent live performances the archive has documented. The song's tempo of 162 BPM is not arbitrary. It is the rotational rate of the GAU-8/A Avenger's seven barrels expressed in beats per minute. The drummer, the bassist, and the rhythm guitarist were required to learn this tempo to within a tolerance of plus-or-minus two beats. The archive has confirmed they did. Lead guitar on this track is Dennis "Cost-Plus" Kowalski, whose nickname is a reference to the cost-plus-fixed-fee defense contracting structure and whose stated objective during the 1992 sessions was to make his Marshall amplifier approximate the sonic profile of the GAU-8 itself. Multiple eyewitnesses confirm he came close. The archive does not dispute this. Drums by Elaine "Seven Barrels" Kowalczyk. The nickname refers to the actual number of rotating barrels on the GAU-8/A Avenger, which is seven. The band name has six R's. The discrepancy has been noted. On the spelling of the band's name: the official explanation, given by Webb in a 1994 interview the archive has been unable to recover but multiple eyewitnesses confirm: "You hear six. The seventh is the one that got him." On the physics in the bridge: a 30mm GAU-8 round travels at approximately 3,500 feet per second. The speed of sound at sea level is approximately 1,100 feet per second. This means the round arrives at the target before the sound of the round being fired. The band has built an entire philosophy around this fact. The archive does not dispute it. On the verses: the song documents an ongoing political argument that began before the band formed and continues after their final recording session. The Air Force has sought to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II in nearly every fiscal year defense authorization cycle since the 1990s, citing the platform's vulnerability in contested airspace. Congress has consistently declined. The band considered each Congressional refusal a vindication of the song and updated the verse 2 lyrics on at least four documented occasions to reflect the most recent NDAA outcome. The version preserved here is the 1996 revision. The most recent Congressional refusal occurred on December 7, 2025, twenty-two years after the band's final performance. The A-10 is still flying. The band would have considered this a fifth revision. Funded. Fielded. Loud.
Lyrics (as filed)
They said the platform was obsolete They said the F-35 could fill the gap They said the Apache could take the work They said a lot of things and none of it was true The A-10 was still at Davis-Monthan The A-10 was still in the sky The GAU-8 fires thirty-millimeter At thirty-nine hundred per minute, that's why BRRRRRRT The rounds arrive in silence BRRRRRRT The target never hears it BRRRRRRT The sound is for the witnesses BRRRRRRT You only hear it if you lived You only hear it if you lived Funded Fielded Loud Built to kill Soviet tanks Killed Iraqi tanks instead Killed ISIS in the desert Still killing in the Red Sea Every year the Air Force filed for its retirement Every year Congress filed it back The generals are now retired The Warthog is still on the rack BRRRRRRT The rounds arrive in silence BRRRRRRT The target never hears it BRRRRRRT The sound is for the witnesses BRRRRRRT You only hear it if you lived You only hear it if you lived Funded Fielded Loud The GAU-8/A Avenger. Seven rotating barrels. Thirty-nine hundred rounds per minute. The round travels at thirty-five hundred feet per second. The sound travels at eleven hundred. The math is the song. The rounds arrive in silence. The target is dead. The sound is for the witnesses. BRRRRRRT The rounds arrive in silence BRRRRRRT The target never hears it BRRRRRRT The sound is for the witnesses BRRRRRRT The Warthog is still flying Mission complete Funded Fielded Loud
- 02Built Around the Gun3:25
- 03Danger Close5:10
- 043,900 Rounds Per Minute3:15
- 05Titanium Bathtub5:40