Some titles are earned through experience.
They shouldn’t become campaign accessories.
Fellow Veteran is an angry response to the casual use of military service as political currency. Drawing on RebelliousBard’s own years in uniform, the song contrasts the reverence afforded to the word “veteran” in public rhetoric with what it sees as the far less comfortable reality faced by former servicemen once the speeches, photographs and campaign appearances are over.
Another day… another photo op
Another “fellow veteran” in the spotlight
They dilute the word till it don’t mean a thing
Reserve weekend warrior suddenly one of the lads in the firing line
Nine years I gave them, three in the Troubles up north
Never once called myself a veteran going back and forth
But now every weekend soldier gets the hero treatment
While the uniform’s honour gets sold for cheap political rent
They wear the title like a fancy costume pass
While real service gets dragged through the mud and the grass
Fellow veteran, my fucking arse
Cheapening the word like it’s nothing but farce
We gave real years, real blood, real nights
While you lot turn service into soundbites
Fellow veteran? Spare me the lie
Some of us actually served… and some just learned how to cry
Meanwhile real veterans sleep rough on the street
While illegals get hotels with four-star sheets
The government hunts down old soldiers for sins long ago
Charging them for war crimes from decades ago
But the new breed gets parades and a pat on the back
While the ones who actually bled get thrown on the scrap
Fellow veteran, my fucking arse
I did nine years. Three in the Troubles, clear as day
Never asked for medals or a pat on the back
But watching this circus makes my stomach turn
Cheapening the uniform just to chase a few more votes in return
Fellow veteran, my fucking arse
Wearing the title like a cheap costume pass
We gave real years, real blood, real nights
While you lot turn service into soundbites
Fellow veteran? Spare me the lie
Some of us actually served
And some just learned how to cry
Fellow veteran
Fellow veteran
Some of us actually served
Fellow Veteran was written after a Reform UK campaign appearance involving former SAS soldier Ant Middleton and a local plumber who had served as a part-time reservist. When the reservist was presented as a “fellow veteran”, the phrase struck a particularly personal nerve. RebelliousBard had served nine years in the military, including three in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and had never regarded that service as something to be casually turned into political currency. The incident became the starting point for a song about what the word “veteran” should mean, who gets to wear it, and the uncomfortable contrast between celebrating military service when it suits a campaign and the treatment some former servicemen receive once their usefulness as political imagery has passed.