Music & Sound

LRRP (pronounced Lurp)

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• Sunday 19th April 2009

Context: During the Vietnam war – the last American conflict allowing free press access to a military action- Esquire magazine sent a correspondent to cover the troops in combat. The correspondent’s name was Michael Herr, and the columns he wrote were later collected into an achingly excellent book called Dispatches. The book (and Herr himself) contributed almost all the dialogue in Apocalypse Now.

I read the book when it was first published, and I’ve read it many times since. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read, period.

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Several years ago, the PS1 Museum in Queens mounted a show of headphone art; museum visitors entered a dimly lit room ringed with heaphones that were each connected to a different audio piece, and mattresses were provided for relaxed listening. I was asked to contribute a piece.

After thinking about it, I settled on a dramatized reading of the first few pages of Herr’s book, the section called Breathing In. The first few paragraphs constitute Martin Sheen’s interior monologue in the beginning of Apocalypse; I didn’t use them. The 2+ pages that come directly afterward are a short profile of a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrolman, abbreviated as LRRP, and referred to as a Lurp.

I had high hopes for the voiceover actor I’d asked to read the piece, but after having him go over it at least 3 times, I realized I wasn’t getting what I wanted to get, either out of the material or his reading. I thanked him, ushered him out, and realized I’d have to read it myself, both for deadline reasons and for the convenience factor of being able to do as many takes as I needed to in order to have it right.

In looking over some old drives the other day, I found the piece (entitled The Lurp). Please excuse my nasal tones, and occasionally amateurish grappling with the material. Overall, I have to say I can still listen to it, which is rather unusual for me. There are plenty of things I’d do differently now, but whatever.

Put it on your iPod and give it a whirl. Be advised there are some grisly portions, and adult language.