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Mike Doughty will perform at the Music Mill March 19.

Mike Doughty typically isn't one to pen a pointed political tune. The former front man of the '90s band Soul Coughing has always seemed more interested in how words sound rather than what they mean. His biggest hits with Soul Coughing, "Super Bon Bon" and "Circles," succeeded thanks to his infectious inflection, not his storytelling skills.

So it comes as a bit of a surprise that on "Fort Hood" (hear it at Doughty's Myspace page here), the first single from the new CD "Golden Delicious," Doughty tackles the war in Iraq head-on.

Inspired by a visit to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C., "Fort Hood" laments the lives of young soldiers, who "should be blasting Young Jeezy in a parking lot" rather than toting M16s overseas.

Doughty, who will perform at the Music Mill on March 19, recently spoke to Indy.com about why he went political and how soldiers have responded to the song.

You recently went out of your way to explain the meaning of "Fort Hood" on your blog. Why?

In this case, it comes out of having visited Walter Reed, meeting guys who have lost their limbs. It comes from being from a military family, and knowing really intimately what post-traumatic stress disorder does to people who have experienced war. I am not a political songwriter for the most part. But everybody thought "Busting Up a Starbucks" (from Doughty's 2005 CD "Haughty Melodic") was an enticement to riot, and that song was a lot less serious than expressing my feelings on the war on a personal level. So I wanted people to know exactly where I'm coming from.

Why did you use the chorus from "Let the Sun Shine In" from "Hair"?

I downloaded the original Japanese version of "Hair" and it was hilarious right up until the chorus. They sang it in English, and I found myself very moved by it. I want people to be hopeful. I want us to transcend this horrible time in our country's history. I am a super-powered New York liberal, and me and my friends can sit around all day arguing about whether Bush and Cheney are liars or just gullible, and people are still going to be dying over there. It's no good just to be angry that the war has happened. We are a smarter country than we were in the '60s, and we can't just have this blanket indictment of it.

Have you gotten feedback from soldiers on the song?

I'm really surprised -- I thought there would be more suspicion. But a lot of the e-mails from soldiers and their families say they really dig the song. If we think the soldiers don't have the same skepticism about the war that we do, we're mistaken. They have just as nuanced a view as those of us who aren't fighting it.