Written by Anthony Nguyen
December 23, 2005

Growing up was the time of my life. I loved watching cartoons and my favorites all were robotic ones. This included Transformers, Go-Bots, Voltron, and the ever so great Robotech. Okay, granted, I never really saw Robotech when it first aired, and I was too young to really understand the powerful storyline epic, but even when I saw it again, and again, and again, and again, I loved every part of it.

While television cartoons probably lack on music, Robotech surely didn't. Music was a key element throughout the 85 episodes that spanned 45 years of three alien wars. In the first Robotech war, Lynn Minmei used her voice to sing away and confuse the Zentradi from destroying the human Earth. In the second war, Bowie's piano and guitar skills along with the triumvirate of Musica, Allegra, and Octava helped uprise the Robotech Master's servants against their own masters. And finally, in the third war, a "lonely soldier boy" named Lancer Belmont disguised himself as Yellow Dancer, a female singer, to prevent from being captured by the invading Invid. And while the disguise worked out, Yellow Dancer's voice carried spirit to the oppressed human earth which was completely taken over by the alien invaders.

Though many of Lancer's music, sung by his voice actor Michael Bradley, were fairly good, none was better than the sad and dishearted "Lonely Soldier Boy." The song describes himself, and others like him, such as Commander Scott Bernard who lost his entire fleet and his fiance during a space recapturing mission. The song is a slow timely song with a mix of synthesized notes and organic sound, and Bradley's voice really soars strong throughout. It's somewhat surprising that voice acting can lend such an important role in the music of a cartoon.

I like this song because of these many reasons. Music is a very strong part of my life, and while I can't say I can play any instrument very well, or at all, the study of popular music and listening to it at the right times keeps me going. It's an obsession which gives me spirit and flows through my blood, much like the way Yellow Dancer's or Lynn Minmei's music helped the people of Earth escape the harsh realities of an alien invasion and war.