David T. Little’s Soldier Songs is an evening-length opera-theatre work exploring the perceptions versus the realities of war through the eyes of an abstract character, the soldier. Based on interviews with veterans of five wars conducted by the composer, Soldier Songs traces the path of the soldier through three phases of life—Youth (playing war games) Warrior (time served in the military) and Elder (aged, wise, reflective). It is an unflinching statement, exploring the loss and exploitation of innocence, and the difficulty of ever truly expressing or representing the truth of war.