What's your favorite anti-war song?

[ZoCrowes]

Right now I'm really digging "I Can't Write Left-Handed" by Bill Withers. It's a BEAUTIFUL song written during Vietnam war and it's probably the most poignant. I'm listening to the version from Live At Carnagie Hall and before the song he tells about how he met a vet who lost his right arm in the war. It's an extremely human song. There are no big ideals and utopian dreams it's just told from the point of view of one man and the pain he is going through. If I can find the lyrics I will post them.

What about you guys?

[scarlet_owl]

1. "Universal Soldier". I think Buffy Ste. Marie wrote it.

She definately did perform it, and Donovan's cover of it is great too!

[madrchsod]

13. wow i did`nt

think anyone would remember her. used to have all her early albums till my ex landlord sold them.

[Snow]

43. Oh yes ....didn't really care for her voice,

too buzzy or something, but I enjoyed her songs and her passion.

[welshTerrier2]

64. saw her in concert

she was the opening act for John Sebastian ... she was just great ... she did write Universal Soldier, btw ...

and this little factoid, she once was a U. Mass student ...

[SiobhanClancy]

2. I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag

Country Joe and the Fish. I've heard there is an updated version,but haven't seen it.

[Faygo Kid]

52. Yes, Country Joe and the Fish - can't get it out of my mind

Won't repeat the lyrics here, but they sure as hell are relevant to today.

[geniph]

77. Gimme an "F"!

Well come on all of you big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up your gun
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun!

(chorus)
And it's one, two, three
What are we fightin' for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is Viet-nam!
And it's five, six, seven
Open up the Pearly Gates
There ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopie! We're all gonna die

Come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance is here at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds —
The only good commie is one that's dead
You know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.

(Chorus)

Come on Wall Street, don't move slow,
Why man, this is war a-go-go.
There's plenty good money to be made
Supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.

(chorus)

Come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send your sons off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.

[Fenris]

3. "I Fought in a War" by Belle & Sebastian

Hopelessly misery-filled and extremely depressing. "The Call Up" by the Clash is #2 on my list.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

34. Seconded. Would I get away with 'Cortez the Killer'?

[La_Serpiente]

4. One-tin-soldier-rides-away

[NightTrain]

5. Edwin Starr's "War"

50% soul, 50% psychedelic freak-out, 100% awesome!

War!
What is it good for?
Absolutely...nothing!

[regnaD kciN]

27. Good God, y'all!

(Nothing else to add...)

[ChoralScholar]

6. Fortunate Son by CCR

EOM

[Devlzown]

7. Alice's Restaurant Massacre

[Zomby Woof]

53. great choice!

In two-part harmony!

[carols]

8. Cranberries - Zombie

it's the background music for this "take back the media presentation"
Army of One

followed by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young "Four Dead in Ohio" (which technically is not an anti-war song now that I think about it.)
Carol

[Yaoi_Huntress_Earth]

9. Paint it Black

By the Rolling Stones. It might be the only Rolling Stones song I really like.
Love,
Yaoi Huntress Earth

[ZoCrowes]

12. Hmmmmm

Not my fav Stones song (that's Happy) but a good one. I never figured it to be about war though

[mitchum]

10. "War is Mean" Bert and Ernie

[Sting]

11. I'd have to say Edwin Starr's "War"...

but the song I really dig how I feel about the right-wingers is "I Hate Republicans" by The Happytones. :bounce:

[NNN0LHI]

14. Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun n/t

[ZoCrowes]

17. goooooood choice

EOM

[Emboldened Chimp]

44. I'll second that one!

[Paul Hood]

15. And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

[Digger]

21. Done by

Eric Bogle, also "No Mans Land" by Bogle.

[dbt]

29. Thanks, Digger! I've always known it as "Willie McBride"

and/or "The Green Fields of France." BEST anti-war song ever, IMO!

The sun's shining down on these green fields of France;
The warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance.
The trenches have vanished long under the plow;
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard that's still No Man's Land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man.
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned.

Works just as well (unfortunately) for Iraq Nam as it did for WWI, especially that last line. Ah, I can still hear my man Davey from Clare singing it!

:cry:
dbt

PS: Welcome to DU!

[alphafemale]

70. Full Lyrics and music to "Willie McBride" link here

http://www.aftermathww1.com/mcbride.asp

[Digger]

74. Yep,

that's the same song.

check out Eric Bogle's website http://www.windbourne.com/ebogle/ he does a lot of WW I stuff that, as you mentioned, is relevant today.

"No Mans Land" will knock your socks off, if you can find any of his music, someday.

Thanks for the welcome.

[madrchsod]

16. airplane`s

volunteers of america..kill for peace..brothers in arms

[ZoCrowes]

18. another good Airplane

Uncle Sam Blues

My band is probably going to start covering it here soon

[OneBlueSky]

19. "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" . . .

captures the whole bloody sequence rather well . . . "where have all the graveyards gone, gone to flowers every one . . . when will we ever learn, when will we ever learn?" . . .

[RedEarth]

36. Excellent song....

Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul and Mary...and a number of others sang it.


Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the flowers gone?
The girls have picked them ev'ry one.
Oh, when will you ever learn?
Oh, when will you ever learn?

Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the young girls gone?
They've taken husbands, every one.
Oh, when will you ever learn?
Oh, when will you ever learn?

Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the young men gone?
They're all in uniform.
Oh, when will you ever learn?
Oh, when will you ever learn?

Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
They've gone to graveyards, every one.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?

Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the graveyards gone?
They're covered with flowers, every one.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls picked them, every one.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?

[Snow]

45. And the companion song from the era - "Blowin' in the Wind"

we had long arguments, never settled that I can recall, about who wrote those two songs. Anyone know for sure? Probably can find out definitively now in the internet era. I always held Seeger wrote "Flowers" - don't remember who we thought wrote "Blowin" - Oscar Brand, maybe?

[Squeech]

50. Traditional English tune

Bob Dylan spent some time in England in the '60s, and learned a bunch of traditional tunes from performers in the folk clubs, people like Bert Jansch and Martin Carthy. He then wrote new words for a number of these tunes. I'm not sure what the original title was for "Blowin' in the Wind," but "Masters of War" is really "Nottamun Town," and "With God On Our Side" is apparently an Irish tune called "The Patriot Game" (which latter I'd really like to hear some time).

But as to the topic at hand, I'm partial to Phil Ochs. Last time I played out, I ended my set with "I Ain't Marching Any More." But he did a whole slew of great ones-- "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land," "Santo Domingo," "Cops of the World," "One More Parade"...

And let us not forget "Silent Night/Seven O'Clock News" by Simon and Garfunkel.

[Snow]

54. Ahh, thanks. "Patriot Game" I have heard, in fact I have it on vinyl -

by Tommy Makem and the Clancy brothers....I think Makem sings the lead. It's a good song.

[Some Moran]

20. Jacob's Ladder -- Chumbawamba

:)

I don't how Tubthumpers became so successful...It wasn't bad, but other stuff I've heard by them is loads better.

[politicat]

23. 2nded. EOM

[jus_the_facts]

22. I used to sing these two when I was like 5yrs old....

...every time they came on the radio...Billy Don't Be A Hero and One Tin Soldier....two much more modern ones are No Remorse..and ONE by Metallica. :)

[sujan]

24. war, what is it good for?

Absolutely nothing!

[nickgutierrez]

25. Boom

By System of a Down.

"Every time you drop the bomb
You kill the God your child has born"

[UnAmericanJoe]

26. Ochs!

I Ain't Marchin' Anymore
or
Is There Anybody Here?

By the late, great Phil Ochs.

[Lizz612]

66. I'm listening to "I ain't marching anymore" live.

Phil preludes the song, "Now the trick is with wearing a suit like this (gold, he says later), is the same trick as living in America today, which is how do you come to terms with wealth, in a world so filled with troubles, can you still have a sense of responsibility?"

Someone in the back, either a young boy or a teenage girl yells "STRIP!"

Hahahahaha!! :D

[Socialist Christian]

28. "War" Edwinn Starr <nt>

[soupkitchen]

30. Phil Ochs, Phil Ochs, Phil Ochs Start with, "I ain't marching anymore"

[Bertha Venation]

31. Four Dead in Ohio

[Red_Storm]

33. a few ..........

Masters Of War - Bob Dylan
War Within A Breath - Rage Against The Machine
Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen

[RedEarth]

32. Eve of Destruction...some of the lyrics are appropriate today

by Barry McGuire

The eastern world, it is explodin’.
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’
You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’

But you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away
There’ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave
Take a look around you boy
It’s bound to scare you boy

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Yeah, my blood’s so mad feels like coagulatin’
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
You can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
Handful of senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
You may leave here for 4 days in space
But when you return, it’s the same old place
The poundin’ of the drum, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace
And… tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend
You don’t believe
We’re on the eve
Of destruction
Mm, no no, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction

[rucky]

47. seconded

Also like the cover verson by Bishop Allen.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

35. 'Spanish Bombs' by the Clash. Pretty much everything by The Clash.

[grannylib]

37. Marvin Gaye "What's Goin' On" is one of my favorites

Climax Blues Band "Rich Man" is another good one

[Zomby Woof]

38. Masters of War

Dylan when he was an angry young man. I also must add his cover of the old song "John Brown" on "Unplugged" - his best recent anti-war performance.

[WilliamPitt]

39. It's Alright MA or Masters of War

[Zomby Woof]

40. check our timestamp and choice

:wow: :hi:

[Snow]

41. Not my fav, that goes to Eric Bogle, but does anyone remember

"Big Muddy" by Pete Seeger? He was kept from singing it on national tv - was it the "Smothers Brothers" show or someplace else? And then after a period of time something shifted and the censorship lifted...

To fill you youngsters in, it was a song written from the viewpoint of a grunt being led into a swamp by an idiot leader ("the big fool"), how the grunts all knew this swamp would drown them but "the big fool said to push on". This was during the vietnam protest era. The final verse of the song has the troops hesitating to go forward so the 'big fool' steps into the lead to set an example and the swamp swallows him. When he finally was allowed on tv to perform it, Seeger gave a passionate, angry performance - very powerful. I believe he sang "John Brown's Body" during the same performance.

[Swede]

42. Children of the Grave- Black Sabbath's call to march

Revolution in their minds - the children start to march
Against the world in which they have to live
and all the hate that's in their hearts
They're tired of being pushed around
and told just what to do
They'll fight the world until they've won
and love comes flowing through

Children of tomorrow live in the tears that fall today
Will the sun rise up tomorrow bringing peace in any way?
Must the world live in the shadow of atomic fear?
Can they win the fight for peace or will they disappear?

So you children of the world,
listen to what I say
If you want a better place to live in
spread the words today
Show the world that love is still alive
you must be brave
Or you children of today are
Children of the Grave, Yeah!

[jus_the_facts]

46. Run Like Hell and Waiting For The Worms~Pink Floyd.....also.....

...Run To The Hills and The Trooper~Iron Maiden....War Pigs..Into The Void and Children of The Grave~Black Sabbath...and o'course Revolution by the Beatles! :)

[jayfish]

48. Disposable Heroes, No Remorse, One Or Fight Fire With Fire...

All my that once great band Metallica. You didn't think a music thread would go by without at least one mention did ya? Oh, and let's not forget "For Whom The Bell Tolls"

Jay

[jus_the_facts]

55. hey I already mentioned them.....

....the irony strikes yet again...go figure!:D

[Richardo]

49. For What it's Worth

You better stop, hey, what's that sound? Everybody look what's goin' down.

Buffalo Springfield, baby!

[Zomby Woof]

51. looking beyond Dylan

"War Ensemble", Slayer
"Fall of the Peacemakers", Molly Hatchet
"Who'll Stop The Rain?", CCR
"2+2=?", Bob Seger (I posted the lyrics yesterday)
and of course, "Imagine", John Lennon

[Whitacre D_WI]

56. 2 + 2 = ?

by the Bob Seger System

[Zomby Woof]

58. hell yes!

I mentioned it in a second post above, and posted the lyrics yesterday. I am glad someone else is aware of this song.

Here is a review of the single: http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/reviews/index.php?review_id=473

January 1968 was the month and year of this single’s release, and I can barely believe it. Because this first single by The Bob Seger System pulled no punches whatsoever and both sides were marked not only by rampant fuzz guitar and desperate vocals, but featured subject matter that was more than just a tad controversial for its time. And although The Bob Seger System were Detroit contemporaries of The MC5, Stooges and The Rationals, Seger’s earliest material is still hugely unknown by those generations too young or too old to recall Bob Seger as being anything other than artist capable of only second division AOR-FM schlock, post-Springsteen faux working class/reg’lar guy string o’ hits on da jukebox ala “Like A Rock”. But as a young rock’n’roller, Bob Seger was testifying to a far higher power with a far more electric (read as: Detroit) energy, recording a blizzard of singles with The Last Heard (each a foray into completely different genres) then paring down the group to a trio and re-christening them The Bob Seger System. Their excellent debut album, “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” was preceded by their debut single, “2+2=?”/“Death Row.” And they were both roughed up, righteous rockk’n’roll that stood on their own two feet casting shadows 20 feet long with a bloody fist raised in the air at the world and shouting, “Yeaauuggghhhh!!!!”

Even though “2+2=?” appears on side two of the aforementioned “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man”, the mix here is entirely different(as well as being in mono, which renders a total absence of the reckless stereo panning on the drumming throughout):The level of the fuzz rhythm guitar is exchanged in magnitude with the drums, which here are thrown all the way up, way past competing with everything else. The vocals are just as in your face, roaring out plainspoken but effectively thought-provoking anti-draft sentiments. Which is puzzling, given the fact it was released on no less a major label than Capitol in early 1968 (Perhaps they thought its prominent fuzz guitar was far more degenerate an element for radio play, hence its submersion into the deep sonic distance). But for all this, there is an addition of a huge, growling fuzz guitar cutting through the previously tense “dead air” break near the coda on the album version, adding a further sense of unexpected savageness to an already brutal garage punk rocker.


Here are the lyrics again:

Yes it's true I am a young man
but I'm old enough to kill
I don't wanna kill nobody
but I must if you so will
And if I raise my hand in question
you just say that I'm a fool
Cause I got the gall to ask you
Can you maybe change the rules
can you stand and call me upstart
Ask what answer can I find, I ain't sayin' I'm a genius
2+2 is on my mind

Well I knew a guy in high school
just an average friendly guy
And he had himself a girlfriend
and you made them say goodbye
Now he's buried in the mud
over foreign jungle land
And his girl just sits and cries
she just doesn't understand
So you say he died for freedom
well if he died to save your lies
Go ahead and call me yellow
2+2 is on my mind

All I know is that I'm young and your rules they are old
If I've got to kill to live
then there's something left untold
I'm no statesman I'm no general
I'm no kid I'll never be
It's the rules not the soldier
that I find the real enemy

I'm no prophet I'm no rebel
I'm just asking you why
I just want a simple answer
why it is I 've got to die
I'm a simple minded guy
2+2 is on my mind

[NightTrain]

62. Great song! And a sadly underrated one at that.

If nothing else, though, rock critic Dave Marsh included "2+2=?" in his 1989 book, THE HEART OF ROCK AND SOUL: THE 1001 GREATEST SINGLES EVER MADE.

[Faygo Kid]

59. Seger must go to R&R Hall of Fame

What a great song. The R&R Hall of Fame is diminished without him. First saw him 1969, U-D athletic field.

[NightTrain]

67. He just did!

Seger will be part of the RnR HoF's Class of 2004.

[Faygo Kid]

71. DETAILS, PLEASE - this deserves a post on its own

Didn't hear this. Please advise.

[Ficus]

57. One

by Metallica. I used to be a fan of the old school Metallica, and I hate those guys now, but "One" really described war and one man's pain suffering well.

landmine
has taken my sight
taken my speech
taken my hearing
taken my arms
taken my legs
taken my soul
left me with life in hell

(Kirk Hammett solo)!

[PapaClay]

60. "Lucky Man"

EL&P.

Also "Morning Dew" off the Jeff Beck "Truth" album.

[CanuckAmok]

61. 1916, by Motorhead. Yes, "Morothead", or Eric Bogel's "Youngest Son..."

1916, by Motorhead

16 years old when I went to war,
To fight for a land fit for heroes,
God on my side,and a gun in my hand,
Counting my days down to zero,
And I marched and I fought and I bled
And I died & I never did get any older,
But I knew at the time, That a year in the line,
Is a long enough life for a soldier,
We all volunteered,
And we wrote down our names,
And we added two years to our ages,
Eager for life and ahead of the game,
Ready for history's pages,
And we fought and we brawled
And we whored 'til we stood,
Ten thousand shoulder to shoulder,
A thirst for the Hun,
We were food for the gun,and that's
What you are when you're soldiers,
I heard my friend cry,
And he sank to his knees,coughing blood
As he screamed for his mother
And I tell by his, side,
And that's how we died,
Clinging like kids to each other,
And I lay in the mud
And the guts and the blood,
And I wept as his body grew colder,
And I called for my mother
And she never came,
Though it wasn't my fault
And I wasn't to blame,
The day not half over
And ten thousand slain,and now
There's nobody remembers our names
And that's how it is for a soldier


My Youngest Son Came Home Today, by Eric Bogel:

My youngest son came home today
His friends marched with him all the way
The fife and drum beat out the time
While in his box of polished pine
Like dead meat on a butcher's tray
My youngest son same home today

My youngest son was a fine young man
With a wife, a daughter and two sons
And a man he would have lived and died
Till by a bullet sanctified
Now he's a saint or so they say
They brought their young saint home today

An Irish sky looks down and weeps
Upon the narrow Belfast streets
At children's blood in gutters spilled
In dreams of glory unfulfilled
As part of freedom's price to pay
My youngest son came home today

My youngest son came home today
His friends marched with him all the way
The pipe and drum beat out the time
While in his box of polished pine
Like dead meat on a butcher's tray
My youngest son came home today
And this time he's here to stay

[welshTerrier2]

63. Waist Deep In The Big Muddy

by Pete Seeger ... i get angry about the war madness every time i hear it ...

here's a website with a great list of anti-war songs: http://www.vietnamsongbook.org/setlist_jp.htm

sheesh ... lots of good ones listed in this thread though ... Masters of War ... that's a killer ... Graham Nash had a great one on his solo album "Songs for Beginners" called Military Madness ...

Here are the lyrics to The Big Muddy (note my sig):

Waist Deep In The Big Muddy
by Pete Seeger 1963, planned for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967 but CBS objected to the blacklisted Seeger making obvious references to the "big fool" in the White House, finally sung by Seeger on the Comedy Hour in 1968 as the finale in a medley of anti-war songs.


It was back in nineteen forty-two,
I was a member of a good platoon.
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna,
One night by the light of the moon.
The captain told us to ford a river,
That's how it all begun.
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure,
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place.
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim."
"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"
The Captain said to him.
"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by.
The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!
I'm in charge from now on."
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone.

We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand.
I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper
Than the place he'd once before been.
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone.
We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on.

Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health.
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.

Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on!


Words and music by Pete Seeger (1967)
TRO (c) 1967 Melody Trails, Inc. New York, NY

[OneBlueSky]

65. Pete also does a song called "Bring 'Em Home" . . .

"If you love your Uncle Sam
Bring 'em home, bring 'em home,
Support our boys in Vietnam
Bring 'em home, bring 'em home."

I once had the pleasure of helping to set up a benefit concert for Pete that caused a huge ruckus when the local school board refused use of the auditorium because of Pete's "communist affiliations." We eventually re-scheduled in another school district, and all of the publicity ensured a quick sell-out. When Peter sang this song, he added a new verse:

"I may be right, I may be wrong,
Bring 'em home, bring 'em home.
But I got a right to sing this song!
Bring 'em home, bring 'em home."

the audience went nuts . . . :)

[LastKnight]

68. Township Rebellion by RATM/nt

[sleipnir]

69. Rage's "TOWNSHIP REBELLION"!!!

Rage is the best anti-war group in my mind, but I hate slow, folk music to try to get angry and upset about war. It's nice to sing a poem, but reallly, we need to kick some people in the head to get them to wake up, Rage does that!

[LastKnight]

75. Why stand on a silent platform? Fight the war! Fu*k the Norm! (NT)

[ironflange]

72. Benjamin Britten - War Requiem

Kind of long to be called a song, but sure gets the job done.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

73. For What It's Worth

Buffalo Springfield/Steven Stills

[David Zephyr]

76. Good Thread. I Vote for All of the Songs.

As I read through this thread, I'd say to myself, "Universal Soldier, yeah that's the one"...until I read the next one and the next one.

They are all great anti-war songs.

I enjoyed this thread a lot. :hi:

[geniph]

78. Hey Momma Look Sharp

from 1776:

Momma, hey momma, come lookin' for me
I'm here in the meadow by the red maple tree
Momma, hey momma, look sharp, here I be
Hey, hey, momma look sharp

Them soldiers, they fired. Oh ma, did we run
But then we turned round and the battle begun
Then I went under, oh ma, am I done?
Hey, hey, momma look sharp

My eyes are wide open, my face to the sky
Is that you I'm hearin' in the tall grass nearby?
Momma come find me before I do die
Hey, hey, momma look sharp
I'll close your eyes, my Billy
Them eyes that cannot see
And I'll bury you, my Billy
Beneath the maple tree
And never again will you whisper to me
Hey, hey, momma look sharp

[SOteric]

79. Abraham, Martin and John

More of a 'peace and harmony' song than anti-war. But all to the same end, really.

[proud patriot]

80. " lives in the balance "by Jackson Brown

It's a great song .

[David Zephyr]

83. More Than A Great Song.

I love this song.

[AntiCoup2K4]

81. Third Light - The Alarm

Your head on my shoulder
Two months you’ve been a soldier
I feel so sick inside
Two months you’d have been alive

So no one here knows your surname
No one knows from where you came
The Red Cross takes you to your grave
For which your government kindly pays

WHITE CROSS upon the hillside
There lies that unknown soldier
No one can remember your name

So here I stand by your graveside
The steel helmet lies upon your cross
They said you died for king and country
That’s no comfort to the life you’ve lost

FIRST LIGHT
The sniper saw you.
SECOND LIGHT
Took careful aim
THIRD LIGHT
He pulled the trigger on the gun
Dead dead dead.

WHITE CROSS upon the hillside
There lies that unknown soldier
No one can remember your name

(So here beings the human harvest
Another war to end all wars
To give a life for rhyme nor reason
There are no words to justify the cause
So if our future lies in the scarlet fields
Who would be a patriot at the price of humanity?
WHO WOULD BE A PATRIOT AT THE PRICE OF HUMANITY?)

No, not me
NO NOT ME

WHITE CROSS upon the hillside
There lies that unknown soldier
No one can remember the

WHITE CROSS upon the hillside
There lies that unknown soldier
No one, no one, no one

[cosmicdot]

82. Eve of Destruction (+ FWIW, & Jefferson Airplane stuff)

The Eastern World
It is explodin'
Violence flarin'
Bullets loadin'
You're old enough to kill
But not for votin'
You don't believe in war
But what's that gun you're totin'
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin'


But you tell me over, and over, and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction


Don't you understand what I'm tryin' to say
And can't you feel the fears I'm feelin' today
If the button is pushed, there's no runnin' away
There'll be no one to save
With the whole world in a grave
Take a look around you boy,
It's bound to scare you boy


And you tell me over, and over, and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction


Yeah, my blood's so mad
Feels like coagulatin'
I'm sittin' here, just contemplatin'
I can't twist the truth
It knows no regulation
Handful of senators don't pass legislation
And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world
Is just too frustratin'


And you tell me over, and over, and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction


And think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
Ah you may leave here for four days in space
But when you return it's the same old place
The poundin' of the drums
The pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace
Hate your next door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace


But you tell me over, and over, and over, and over again my friend
You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction
No, no, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

p.f.sloan

[maxanne]

84. honorable mention

to "Jerusalem" by Steve Earle, and of course "What's so Funny 'Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding" by Elvis Costello.

Oh yeah - "Life During Wartime" by the Talking Heads

[Scott Lee]

85. "Patriot Games" sung by either Bob Dylan or Judy Collins

powerful piece.

[MrBenchley]

86. "The War Is Over" by Phil Ochs

"Silent Soldiers on a silver screen
Framed in fantasies and drugged in dream
Unpaid actors of the mystery
The mad director knows that freedom will not make you free
And what's this got to do with me

I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over

Drums are drizzling on a grain of sand
Fading rhythms of a fading hand
Prove your courage in the proud parade
Trust your leaders where mistakes are almost never made
And they're afraid that I'm afraid

I'm afraid the war is over
It's over, it's over

Angry artists painting angry signs
Use their vision just to blind the blind
Poisoned players of a grizzly game
One is guilty and the other gets the point to blame
Pardon me if I refrain

I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over

So do your duty, boys, and join with pride
Serve your country in her suicide
Find the flags so you can wave goodbye
But just before the end even treason might be worth a try
This country is to young to die

I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over

One-legged veterans will greet the dawn
And they're whistling marches as they mow the lawn
And the gargoyles only sit and grieve
The gypsy fortune teller told me that we'd been deceived
You only are what you believe

I believe the war is over
It's over, it's over