Past War Songs that are relevant today

[Whoa_Nelly]

My first two contributions are:

Sky Pilot
The Animals

(lyrics snip)
He mumbles a prayer and it ends with a smile
The order is given
They move down the line
But he's still behind and he'll meditate
But it won't stop the bleeding or ease the hate
As the young men move out into the battle zone
He feels good, with God you're never alone
He feels tired and he lays on his bed
Hopes the men will find courage in the words that he said
Sky pilot.....sky Pilot
How high can you fly

You'll never, never, never reach the sky
You're soldiers of God you must understand
The fate of your country is in your young hands
May God give you strength
Do your job real well
If it all was worth it
Only time it will tell

AND

Eve of Destruction
Barry McGuire

(lyrics snip)
The eastern world it tis 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 trying to say?
Can't you feel the fears I'm feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there's no running away,
There'll be noone to save with the world in a grave,
take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy,
and ya tell me over and over and over again my friend,
ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

[ghostsofgiants]

1. Do they have to be older songs?

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. Naw,,,but was thinking along the line of the hundreds of songs

that came out during the Viet Nam era that are just as right on today as they were then.

[MrSlayer]

2. War Pigs - Black Sabbath

Generals gathered in their masses,
just like witches at black masses.
Evil minds that plot destruction,
sorcerers of death's construction.
In the fields the bodies burning,
as the war machine keeps turning.
Death and hatred to mankind,
poisoning their brainwashed minds.
Oh lord, yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away.
They only started the war.
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor, yeah.

Time will tell on their power minds,
making war just for fun.
Treating people just like pawns in chess,
wait till their judgement day comes, yeah.

Now in darkness world stops turning,
ashes where the bodies burning.
No more War Pigs have the power,
Hand of God has struck the hour.
Day of judgement, God is calling,
on their knees the war pigs crawling.
Begging mercies for their sins,
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings.
Oh lord, yeah!

[jus_the_facts]

9. Into The Void ~ Black Sabbath

Rocket engines burning fuel so fast
Up into the night sky they blast
Through the universe the engines whine
Could it be the end of man and time
Back on earth the flame of life burns low
Everywhere is misery and woe
Pollution kills the air, the land and sea
Man prepares to meet his destiny
Rocket engines burning fuel so fast
Up into the night sky so vast
Burning metal through the atmosphere
Earth remains in worry, hate and fear
With the hateful battles raging on
Rockets flying to the glowing sun
Through the empires of eternal void
Freedom from the final suicide

Freedom fighters sent out to the sun
Escape from brainwashed minds and pollution.
Leave the earth to all it’s sin and hate
Find another world where freedom waits.
Past the stars in fields of ancient void
Through the shields of darkness where they find
Love upon a land a world unknown
Where the sons of freedom make their home

Leave the earth to satan and his slaves
Leave them to their future in the grave
Make a home where love is there to stay

:headbang: Master of Reality :headbang:

[MrSlayer]

39. Yeah that's another good one.

They weren't as dark and evil as they were made out to be.

[cornermouse]

4. One Tin Soldier, I think.

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. Has relevance

One Tin Soldier
Me First & the Gimme Gimmies

(lyrics snip)
Listen children to a story
Written long ago
'Bout kingdom on a mountain
And the valley far below
On the mountain was a treasure buried deep beneath a stone
And the valley people swore they'd have it for their very own

Chorus:
So go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won't be any trumpets blowin'
Come the judgement day
But on the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

[ThoughtCriminal]

6. Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

For everyone who thought Iraq would greet us with flowers:

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE
by Pete Seeger

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they 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?
Taken husbands every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they 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?
Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they 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?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
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?
Covered with flowers every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?

[Whoa_Nelly]

7. Awesome!...and sad

:cry:
That song always left me feeling very melancholy

[no name no slogan]

8. Handsome Johnny

By Richie Havens and Lou Gossett, Jr.
Richie has supposedly added another verse about Iraq, too

Hey, look yonder, tell me what's that you see
Marching to the fields of Concord?
It looks like Handsome Johnny with a musket in his hand,
Marching to the Concord war, hey marching to the Concord war.


Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see
Marching to the fields of Gettysburg?
It looks like Handsome Johnny with a flintlock in his hand,
Marching to the Gettysburg war, hey marching to the Gettysburg war.


Hey, look yonder, tell me what's that you see
Marching to the fields of Dunkirk?
It looks like Handsome Johnny with a carbine in his hand,
Marching to the Dunkirk war, hey marching to the Dunkirk war.


Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see
Marching to the fields of Korea?
It looks like Handsome Johnny with an M1 in his hand,
Marching to the Korean war, hey marching to the Korean war.


Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see
Marching to the fields of Vietnam?
It looks like Handsome Johnny with an M15,
Marching to the Vietnam war, hey marching to the Vietnam war.


Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see
Marching to the fields of Birmingham?
It looks like Handsome Johnny with his hand rolled in a fist,
Marching to the Birmingham war, hey marching to the Birmingham war.


Hey, it's a long hard road, it's a long hard road,
It's a long hard road, before we'll be free.


Hey, what's the use of singing this song, some of you are not even listening.
Tell me what it is we've got to do: wait for our fields to start glistening,
Wait for the bullets to start whistling.
Here comes a hydrogen bomb, here comes a guided missile,
Here comes a hydrogen bomb: I can almost hear its whistle.

[Left_Winger]

10. "War" by Edwin Starr

War...huh...yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Uh ha haa ha
War...huh...yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutley nothing...say it again y'all
War..huh...look out...
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...listen to me ohhhhh

WAR! I despise,
'cos it means destruction of innocent lives,
War means tears to thousands of mother's eyes,
When their sons gone to fight and lose their lives.

I said WAR!...huh...good God y'all,
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...say it again
War! Huh...What is it good for (Edwin sings 'Wohh oh Lord' over the top)
Absolutely nothing...listen to me

WAR! It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker,
War. Friend only to the undertaker.
Ohhh! War is an enemy to all mankind,
The thought of war blows my mind.
War has caused unrest within the younger generation
Induction then destruction...who wants to die? Ohhh

WAR! good God y'all huh
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...say it say it SAY IT!
WAR!...uh huh yeah hu!
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...listen to me

WAR! It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker,
War! It's got one friend that's the undertaker.
Ohhhh! War has shattered many a young man's dream,
Made him disabled, bitter and mean,
Life is much too short and precious to spend fighting wars these days.
War can't give life, it can only take it away!

Ohhh WAR! huh...good God y'all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...say it again
War!...huh...woh oh oh Lord
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...listen to me

War! It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker,
War. Friend only to the undertaker...woo
Peace lovin' understand then tell me,
Is there no place for them today?
They say we must fight to keep our freedom,
But Lord knows there's got to be a better way.

Ohhhhhhh WAR! huh...good God y'all...
What is it good for?...you tell me!
Say it say it say it saaaay it!
War! good God now...huh
What is it good for?
Stand up and shout it...NOTHING

[Fenris]

11. John Prine - "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore"

While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel.

But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.

Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free."
Well, I didn't mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said.
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead.

But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.

Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said...

"But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more."

[micrometer_50]

12. Alice's Restaurant

"And friends, somewhere in Washington enshrined in some little folder, is a
study in black and white of my fingerprints. And the only reason I'm
singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar
situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in a
situation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's walk into
the shrink wherever you are ,just walk in say "Shrink, You can get
anything you want, at Alice's restaurant.". And walk out. You know, if
one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and
they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony,
they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them.
And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in
singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an
organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said
fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and
walking out. And friends they may thinks it's a movement."

[GreyPilgrim]

13. Pink Floyd - Dogs of War

[Bossy Monkey]

14. "Bring the Boys Home" sort of leaps to mind nt

[blondeatlast]

34. Here you go; I was 12 and LOVED the song when it came out.

I'd love to hear it resurrected with the pronouns updated:

Fathers are pleading, lovers are all alone
Mothers are prayin', send our sons back home (tell 'em 'bout it)
You marched them away, yes you did now, on ships and planes
To a senseless war facing death in vain

Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
(Why don't you) Turn the ships around
(Everybody oughta) Lay your weapons down

Can't you see 'em marchin' 'cross the sky?
All the soldiers that have died
Tryin' to get home
Can't you see them tryin' to get home?
Tryin' to get home
They're tryin' to get home

Cease all fire (tell 'em 'bout it) on the battlefield
Enough men have already been wounded and killed

Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
(Why don't you) Turn the ships around
(Everybody oughta) Lay your weapons down
(Mothers, fathers, and lovers, can't you see them?)

Tryin' to get home
Can't you see them tryin' to get home?
(Have mercy)
Tryin' to get home
Tryin' to get home

Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)

What they doin' over there now (bring 'em back alive)
When we need 'em over here now? (bring 'em back alive)
What they doin' over there now (bring 'em back alive)
When we need 'em over here now? (bring 'em back alive)
Bring 'em all, bring 'em all home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring 'em all, bring 'em home now (bring 'em back alive)
(fade out)

[Mojambo]

15. For the Young Republicans

Draft Dodger Rag

I'm just a typical American boy from a typical American town
I believe in God and Senator Dodd and keeping old Castro down
And when it came my time to serve I knew better dead than red
But when I got to my old draft board, buddy, this is what I said:

Sarge, I'm only eighteen, I got a ruptured spleen
And I always carry a purse
I got eyes like a bat, my feet are flat, and my asthma's
getting worse
Oh think of my career, my sweetheart dear, and my poor old
invalid aunt
Besides, I ain't no fool, I'm a goin' to school, and I'm
working in a defense plant

I've got a dislocated disc and a racked up back
I'm allergic to flowers and bugs
And when the bombshell hits, I get epileptic fits
And I'm addicted to a thousand drugs
I got the weakness woes, and I can't touch my toes
I can hardly reach my knees
And if the enemy came close to me
I'd probably start to sneeze

(chorus)

I hate Chou En Lai, and I hope he dies,
but one thing you gotta see
That someone's gotta go over there
and that someone isn't me
So I wish you well, Sarge, give 'em Hell
Yeah, Kill me a thousand or so
And if you ever get a war without blood and gore
Well I'll be the first to go

[KG]

16. The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range

Artist: Roger Waters (Buy Roger Waters CDs)
Album: Amused To Death

You have a natural tendency
To squeeze off a shot
You're good fun at parties
You wear the right masks
You're old but you still
Like a laugh in the locker room
You can't abide change
You're at home on the range
You opened your suitcase
Behind the old workings
To show off the magnum
You deafened the canyon
A comfort a friend
Only upstaged in the end
By the Uzi machine gun
Does the recoil remind you
Remind you of sex
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
I looked over Jordan and what did I see
Saw a U.S. Marine in a pile of debris
I swam in your pools
And lay under your palm trees
I looked in the eyes of the Indian
Who lay on the Federal Building steps
And through the range finder over the hill
I saw the front line boys popping their pills
Sick of the mess they find
On their desert stage
And the bravery of being out of range
Yeah the question is vexed
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
Hey bartender over here
Two more shots
And two more beers
Sir turn up the TV sound
The war has started on the ground
Just love those laser guided bombs
They're really great
For righting wrongs
You hit the target
And win the game
From bars 3,000 miles away
3,000 miles away
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
We zap and maim
With the bravery of being out of range
We strafe the train
With the bravery of being out of range
We gain terrain
With the bravery of being out of range
With the bravery of being out of range
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range

[samdogmom]

17. How about "Get Up, Stand Up" by Bob Marley?

Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don’t give up the fight!

Preacher man, don’t tell me,
Heaven is under the earth.
I know you don’t know
What life is really worth.
It’s not all that glitters is gold;
’alf the story has never been told:
So now you see the light, eh!
Stand up for your rights. come on!

Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don’t give up the fight!
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don’t give up the fight!

Most people think,
Great God will come from the skies,
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high.
But if you know what life is worth,
You will look for yours on earth:
And now you see the light,
You stand up for your rights. jah!

Get up, stand up! (jah, jah!)
Stand up for your rights! (oh-hoo!)
Get up, stand up! (get up, stand up!)
Don’t give up the fight! (life is your right!)
Get up, stand up! (so we can’t give up the fight!)
Stand up for your rights! (lord, lord!)
Get up, stand up! (keep on struggling on!)
Don’t give up the fight! (yeah!)

We sick an’ tired of-a your ism-skism game -
Dyin’ ’n’ goin’ to heaven in-a jesus’ name, lord.
We know when we understand:
Almighty God is a living man.
You can fool some people sometimes,
But you can’t fool all the people all the time.
So now we see the light (what you gonna do? ),
We gonna stand up for our rights! (yeah, yeah, yeah!)

So you better:
Get up, stand up! (in the morning! git it up!)
Stand up for your rights! (stand up for our rights!)
Get up, stand up!
Don’t give up the fight! (don’t give it up, don’t give it up!)
Get up, stand up! (get up, stand up!)
Stand up for your rights! (get up, stand up!)
Get up, stand up! ( ... )
Don’t give up the fight! (get up, stand up!)
Get up, stand up! ( ... )
Stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up!
Don’t give up the fight! /fadeout/


And then there's also:

Revolution by The Beatles
Blowin' in the Wind by Bob Dylan and countless others
People Got to be Free by The Rascals
Chimes of Freedom by The Byrds
Power to the People by John Lennon and my FAVORITE:

What's Going On by Marvin Gaye

[PittPoliSci]

18. In Dulce Decorum

by the Damned.

"through the senseless deaths of a million troops."

[Spinzonner]

19. I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag

Country Joe McDOnald and the Fish

http://www.countryjoe.com/feelmus.htm

[Left_Winger]

21. Let's start the cheer...

Gimme an "F"...

[Whoa_Nelly]

30. Today's version

Yeah, come on all of you, big children,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself on the attack
Way over yonder in the big Iraq
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a fuck,
Next bomb is on an Iraq truck;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Well, come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get ragheads
The only good Muslim is the one who's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a fuck,
Next bomb is on an Iraq truck;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.
Huh!

Well, come on Wall Street, don't move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on all Islam.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a fuck,
Next bomb is on an Iraq truck.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

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

And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a fuck,
Next bomb is on an Iraq truck.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

[Left_Winger]

33. Excellent revision !!!

Did you write this?

[Whoa_Nelly]

35. Thanks :-)

..and yes, I did the redux on this.

[PittPoliSci]

20. Many Young Men of 20 Said Goodbye

The Dubliners

[KG]

22. And the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"

Now when I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover.
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback,
Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over.
Then in 1915, my country said, "Son,
It's time you stop ramblin', there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
And they marched me away to the war.

And the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As the ship pulled away from the quay,
And amidst all the cheers, the flag waving, and tears,
We sailed off for Gallipoli.

And how well I remember that terrible day,
How our blood stained the sand and the water;
And of how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk, he was waitin', he primed himself well;
He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shell --
And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell,
Nearly blew us right back to Australia.

But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
When we stopped to bury our slain,
Well, we buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
Then we started all over again.

And those that were left, well, we tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
Though around me the corpses piled higher.
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head,
And when I woke up in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead --
Never knew there was worse things than dying.

For I'll go no more "Waltzing Matilda,"
All around the green bush far and free --
To hump tents and pegs, a man needs both legs,
No more "Waltzing Matilda" for me.

So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed,
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane,
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And as our ship sailed into Circular Quay,
I looked at the place where me legs used to be,
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me,
To grieve, to mourn and to pity.

But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As they carried us down the gangway,
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared,
Then they turned all their faces away.

And so now every April, I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Reviving old dreams of past glory,
And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore,
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask meself the same question.

But the band plays "Waltzing Matilda,"
And the old men still answer the call,
But as year follows year, more old men disappear
Someday, no one will march there at all.
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda.
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong,
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?

[PittPoliSci]

25. Good pick!

[Whoa_Nelly]

29. *WOW* Had forgotten about that song

My 6th grade graduation class had to sing that song as part of the graduation ceremony (1966)...Thought is was a weird choice then, and now think it was a very strange choice for a midwestern group of 11-12-year olds to sing to their parents.

[PittPoliSci]

23. The Wind that Shakes the Barley

[samdogmom]

24. I forgot "Vietnam" by Jimmy Cliff

Hey
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam

Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam.
Yesterday I got a letter
from my friend
fighting in Vietnam

and this is what he had to say:
'tell all my friends
that I'll be coming home soon

my time 'll be up some time in june.
Don't forget' he said
'to tell
my sweet Mary

her golden lips as sweet as cherries'.
And it came from:
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam

Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam!

It was just the next day
his mother got a Telegram

it was addressed from Vietnam.
Now mistress Brown she lives in the U.S.A
and this is
what she wrote and said:
'Don't be alarmed'
she told me the telegram said

'but mistress Brown
your son is dead!'
and it came from:
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam

Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam!

Somebody please stop that war now!
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam

Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam!

[flamingyouth]

26. "War (Or Hands of Time)" by the Masters Apprentices

"2+2=?" by the Bob Seger System

And I love "Eve of Destruction," written by P.F. Sloan when he was only 19 years old. Such a great song.

[Whoa_Nelly]

27. What Are Their Names

What Are Their Names
Neil Young-Jerry Garcia-Phil Lesh-Michael Schrieve-David Crosby (1970)

(Note: In the song What Are Their Names Crosby wondered who the old men were who could send children off to war and perhaps we should pay them a visit.)
http://www.jwsrockgarden.com/jw02vvaw.htm

I wonder who they are
The men who really run this land
And I wonder why they run it
With such a thoughtless hand.
Tell me what are their names,
And on what street do they live
I'd like to ride right over
This afternoon and give
Them a piece of my mind
About peace for mankind
Peace is not
An awful lot
To ask

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

28. Machine Gun - Jimi Hendrix

Machine gun
Tearing my body all apart

Machine gun, yeah
Tearing my body all apart

Evil man make me kill ya
Evil man make you kill me
Evil man make me kill you
Even though we’re only families apart

[The Night Owl]

31. Hero of the War - Scott Walker

Hero of the War

by Scott Walker

He's a hero of the war
All the neighborhood is talkin' 'bout your son
Mrs. Reiley get his medals
Hand them 'round to everyone
Show his gun to all the children in the street
It's too bad he can't shake hands or move his feet

He's a hero of the war
You can see his picture in the local news
Mrs. Reiley seems the girl next door is nowhere to be found
Once you couldn't keep that boy from hangin' 'round
Never mind dear, you're with your mum once more

He's a hero of the war
Like his dad he gave his life the war before
It was tragic how you almost died of pain when he was born
With no husband there beside you through it all
Ring the bell if you get hungry or you fall

You're a hero of the war
Why those teardrops on your cheek? It's so absurd
Feelin' empty it's the emptiness of heroes like your son
And what made him leave his mother for a gun
Driven forward driven back and nothing more

He's a hero of the war

[The Night Owl]

32. We Came Through - Scott Walker

We Came Through

by Scott Walker

We came through
We came riding through like warriors from afar
Our black horses danced upon the graves of yesterday's desires
Haunted by our visions framed in fire
I greet you, for you still believe in what's behind a door
You've seen the children freeze upon their knees
And praying to the wind
Descend their grey madonnas back again
Fire the guns, and salute the men who died for freedom's sake
And we'll weep tonight, but we won't lie awake
Gazing up at statues dressed in stars
We won't dream, for they don't come true for us
Not anymore
They've run afar to hide in caves
With haggard burning eyes
Their icy voices tear our hearts like knives

We came through
Like the Gothic monsters perched on Notre Dame
We observe the naked souls of gutters pouring forth mankind
Smothered in an avalanche of time
And we're giants as we watch our kings and countries raise their shields
And Guevara dies encased in their ideals
And as Luther King's predictions fade from view
We came through

[caty]

36. Bette Midler--1985

"From a Distance"

From a distance the world looks blue and green,
And the snow-capped mountains white
From a distance the ocean meets the stream,
And the eagle takes to flight
From a distance, there is harmony,
And it echoes through the land
It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace,
It's the voice of every man
From a distance we all have enough,
And no one is in need
And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease,
No hungry mouths to feed
From a distance we are instruments
Marching in a common band
Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace
They're the songs of every man
God is watching us, God is watching us
God is watching us from a distance
From a distance you look like my friend,
Even though we are at war
From a distance I just cannot comprehend
what all this fighting is for
From a distance there is harmony,
And it echoes through the land
And it's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves,
it's the heart of every man
It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves
This is the song of every man
And God is watching us, God is watching us,
God is watching us from a distance
Oh, God is watching us, God is watching
God is watching us from a distance

[nytemare]

37. "Fortunate Son"

W is the perfect model for this song.

[Bemis]

38. "No Man's Land" as sung by June Tabor

Written about a dead solder in WWI, but very relevent today.