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there's probably so many when you stop to think about it, bob dylan and csn&y were famous for them, but there were many others, I thought maybe we could accumulate them here and at the same time analyze if they apply today and if it's true that history really does repeat itself.

Bob Dylan Masters Of War

Come you masters of war

You that build all the guns

You that build the death planes

You that build all the bombs

You that hide behind walls

You that hide behind desks

I just want you to know

I can see through your masks.

You that never done nothin'

But build to destroy

You play with my world

Like it's your little toy

You put a gun in my hand

And you hide from my eyes

And you turn and run farther

When the fast bullets fly.

Like Judas of old

You lie and deceive

A world war can be won

You want me to believe

But I see through your eyes

And I see through your brain

Like I see through the water

That runs down my drain.

You fasten all the triggers

For the others to fire

Then you set back and watch

When the death count gets higher

You hide in your mansion'

As young people's blood

Flows out of their bodies

And is buried in the mud.

You've thrown the worst fear

That can ever be hurled

Fear to bring children

Into the world

For threatening my baby

Unborn and unnamed

You ain't worth the blood

That runs in your veins.

How much do I know

To talk out of turn

You might say that I'm young

You might say I'm unlearned

But there's one thing I know

Though I'm younger than you

That even Jesus would never

Forgive what you do.

Let me ask you one question

Is your money that good

Will it buy you forgiveness

Do you think that it could

I think you will find

When your death takes its toll

All the money you made

Will never buy back your soul.

And I hope that you die

And your death'll come soon

I will follow your casket

In the pale afternoon

And I'll watch while you're lowered

Down to your deathbed

And I'll stand over your grave

'Til I'm sure that you're dead.

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War ~ Edwin Starr

War

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

War

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

War is something that I despise

For it means destruction of innocent lives

For it means tears in thousands of mothers' eyes

When their sons go out to fight to give their lives

War

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Say it again

War

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

War

It's nothing but a heartbreaker

War

Friend only to the undertaker

War is the enemy of all mankind

The thought of war blows my mind

Handed down from generation to generation

Induction destruction

Who wants to die

War

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Say it again

War

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

War has shattered many young men's dreams

Made them disabled bitter and meanLife is too precious to be fighting wars

each day

War can't give life it can only take it away

War

It's nothing but a heartbreaker

War

Friend only to the undertaker

Peace love and understanding

There must be some place for these things today

They say we must fight to keep our freedom

But Lord there's gotta be a better way

That's better than

War

War

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Say it again

War

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

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Beyond 'Ohio' and 'Brothers in Arms', both of which I've posted in the last week, I have a thing for Johnny Horton's war songs. Stranglely, Horton holds a diametrically opposed vision of war.

Most people would go for 'the battle of new orleans', but I prefer 'Sink the Bismarck'. I find the song can be took apart almost line-by-line for historical meaning. BTW, if anyone has a copy of this that doesn't garble, please let me know.

Sink the Bismarck

In May of 1941 the war had just begun

The Germans had the biggest ship that had the biggest guns

The Bismarck was the fastest ship that ever sailed the sea

On her decks were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees

Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship the Hood

And every British seaman he knew and understood

They had to sink the Bismarck the terror of the sea

Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees

[chorus]

We'll find the German battleship that's makin' such a fuss

We gotta sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us

Yeah hit the decks a runnin' boys and spin those guns around

When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down

The Hood found the Bismarck and on that fatal day

The Bismarck started firing fifteen miles away

We gotta sink the Bismarck was the battle sound

But when the smoke had cleared away the mighty Hood went down

For six long days and weary nights they tried to find her trail

Churchill told the people put every ship asail

Cause somewhere on that ocean I know she's gotta be

We gotta sink the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea

We'll find the German battleship that's makin' such a fuss

We gotta sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us

Yeah hit the decks a runnin' boys and spin those guns around

When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down

The fog was gone the seventh day and they saw the morning sun

Ten hours away from homeland the Bismarck made its run

The Admiral of the British fleet said turn those bows around

We found that German battleship and we're gonna cut her down

The British guns were aimed and the shells were coming fast

The first shell hit the Bismarck they knew she couldn't last

That mighty German battleship is just a memory

Sink the Bismarck was the battle cry that shook the seven seas

We found the German battleship t'was makin' such a fuss

We had to sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us

We hit the deck a runnin' and we and spun those guns around

Yeah we found the mighty Bismarck and then we cut her down

We found the German battleship...

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Yes and he was awful :lol:

I like how Francis Coppola turned The Doors 'The End' into a war song in Apocalypse Now.

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Hahahaha! This internet stuff is neat. I found the lyrics to Gary Puckett & the Union Gap's tune entitled Home. It wasn't a big hit like some of his others.

And every night they lie awake

And dream of mama's chocolate cake

And wonder if they'll be a tomorrow

And will they ever see their home and their family

Or will they ever be back home

And boys who never learned to pray

Look to the heavens everyday

And stumble through a simple little prayer

And ask the Lord above

To send them home to the one's they love

Oh god I hope they make it home

And every day some young man dies

And in the night some young girl cries

He'll never hear his baby's laughter

He'll never ever see his home and his family

Or what he's done for you and me

But I guess he's on his way back home

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Here's another good one from the Band.

The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down

Virgil Caine is my name and I served on the Danville train

'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again

In the winter of '65 we were hungry and barely alive

By may 10 Richmond had fell, it was a time I remember oh so well

[chorus]

The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the bells were ringing

The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singing

They said, na nana na na na...

Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she called to me

Virgil quick come see, there goes the Robert E. Lee

Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the moneys no good

Take what you need & leave the rest, they never should've taken the very best

The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the bells were ringing

The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singing

They said, na nana na na na...

Like my father before me I will work the land

Like my brother before me who took a rebel stand

He was just 18, proud and brave, but a Yankee laid him in his grave

I swear by the mud below my feet,

You can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat

The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the bells were ringing

The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singing

They said, na nana na na na...

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Another from Johnny Horton

Johnny Reb

You fought all the way

Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb

You fought all the way, Johnny Reb

Saw you a-marchin' with Robert E. Lee

You held your head high tryin' to win the victory

You fought for your folks, but you didn't die in vain

Even tho' you lost they speak highly of your name, 'cause

You fought all the way

Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb

You fought all the way, Johnny Reb

I heard your teeth chatter from the cold outside

Saw the bullets open up the wounds in your side

I saw the young boys as they began to fall

You had tears in your eyes 'cause you couldn't help at all, but

You fought all the way

Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb

You fought all the way, Johnny Reb

I saw Gen'ral Lee raise a sabre in his hand

Heard the cannons roar as you made your last stand

You marched in the battle of the Grey and the Red

When the cannon smoke cleared, took days to count the dead, 'cause

You fought all the way

Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb

You fought all the way, Johnny Reb

When Honest Abe heard the news about your fall

The folks thought he'd call a great vict'ry ball

But he asked the band to play the song Dixie

For you, Johnny Reb, and all that you believe

You fought all the way

Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb

Yeah, you fought all the way, Johnny Reb

You fought all the way

Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb

You fought all the way, Johnny Reb

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Here's another good one from the Band.

The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down

An excellent song, which you can hear at the Band's website, www.theband.com

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Here's another good one from the Band.

The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down

An excellent song, which you can hear at the Band's website, www.theband.com

You can hear it on a hard drive near me too!

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military madness - graham nash

Military Madness

In an upstairs room in Blackpool

By the side of a northern sea

The army had my father

And my mother was having me

Military Madness was killing my country

Solitary Sadness comes over me

After the school was over and I moved

To the other side

I found a different country but I never

Lost my pride

Military Madness was killing the country

Solitary sadness creeps over me

And after the wars are over

And the body count is finally filed

I hope The Man discovers

What's driving the people wild

Military madness is killing your country

So much sadness between you and me

War, War, War, War, War, War

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One Toke Over The Line

Brewer & Shipley

One toke over the line sweet Jesus

One toke over the line

Sittin' downtown in a railway station

One toke over the line

Awaitin' for the train that goes home, sweet Mary

Hopin' that the train is on time

Sittin' downtown in a railway station

One toke over the line

Whoooo do you love, I hope it's me

I've bin a changin', as you can plainly see

I felt the joy and I learned about the pain that my momma said

If I should choose to make a part of me, surely strike me dead

Now I'm one toke over the line sweet Jesus

One toke over the line

Sittin' downtown in a railway station

One toke over the line

I'm waitin' for the train that goes home sweet Mary

Hopin' that the train is on time

Sittin' downtown in a railway station

One toke over the line

I bin away a country mile,

Now I'm returnin' showin' off a smile

I met all the girls and loved myself a few

Ended by surprise like everything else I've been through

It opened up my eyes and now I'm

One toke over the line sweet Jesus

One toke over the line

Sittin' downtown in a railway station

Don't you just know I waitin' for the train that goes home sweet Mary

Hopin' that the train is on time

Sittin' downtown in a railway station

One toke over the line

Don't you just know I waitin' for the train that goes home sweet Mary

Hopin' that the train is on time

Sittin' downtown in a railway station

One toke over the line

I want to be

One toke over the line sweet Jesus

One toke over the line

Sittin' downtown in a railway station

One toke over the line

Don't you just know I waitin' for the train that goes home sweet Mary

Hopin' that the train is on time

Sittin' downtown in a railway station

One toke over the line

Sittin' downtown in a railway station

One toke over line

One toke, one toke over the line

(don't ask me why "war lyrics" made me think of this, but it did ... :rolleyes: :wha': :P )

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(don't ask me why "war lyrics" made me think of this, but it did ... :rolleyes: :wha': :P )

I read the lyrics a couple of times and I wondered why I wasn't getting the war connection :lol: Back then we smoked a lot of pot to forget the war... I guess you associated it with the times when it was released.

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sounds good to me ... my "logic" has been described as pretzely ... guess that proves it ... :rolleyes: ... i was going to post war's lyrics to "lotus blossom" but thought that would kinda be pushing it ...

: )

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written during the vietnam war but mostly about the protests against it, this was regarding the democratic convention in Chicago, I'm thinking 1968, not sure, will have to look it up.

Chicago/We Can Change the World

Graham Nash

Though your brother's bound and gagged

And they've chained him to a chair

Won't you please come to Chicago

Just to sing

In a land that's known as freedom

How can such a thing be fair

Won't you please come to Chicago

For the help we can bring

We can change the world -

Re-arrange the world

It's dying - to get better

Politicians sit yourself down,

There's nothing for you here

Won't you please come to Chicago

For a ride

Don't ask Jack to help you

Cause he'll turn the other ear

Won't you please come to Chicago

Or else join the other side

We can change the world -

Re-arrange the world

It's dying - if you believe in justice

It's dying - and if you believe in freedom

It's dying - let a man live it's own life

It's dying - rules and regulations, who needs them

Open up the door

Somehow people must be free

I hope the day comes soon

Won't you please come to Chicago

Show your face

From the bottom to the ocean

To the mountains of the moon

Won't you please come to Chicago

No one else can take your place

We can change the world -

Re-arrange the world

It's dying - if you believe in justice

It's dying - and if you believe in freedom

It's dying - let a man live it's own life

It's dying - rules and regulations, who needs them

Open up the door

We can change the world

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Written by Randy Travis using a play on G. Bush I's state of the union speech calling for 'points of light', the resultant song Point of Light became a pro-gulf war propaganda track.

Point of Light

There is a point when you cannot walk away,

When you have to stand up straight and tall and mean the word you say.

There is a point you must decide just to do it 'cause it's right.

That's when you become a point of light.

There is a darkness that everyone must face.

It wants to take what's good and fair and lay it all to waste.

And that darkness covers everything in sight

Until it meets a single point of light.

[chorus]

All it takes is a point of light,

A ray of hope in the darkest night.

If you see what's wrong and you try to make it right,

You will be a point of light.

There are heroes whose names we never hear,

A dedicated army of quiet volunteers

Reaching out to feed the hungry,

Reaching out to save the land,

Reaching out to help their fellow man.

There are dreamers who are making dreams come true,

Taking time to to teach the children

There's nothing they can't do,

Giving shelter to the homeless,

Giving hope to those without.

Isn't that what this land's all about?

One by one, from the mountains to the sea

Points of light are calling out to you and me.

All it takes is a point of light,

A ray of hope in the darkest night.

If you see what's wrong and you try to make it right,

You will be a point of light.

If you see what's wrong and you try to make it right,

You will be a point of light.

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Green Fields Of France

Eric Bogle

Well, how do you do, Private William McBride,

Do you mind if I sit down here by your graveside?

And rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,

I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done.

And I see by your gravestone you were only 19

When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916,

Well, I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean

Or, Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?

Did they Beat the drum slowly, did the play the pipes lowly?

Did the rifles fir o'er you as they lowered you down?

Did the bugles sound The Last Post in chorus?

Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind

In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined?

And, though you died back in 1916,

To that loyal heart are you forever 19?

Or are you a stranger without even a name,

Forever enshrined behind some glass pane,

In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,

And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?

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.

And I can't help but wonder, no Willie McBride,

Do all those who lie here know why they died?

Did you really believe them when they told you "The Cause?"

Did you really believe that this war would end wars?

Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame

The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,

For Willie McBride, it all happened again,

And again, and again, and again, and again.

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Country music provides the best knee-jerk tunes to inspire the little ones. I suppose that's what made the Dixie Chicks such a pariah.

Merle Haggard - The Fighting of Me (the fightin' of me)

I hear people talkin' bad,

About the way we have to live here in this country,

Harpin' on the wars we fight,

An' gripin' 'bout the way things oughta be.

An' I don't mind 'em switchin' sides,

An' standin' up for things they believe in.

When they're runnin' down my country, man,

They're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

Runnin' down the way of life,

Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep.

If you don't love it, leave it:

Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'.

If you're runnin' down my country, man,

You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

I read about some squirrely guy,

Who claims, he just don't believe in fightin'.

An' I wonder just how long,

The rest of us can count on bein' free.

They love our milk an' honey,

But they preach about some other way of livin'.

When they're runnin' down my country, hoss,

They're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

Runnin' down the way of life,

Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep.

If you don't love it, leave it:

Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'.

If you're runnin' down my country, man,

You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

Runnin' down the way of life,

Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep.

If you don't love it, leave it:

Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'.

If you're runnin' down my country, man,

You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

One last one from me

Johnny Cash - Drive On

I got a friend named Whiskey Sam

He was my boonierat buddy for a year in Nam

He said I think my country got a little off track

Took 'em twenty-five years to welcome me back

But, it's better than not coming back at all

Many a good man I saw fall.

And even now every time I dream

I hear the men and the monkeys in the jungle scream

Drive on, don't mean nothin'

My children love me , but they don't understand

And I got a woman who knows her man

Drive on, don't mean nothin', don't mean nothin', drive on

I remember one night,

Tex and me Rappelled in on a hot L.Z.

We had our 16's on rock and roll

But, with all that fire,

I was scared and cold

We were crazy, we were wild

And I have seen the tiger smile

I spit in a bamboo viper's face

And I'd be dead but by God's grace

Drive on, don't mean nothin'

My children love me, but they don't understand

And I got a woman who knows her man

Drive on, don't mean nothin', don't mean nothin', drive on

I came home, but Tex did not

And I can't talk about the hit he got

I got a little limp now when I walk

And I got a little tremolo when I talk

But I finally found out who I am

I'm a walkin' talkin' miracle from Vietnam

Drive on, don't mean nothin'

My children love me, but they don't understand

And I got a woman who knows her man

Drive on, don't mean nothin', don't mean nothin', drive on

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  • 3 weeks later...

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.

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This was what did it for me while I was in and Operation Desert Storm happened:

Holy Wars...The Punishment Due - Megadeth

Brother will kill brother

Spilling blood across the land

Killing for religion

Something I don't understand

Fools like me, who cross the sea

And come to foreign lands

Ask the sheep, for their beliefs

Do you kill on God's command?

A country that's divided

Surely will not stand

My past erased, no more disgrace

No foolish naive stand

The end is near, it's crystal clear

Part of the master plan

Don't look now to Israel

It might be in your homelands

Holy wars

Upon my podium, as the

Know it all scholar

Down in my seat of judgement

Gavel's bang, uphold the law

Up on my soapbox, a leader

Out to change the world

Down in my pulpit as the holier

Than-thou-could-be-messenger of God

Wage the war on organized crime

Sneak attacks, repel down the rocks

Behind the lines

Some people risk to employ me

Some people live to destroy me

Either way they die.

They killed my wife, and my baby

With hopes to enslave me

First mistake...last mistake!

Paid by the alliance, to slay all the giants

Next mistake...no more mistakes!

Fill the cracks in, with judicial granite

Because I don't say it, don't mean I ain't

Thinkin'it

Next thing you know, they'll take my thoughts away

I know what I said, now I must scream of the overdose

And the lack of mercy killings.

I almost feel as if Dave (Mustaine) predicted what would happen. That or I'm just a helpless groupie. :P

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