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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,AlbertsLion Date: 26 Jun 14 - 06:39 AM Surprised no-one has mentioned Bright Golden Buttons by Shel Silverstein. It's one I sometimes do and last night I performed my personal favourite, The White Cockade (Trad updated, by friend Peter Kay),to a bunch of young soldiers in my local pub - they liked it a lot and bought all the beer! Last verse: 'from Flanders to the Falklands, Crimea to Dunkirk the ones who give the orders are not the ones to do the work it's not their wives who sorrow, it's not their wounds that bleed and they are not, no they are not fit to govern, they are not fit to lead! Amen! |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: ollaimh Date: 14 Oct 13 - 12:40 PM phil ochs also wrote the great song: "the marines have landed on the shores of santo domingo" I wonder if bruce Cockburn's :" if I had a rocket launcher" qualifies but it's a great song , as his older song:"look away across the bay, yanqui gunboat come this way" and if you are into poetry I do like "the naming of parts" by reid but w.h. Auden wrote the definitive poem about mass war.if you haven't read:"the shield of Achilles" your are not really participating in the human condition. Ayden's "sonnet from china have many great anti war poems as well--especially the original unedited version. like here war is harmless like a monument a telephone is talking to a man pins on maps declare that troops were sent a boy brings milk in bowls,there is a plan for living men in terror of their lives who thirst at dawn who were to thirst at noon who can be lat, and are, and miss their wives and unlike an idea can die too soon. but ideas can be real although men die for we have seen a myriad of faces estatic from one lie and pins on maps can really point to places where live is evil now nanking, dachau |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Bearheart Date: 14 Oct 13 - 12:20 PM I did try the search but it wasn't helpful, just lots of references to the date. Searching Fred Small got me to his site but the link to lyrics hasn't been set up yet. And searching Fred Small here didn't bring it up either. Guess I'll just have to do a separate thread. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: cetmst Date: 13 Oct 13 - 05:47 PM Bearheart - type "Denmark 1943" in Lyrics and Knowledge box at top. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Mr Happy Date: 13 Oct 13 - 11:35 AM Ed McCurdy wrote Last night I had the strangest dream I never dreamed before |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,Eddie1 Date: 13 Oct 13 - 06:56 AM When I saw this thread I thought, "Looks interesting! Funny, I haven't seen this before!" Then I found a post from me some 4 years ago! I used to have a memory! Still stand by the two songs I mentioned for the same reasons: Pete Seeger Lyrics Bring 'Em Home Lyrics If you love your Uncle Sam, Bring them home, bring them home. Support our boys in Vietnam, Bring them home, bring them home. It'll make our generals sad, I know, Bring them home, bring them home. They want to tangle with the foe, Bring them home, bring them home. They want to test their weaponry, Bring them home, bring them home. But here is their big fallacy, Bring them home, bring them home. I may be right, I may be wrong, Bring them home, bring them home. But I got a right to sing this song, Bring them home, bring them home. There's one thing I must confess, Bring them home, bring them home. I'm not really a pacifist, Bring them home, bring them home. If an army invaded this land of mine, Bring them home, bring them home. You'd find me out on the firing line, Bring them home, bring them home. Even if they brought their planes to bomb, Bring them home, bring them home. Even if they brought helicopters and napalm, Bring them home, bring them home. Show those generals their fallacy: Bring them home, bring them home. They don't have the right weaponry, Bring them home, bring them home. For defense you need common sense, Bring them home, bring them home. They don't have the right armaments, Bring them home, bring them home. The world needs teachers, books and schools, Bring them home, bring them home. And learning a few universal rules, Bring them home, bring them home. So if you love your Uncle Sam, Bring them home, bring them home. Support our boys in Vietnam, Bring them home, bring them home. And: From Ed McCurdy Last night I had the strangest dream I ever dreamed before I dreamed the world had all agreed To put an end to war I dreamed I saw a mighty room The room was filled with men And the paper they were signing said They'd never fight again And when the papers all were signed And a million copies made They all joined hands and bowed their heads And grateful prayers were prayed And the people in the streets below Were dancing round and round And guns and swords and uniforms Were scattered on the ground Last night I had the strangest dream I ever dreamed before I dreamed the world had all agreed To put an end to war Eddie |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Lighter Date: 12 Oct 13 - 08:41 PM > and I can't recommend it more highly. Thank you, Dick. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: dick greenhaus Date: 12 Oct 13 - 07:52 PM "The Greatest Ant-War Song Ever Written" is the title of Jon Lighter's utterly brilliant analysis of "Johnny I hardly Knew Ye". It's a study of the song's history (which everyone seems to have gotten wrong), and the what it has meant to people in a changing culture. It's $9.95 from CAMSCO Music, and I can't recommend it more highly. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Bearheart Date: 12 Oct 13 - 03:55 PM I found this thread while looking for a Feed Small song about the Danish peoples' evacuation of the Danish Jews to Sweden, when Hitler's henchmen were going to round them up and take them off to concentration camps, called December 1943. Does anyone here have the words? I was told of it by a woman I met whose parents were holocaust survivors. My dad (Danish American) was 13 at the time this happened, and it made a huge impact on him. Something he was very proud of. 2000 Danish Jews were saved by their countrymen. I would really like to find this for him. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Gulliver Date: 30 Sep 09 - 02:28 PM My interest is simply that my grandfather was at Gallipoli, with the Dublin Fusiliers, and I have a few well-worn books of his. He was evacuated and then went on to the Western Front and then to Russia with the Expeditionary Force before being demobbed. Don |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,Teribus Date: 30 Sep 09 - 12:51 PM My apologies Gulliver. Major Wilhelm Willmar, a Bavarian Cavalry Officer who was in command of the Turkish Forces tasked with defending the heights overlooking Suvla did indeed have a few artillery pieces but no machine guns. No account I have read makes any mention of mines, the confusion on the part of the landing forces is attributed to the landing being undertaken at night, a complete and utter lack of leadership combined with troops being set down in places as much as 1000 yards out of position thereby causing them to miss the landmarks and topographical features that they had been briefed on. My particular interest in this campaign was initially fired by listening to my next door neighbour when I was a boy, "Pop" Collier, who was fortunate enough to have lived through it. Many believe that the Dardanelles Campaign and Gallipoli only involved the ANZACs - it didn't not by a bloody long shot: Gallipoli casualties Allied Total 44,092 Killed/ 96,937 Wounded/141,029 Total Casualties United Kingdom - 21,255 Killed/52,230 Wounded/73,485 total casualties France (est) - 10,000 Killed/17,000 Wounded/27,000 total est casualties Australia - 8,709 Killed/19,441 Wounded/28,150 total casualties New Zealand - 2,721 Killed/4,752 Wounded/7,473 total casualties India - 1,358 Killed/3,421 Wounded/4,779 total casualties Newfoundland - 49 Killed/93 Wounded/142 total casualties Ottoman Empire (est) - 86,692 Killed/164,617 Wounded/251,309 total casualties The "Butchers Bill" in full - 130,784 Killed/237,290 Wounded/336,048 total casualties. ""In the English-speaking world, many people who otherwise might not have heard of the landing at Suvla Bay know something of its history through the song "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" written in 1972 by Eric Bogle and covered by numerous artists including the Clancy Brothers, Joan Baez and the Pogues. The song, while emotionally charged and vivid, is not an accurate historical account of the landing and subsequent events."" ""Suvla Bay also plays a role in the climax of the Peter Weir movie Gallipoli (1981 film) in which the third and final wave of Australian troops is ordered into a suicidal advance to maintain pressure on the Turkish/German troops despite the failure of the landing. The fictional character General Gardiner orders the advance reconsidered, with the famous line "at Suvla" ..."the [English] officers are sitting on the beach drinking cups of tea"."" Of course the incident upon which the film Gallipoli was based had nothing whatsoever to to with the landings at Suvla, the attack was the ANZAC operation to take the "Nek". ""The ANZACs are revered as heroes and, in Australia are stereotyped as typical tough Australians betrayed by incompetent and callous British superiors, impressions re-affirmed by films such as Peter Weir's Gallipoli, even though, according to Australian historian Les Carlyon, "the scale of the tragedy of the Nek was mostly the work of two Australian incompetents, Hughes and Antill."" As I said previously if you are going to go to the trouble of writing a retrospective song about an actual event then the least you should do is take the trouble to get it right. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Gulliver Date: 29 Sep 09 - 09:49 PM Teribus, I'm not defending Eric Bogle's account, I'm just disputing your accuracy in claiming that no-one was killed in the landings at Suvla. And BTW the same source below stated that the Turkish defenders there under their German commander did have some heavy guns and field guns. From CALLWELL, MAJOR-GENERAL SIR C.E. The Dardanelles Campaigns and Their Lessons. Constable And Co, 1919: Beach A as a matter of fact had turned out to be a bad landing-place, quite apart from this particular trouble (ie, rifle-fire). The water inshore was shallow and several of the beetles grounded some way out, obliging the troops to struggle to land through water as much as four and a half feet deep. Beetles and troops were, moreover, enfiladed from about Gazi Baba as well as from Lala Baba, and the beach itself was sown with land mines which caused casualties and confusion in the dark. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: LostHills Date: 29 Sep 09 - 02:48 AM We're fortunate to have so many great anti-war songs. And then again, maybe we're not.... I'm glad so many folks listed Where Have All The Flowers Gone, and I Ain't Marching Anymore, surprised that I didn't see Turn, Turn , Turn, or If I Had A Hammer, or Down By The Riverside, or I've Got To Know, or Bring 'em Home. The greatest ant-war song ever written is Blowin' In The Wind. If you play all the anti-war songs you know at a peace vigil, that is the song that will engage people more than any other. It's the greatest peace song ever written. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST Date: 29 Sep 09 - 02:46 AM Sorry Gulliver forgot this one: "Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well He rained us with bullets and he showered us with shell And in five minutes flat we were all blown to hell He nearlyy blew back home to Australia" Not at Suvla he didn't - No Australian troops - Only 1,500 Turks present against over 20,000 British troops - The German Officer commanding the Turkish Forces had no machine guns and absolutely no artillery. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,Teribus Date: 29 Sep 09 - 02:40 AM Teribus wrote: Fact of the matter: The Landings at Suvla Bay were completely unopposed nobody died. Sorry Gulliver but I will stand by that in the point I was making with regard to Eric Bogle's lyrics: "Oh its well I remember that terrible day When our blood stained the sand and the water How in that hell they called Suvla Bay We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter" The fatalities you mention occurred AFTER the men had got ashore and had started belatedly to move inland. The Turks only had 1,500 men watching Suvla Bay from the inland side of the Salt lake. The delay in moving men inland to take the heights turned what would have been a success into a military disaster and inevitable stalemate of trench warfare, but nobody died during the landings themselves and there were certainly no instances of the carnage suggested by Bogle's lyrics, another glaring discrepancy is of course that while Australian troops did land at ANZAC Cove only British Troops and formations landed at Suvla, what Australians did die on the day of the landings at Suvla were the poor bastards ordered to attack Lone Pine Ridge in support of the landings, similar attacks were also launched to support the Suvla landings to the south at Helles Point. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,Jim P Date: 29 Sep 09 - 01:57 AM Like some who responded above, I find many of the songs mentioned above have lost their effectiveness through repetition or, it must be said, sheer heavy handedness. While I understand the need of the singer/songwriter to get the message across, sometimes a light touch works better than a sledgehammer. Here's one that always makes me mist up: ONE OF THE MANY by Phil Sampson She's the center of attraction everywhere she goes Life of the party, and everybody knows That trouble's never touched her, they think she never cries But I saw something in those pretty eyes. A momentary lapse, it took her by surprise It came on accidentally and she dropped her disguise It only lasted for a moment, then the feeling it was gone But I could see a memory lingered on. She's one of the many whose life has come undone And the first of a million more to follow And as long as soldiers go to war and lovers stay at home There'll be someone leaving someone else tomorrow. One night she felt like talking, I happened to be around She began to tell a story of a love she'd barely found And how it had been torn away, a story in her life Leaving only empty in her eyes. Now the medals and the ribbons and the shiny silver wings They don't serve to comfort her, they don't mean a thing They only tell a story about the price of glory Her lover paid it all at once, now she pays every day. She's one of the many... |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Gulliver Date: 28 Sep 09 - 02:51 PM Teribus wrote: Fact of the matter: The Landings at Suvla Bay were completely unopposed nobody died. This is not quite correct. The landings at Suvla Bay were chaotic (the commander, Stopford, was subsequently sacked). The first companies of the 11th Division that landed at B beach suffered casualties: one third of the men and almost all the officers. On A Beach shortly afterwards the 11th Battalion suffered 200 casualties upon landing there. They then became targets for Turkish snipers. The following day after a forced march an exhausted 32nd Brigade was practically wiped out after a bayonet charge. Don |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST Date: 28 Sep 09 - 01:30 PM With God On Our Side |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,Bardan Date: 28 Sep 09 - 01:25 PM Is it me or has no-one mentioned The Banks of the nile? Also pady's lament (the one the starts well it's by the hush me boys and thats to mind your noise.) Still eric bogle is the master. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: YE JACOBITES BY NAME (from Robert Burns) From: GUEST,mayomick Date: 28 Sep 09 - 10:02 AM Come Ye Jacobites by name - Robert Burns Ye Jacobites by name, give an ear, give an ear, Ye Jacobites by name, give an ear, Ye Jacobites by name, Your fautes I will proclaim, Your doctrines I maun blame, you shall hear. What is Right, and What is Wrang, by the law, by the law? What is Right and what is Wrang by the law? What is Right, and what is Wrang? A short sword, and a lang, A weak arm and a strang, for to draw. What makes heroic strife, famed afar, famed afar? What makes heroic strife famed afar? What makes heroic strife? To whet th' assassin's knife, Or hunt a Parent's life, wi' bluidy war? Then let your schemes alone, in the state, in the state, Then let your schemes alone in the state. Then let your schemes alone, Adore the rising sun, And leave a man undone, to his fate. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,hannahma Date: 22 Sep 09 - 10:06 PM David Francey's song "Flowers of Saskatchewan". The radio played it on Nov. 11th... I ran out and bought all his records. The King's Own Calgary Regiment was in fact at Dieppe. The sun was shining on the English Channel on a ferry off the coast of France and it was summer and a pleasant morning and high above gulls wheeled and danced. And high above the cliff of morning The gun emplacements that stood in ranks And I walked over to the railing and I heard the ghosts of the Calgary Tanks. And I remembered pictures |I'd seen in history books and magazines of three men standing smoking, staring among the dead men on a rocky beach And in the light of that pleasant morning as we sailed under the cliffs above I though of all their silent prayers and the final thoughts of the ones they loved, That they'd left behind at prairie stations waving to their pride and joy waving to the smiling faces, smiling faces on the soldier boys No waves of grain will claim the fallen Just the Channel cold and grey as steel and no return to the rolling prairie and a silent cross on a lonely field. oh the sun was shining on the rolling prairie far from the Channel cold and grey shone on the families, friends and lovers of the prairie boys who fell that day but they could not know on that sunny morning the future held for them no joy they'd wait in vain at prairie stations wait in vain for their soldier boys. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,Russ Date: 22 Sep 09 - 01:03 PM My personal favorite is still "Masters of War." Russ (Permanent GUEST) |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,Teribus Date: 22 Sep 09 - 10:46 AM When Margaret was Eleven - Pete St. John Bogle's "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" as far as "lyrics : fact" is a mess. Example: "Oh its well I remember that terrible day When our blood stained the sand and the water How in that hell they called Suvla Bay We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter" Fact of the matter: The Landings at Suvla Bay were completely unopposed nobody died. The scenes Bogle is trying to described happened a couple of weeks earlier with the initial landings at ANZAC Cove. If you are going to write a retrospective song "in the tradition" you should at least make some sort of effort to get it right. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: voyager Date: 21 Sep 09 - 06:08 PM Once we get away from the 'Greatest Ever....' frame of mind then I'd add these tunes to our list --> The General - Dispatch The Cutty Wren - Mudcat Thread Arthur McBride - Mudcat Thread Fixing to Die Rag - Mudcat Thread I have a longer story about writing to Country Joe over the Copyright Infringement Lawsuit over FTDR. Peace voyager |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,PT Date: 21 Sep 09 - 02:03 PM Universal Soldier, Buffy St Marie |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Martin Harwood Date: 15 Sep 09 - 09:34 AM Bogle's the modern master for me but from history how about Ye Jacobites (I get angry when I sing it) and The Flowers o the Forest (makes me cry - try Mairi Campbell's version with The Cast |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: t.jack Date: 15 Sep 09 - 09:12 AM RIBBON TO A CHAIN THERE ARE HEROS ON THE HIGHWAY THERE ARE RIBBONS IN THE RAIN WHEN THE WAR IS AT MY DOOR STEP THEN THAT RIBBON IS A BALL AND CHAIN.. IN QUIET ROOMS AROUND NEW TABLES OLD MEN SIT AND DREAM OF WAR PROPAGANDA AND SPIN DOCTORS YOUNG MEN DIE ON DISTANT SHORES ACROSS THE CORNFIELD COMES THE ARMY ACROSS THE RIVER ACROSS THE PLAINS ACROSS THE OCEANS ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS ACROSS THE CROSS THEY CARVE A NAME JESUS WAS A LONELY HOBO BEFORE THE CROSS HE LOOKED BOTH WAYS TIPPED THE TABLES IN THE TEMPLE YOU BETTER FIND A BETTER WAY THERE ARE CHILDREN IN THE CRADLE THERE ARE CHILDREN IN THE GRAVES THERE ARE CHILDREN IN THE CORNFIELDS THERE ARE CHILDREN THAT WON`T PLAY NORMAN DOUCETTE |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: jaze Date: 14 Sep 09 - 10:14 AM The Day After Tomorrow--written by Tom Waits and sung by Joan Baez--about soldier in Iraq war |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Stringsinger Date: 14 Sep 09 - 08:30 AM Tommy Makem did the definitive performance of Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya' for me. He starts the song with a mixture of anger for having been deceived and sarcasm at the "doleful damsel's cry" with the right reaction of bitterness which the actor Tommy Makem delivered so convincingly. Then the song takes a shift. "I'm happy for to see you home" is a plaint so heartbreaking. This will always be one of the main performances I remember Tommy doing. The other is "Dick Darby, the Cobbler". Tommy's "Johnny" was for me the most potent comment on anti-war ever done. Frank Hamilton |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: CupOfTea Date: 13 Sep 09 - 08:45 PM So many of the songs mentioned have touched me with their eloquent depiction of the horrors of war. Some of these have been neutralized by being played too relentlessly often by those whose skill was not up to the quality of the song. For many years the song "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye"" was like that for me. Then I heard it done by opera singer Ben Luxon. He played, toured and recorded two albums of traditional songs with the late Bill Crofut which were part of what drew me into traditional music. I saw them perform this song live. Bill set up a drum tattoo on the head of his banjo as the only backing to Ben's vocals. Performed in an operatic baritone, with more conviction than any other singer I've ever seen - it was VERY operatic - and you could easily imagine on the stage there with him was the lad "You havn't an eye, you havn't a leg, you're an eyeless, boneless chickenless egg..." and my body was covered in goosebumps. Every hair on my body stood up. I could barely breathe till he sang "I'm happy for to see you home..." Dunno if there's a "best" anti war song, but I'd mark this as the best performance of one in my life. How a song functions best varies vastly. Some of the more complex or long have the most impact only when sung by those who are very good at it. Other songs are wonderful anthems for peace marchers - more simple, easy to learn, easy to sing. The more cynical songs like " "Hanging on the old barbed wire"" are good for getting folks engaged in the concept who don't realize they too MIGHT have antiwar feelings, but would never find themselves singing "those peacenick" songs. I'm drawn to the "aftermath of war" sorts of songs. A pair I sing together are Richard Thompson's ""How will I ever be simple again"" and Margaret Nelson's ""Died in the War."" Margaret & Phil Cooper's version of ""Rosemary's Sister"" hits the civilian side of war's aftermath. Years ago I heard Robin & Linda Williams introduce ""Don't let me go home a Stranger"" as always reminding them of a veteran relative. Perhaps it's the gentle feel of thes songs with the message that war touches us all, for years after, that gives them a different sort of powerful impact. Joanne in Cleveland |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: sing4peace Date: 13 Sep 09 - 08:36 PM Greatest? Ever? I don't know about but I've been singing this one for over 40 years. It still makes me cry - I Come And Stand At Every Door (also known as the Little Girl From Hiroshima) - Lyrics adapted from a Turkish Poem by Nazim Hikmet. Translated into English by Jeanette Turner. Adapted by Pete Seeger Music by James Waters,"The Great Silkie" (information courtesy of Where Have All The Flowers Gone? by Pete Seeger) I come and stand at every door But none can hear my silent tread I knock and yet remain unseen For I am dead - For I am dead. I'm only seven although I died In Hiroshima, long ago I'm seven now as I was then When children die They do not grow. My hair was scorched by swirling flame My eyes grew dim, my eyes grew blind Death came and turned my bones to dust And that was scattered by the wind. I need no fruit, I need no rice I need no sweets, nor even bread I ask for nothing for myself For I am dead For I am dead. All that I ask is that for peace You fight today, you fight today So that the children of this earth May live and grow And laugh and play. --------- also in the cue (besides many already referenced by other posters): God On Our Side - Bob Dylan The Gentlement of Distinction - Malvina Reynolds Political Science - Randy Newman The Rainbow Race - Pete Seeger The Merry Minuet - Sheldon Harnick This World Is One - Charlie King ---------- In Peace and Song, Joyce |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,tom franke Date: 12 Sep 09 - 10:18 PM frogprince, thanks for mentioning Joel Mabus's "Touch a Name on the Wall," one of my favorites in this genre. the lyrics are posted on Joel's site, at http://joelmabus.com/288_lyrics.htm#name%20wall. Although there are a lot of great songs mentioned in this thread, I am moved most by those that tell a very personal story as opposed to the more didactic ones. Another in this category is "Teardrops Falling in the Snow" http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=32367, Unfortunately it is marred by the maudlin final verse about the mother and son meeting in heaven. I change the ending to "Scenes like this have been repeated, far too many times I know, Mothers waiting at the station, their teardrops falling in the snow." |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: frogprince Date: 12 Sep 09 - 10:04 AM All of those that have been meaningful to me have been mentioned, except one, and I've found a lot of strong ones here that are new to me. The one that I didn't find mentioned was "Touch A Name On The Wall", by Joel Mabus; it's particularly devastating to hear it conclude with "Never Again", coming from the Vietnam context, with us trying to imagine whatever end to the Iraq sacrilige. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: The Sandman Date: 12 Sep 09 - 08:46 AM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ5xZQVkhak http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ5xZQVkhak this one was written by Dominic Williams,I like it anyway |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: eddie1 Date: 12 Sep 09 - 04:39 AM We're never going to agree on "The greatest" - we all have our personal favourites but reading this thread is thought provoking and has reduced me to tears on several occasions. One song that I play evry two or three weeks on my Radio programme (For those interested, "On The Road Again" on www.blast1386.com every Thursday between 1000 & 1300 UK time) I play Pete Seegr singing "Bring Em Home" The horrifying thing is that this song was written during the Vietnam era yet exactly the same kind of wars are happening today! On reflection, I guess my favourite has to be "Strangest Dream" because it does not come up with clever answers, it doesn't try to apportion blame, it just tells of a wonderful dream. If only! Eddie |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Amos Date: 12 Sep 09 - 12:56 AM I have always fallen back on "Last Night I had the Strangest Dream" for short eloquence. A |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: TonyA Date: 12 Sep 09 - 12:19 AM Roamin' Jack (from the U.S. Civil War) It was on an autumn evening, an old man bent with age Strolled up to the village express, just off of a dusty stage. "Is this the express office? I've come to meet my son. They told me that his train was due this place at half-past one." "You've made a great mistake, sir, I would like for you to know. This is the express office, not the town depot." "You do not understand me, lad," with quivering lips he said. "He's not coming as a passenger. He's coming to me dead." Just then a whistle pierced the air. "The express!" someone cried. And with feeble, trembling steps, the old man passed outside. Just then a casket in a box was lowered to the ground. It was an eager, tearful crowd that quickly gathered round. "Don't handle him so roughly, boys. He is my darling Jack. He went away as you are now. See how he's coming back. He has broken his poor mother's heart. Mine is broken, too. We told him that he'd come back dead if he joined those boys in blue." |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: TonyA Date: 12 Sep 09 - 12:16 AM Rich Man's War, by Steve Earle Jimmy joined the army 'cause he had no place to go. There ain't nobody hirin' 'round here since all the jobs went down to Mexico. Reckoned that he'd learn himself a trade, maybe see the world; Move to the city someday, and marry a black haired girl. Somebody somewhere had another plan. Now he's got a rifle in his hand, Rollin' into Baghdad, wonderin' how he got this far; Just another poor boy, off to fight a rich man's war. Bobby had an eagle and a flag tattooed on his arm, Red white and blue to the bone when he landed in Kandahar. Left behind a pretty young wife and a baby girl, A stack of overdue bills and went off to save the world. Been a year now and he's still there, Chasin' ghosts in the thin dry air. Meanwhile back at home the finance company took his car; Just another poor boy, off to fight a rich man's war. When will we ever learn? When will we ever see? We stand up and take our turn, And keep tellin' ourselves we're free. Ali was the second son of a second son. Grew up in Gaza, throwing bottles and rocks when the tanks would come. Ain't nothin' else to do around here; just a game children play. Somethin' 'bout livin' in fear all your life makes you hard that way. He answered when he got the call; Wrapped himself in death and praised Allah; A fat man in a new Mercedes drove him to the door; Just another poor boy, off to fight a rich man's war. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: SuperKrone Date: 11 Sep 09 - 10:00 PM And this verse, purpose written although by who, to "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye": They're rolling out the guns again; Huroo, huroo. They're rolling out the guns again; Huroo, huroo. They're rolling out the guns again, But they'll never take our sons again: Johnny, I swear it to ye!" How often we've been forsworn. How many sons, and daughters, too, these days, Hapless draftees or ambitious volunteers, have been taken since then. I am adamently against war, but I have lost the arrogance that let me feel I could condemn the warriors. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Reiver 2 Date: 11 Sep 09 - 08:04 PM There are so many outstanding anti-war songs, it's almost impossible to pick ONE. I can't help but put in my 2 cents worth, though. [And there are many listed above that I've not heard, and in picking the best I would want to consider both lyrics and music.] Of those I know I would make it a tie between "The Band Played Waltzing Marilda" and what I learned as "The Green Fields of France." It goes without saying, therefore, that I'd vote Eric Bogle as the outstanding WRITER of anti-war songs. {One that would be close is Buffy St. Marie's "Universal Soldier."] I just wish all of those mentioned on this thread could be sung and heard more often!! And that more who hear them would act accordingly. Reiver 2 |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: MGM·Lion Date: 11 Sep 09 - 01:26 PM ... & for that matter, can't bear to go right back & count how many times it has been mentioned — but 'The Band Played Waltzing Matilda' has got to be right up there as well. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: MGM·Lion Date: 11 Sep 09 - 01:24 PM I logged on here to register my vote; but I find Stringsinger had mentioned the song I was going to nominate less than a week ago. Never mind - here's another vote for it: surely one great strong contender to answer the question at the head of the thread has to be JOHNNY I HARDLY KNEW YOU |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST Date: 11 Sep 09 - 12:06 PM Just read in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper,Bruce Cockburn is playing his Rocket Loncher in Afghansthan? Says he believes in the mission? Man am i ever lost sometimes more than most.. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,Glenn Cook Date: 05 Sep 09 - 09:41 PM Not one of the greatest perhaps but a great one Ritchie Havens 'Hansome Johnny'. See Woodstock for the performance. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Smokey. Date: 05 Sep 09 - 08:52 PM Ritchie Havens' 'Handsome Johnny' (on the Woodstock film) gets me every time. That's as much about the sincerity of his performance as it is the song though. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: 12barblues Date: 05 Sep 09 - 08:18 PM Mr Gunman - Vin Garbutt If I Had A Rocket Launcher - Bruce Cockburn (there is a stunning live, solo acoustic performance on YouTube, as is a much less polished, but very effective, version by Brendan Croker). A bit controversial this one maybe, but imho you don't have to be a pacifist to be anti-war, or most wars at least. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,John Date: 05 Sep 09 - 07:12 PM Can't Get You Out Of My Country Julian Cope |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Stringsinger Date: 05 Sep 09 - 05:09 PM Darwin mentions "specialization" in a species where the failure to adapt brings about its demise. War is that specialization for homo sapiens. I think Tommy Sands deserves a mention for "There Were Roses" and "The Music of Healing". When I heard Tommy Makem sing "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya'" I was mesmerized and when it was done, I said, "That says it all". |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: kendall Date: 04 Sep 09 - 08:51 PM War, The ultimate failure |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Joe_F Date: 04 Sep 09 - 05:55 PM The Revel: In Digitrad Then stand to your glasses steady. This world is a world of lies. Here's a sip to the dead already And a cup to the next that dies. |
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