Lyr Req: Died in the War (Margaret Nelson)

Subject: 'Died in the War'
From: Bruce
Date: 05 Apr 02 - 05:28 AM

A few years ago I heard a song on the radio -- the chorus, and I think the title was "Died in the war" or "He died in the war". The song documented not only the death of a soldier, but the things that also died for loved ones and friends as a result. My recollection is that it was sung and recorded by a group from US Midwest. Kansas maybe. Ring any bells?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Died in the War'
From: Sorcha
Date: 05 Apr 02 - 10:35 AM

Too many hits, not enough clues. Do you have any more clues?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Died in the War'
From: masato sakurai
Date: 05 Apr 02 - 11:13 AM

Whereas no song with that title can be found in Levy and ASCAP.

~Masato

Subject: Lyr Add: DIED IN THE WAR (Margaret Nelson)
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 05 Apr 02 - 03:13 PM

blsmith, are you referring to the song "Died in the War" written by my singing partner, Margaret Nelson? If so, I can get you the words quite easily. It's on our recording "The Only Dance We Know," released in 1995. In fact, here they are:

She's middle-aged now. She uses her time
For her friends and her work and improving her mind.
She's lonesome tonight. She knows who it's for:
Her sweetheart, who died in the war.

When her lover came home, she thought that her life
Would be husband and babies, mother and wife,
But the man was a stranger who walked through her door.
Her sweetheart had died in the war.

(Bridge tune): Died of the bullets, the mines and the shells,
Died with his buddies in two years of hell
With a wall round his heart where love needs a door.
Her sweet heart he died in the war.

He's a pretty good boss. he works with his crew
Taking old buildings and making 'em new.
Some nights he drinks less. Some nights he drinks more.
His sweetheart, she died in the war.

(Bridge tune again) Died of the hard words, the booze and the pain,
Died of the distance, he couldn't explain.
The girl was a stranger who walked out the door
His sweetheart, she died in the war.

She's middle-aged now. She uses her time
For her friends and her work and improving her mind.
She might have done less. She might have had more.
Her sweetheart he died in the war.

Copyright 1995 by Margaret J. Nelson, etc.

Hope that's the lyric you're looking for. If you need more information, you can e-mail me at [e-mail]. I'll pass the word on to Margaret that someone was looking for the lyrics. Don't know if she wrote out a lead sheet for it, I learned it by just playing it with her. Thanks for asking.

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 8-Apr-02.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Died in the War'
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 05 Apr 02 - 03:16 PM

A bit of esoterica, Margaret chose not to register the song with ASCAP or BMI because of philosophical differences on their methods of going after folk venues. She did copyright the song, but we didn't think we be getting tons of royalty checks from those organizations anyway.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Died in the War'
From: Bruce
Date: 05 Apr 02 - 05:01 PM

Phil ... Yes, that's the song ... I heard it early one Saturday morning on CBC radio and wrote the reference on my workbench in Saskatchewan -- and then moved to Nova Scotia. (The workbench stayed behind!) I remember how moved I was by the song -- both the words and the rendering.

I will contact you via e-mail about buying your CD.

Thanks Sorcha and Masato for taking an interest in helping me track this down.

Bruce

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Died in the War'
From:
Date: 06 Apr 02 - 12:32 AM

that is beautiful. I took the liberty (I should have asked first but I was too impatient) to post on Sanctuary, a list group for women affected by the Vietnam war. Is it about that particular war, or another one??

mg

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Died in the War'
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 06 Apr 02 - 11:56 AM

MG, thanks. I don't think Margaret would mind. Yes, it is about Vietnam. Though, some Korean war vets also say the song could sum up their experience. The person in the song is real. He went to Vietnam to "see the elephant" and came back. His mind worked in odd angles, he couldn't approach something straight on, because he thought there would be a trap of some kind. Was very good at sabotaging himself. Margaret hung out with him for a long time, and finally had to send him on his way. Sometimes a happy ending is just not in the cards.

We have had several women in the audience come up after that song and say "I was that person." One person told us that song summed up his parents' entire relationship.