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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,Gerry Date: 13 Jan 19 - 05:38 PM Here's an Israeli song, The Last War lyrics in Hebrew and English. Chorus: I promise you - my little girl, That this will be the last war. Here's a recording. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: peteglasgow Date: 15 Jan 19 - 01:41 PM in 1761 there was a riot in Hexham following attempts (by ballot) of enforced conscription. about 50 people were killed by the military with at least 300 injured. i had heard nothing about this til i saw a plaque in the town square last year. are there songs about it - you would think so given the traditions of the area. or maybe there are no songs - which is why it is not known about so much |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: rich-joy Date: 15 Jan 19 - 06:42 PM This one moves me greatly and was a huge favourite of my late Partner, Paul Lawler, who sang it powerfully. Thanks to Stewie, we learnt it from a great Tom Reid recording. Lyrics are elsewhere on a Mudcat thread. "When Princes Meet" - Tom Paxton (c.1973) R-J (Down Under) |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Joe_F Date: 09 Oct 21 - 06:11 PM Just this morning I happened to be listening to Leslie Fish sing "Through a Glass Darkly" by Gen. George S. Patton, realized to my amazement that he was *that* one, and looked it up: here. He believed he was the reincarnation of a line of big-time killers, and he wrote poems that described the psychopathology of war from within, with pride. Perhaps some of the others should be set to music. With prowar songs like these, who needs antiwar songs? |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Steve Shaw Date: 09 Oct 21 - 06:44 PM From Alias Ron Kavana: "Thoughts of Abilene" In the silence I succumb to Thoughts of Abilene A song that ran into my head in Nineteen-Sixteen As I lay there in the rubble with a rifle in my hands Old enough to know why, too young to understand And in the rain that was fallin’ I heard the dyin’ cry A machine gun was hammerin’, hammerin’ out a life. It was a worker’s hand that put the bullets in the gun, It was into a worker’s heart that the bloody bullets spun. Guns’n’drums and drums’n’guns, aroo, aroo, As cannon fodder for the cause we’ll do, we’ll do, As we rally ‘round the flag boys, rally once again Shoutin’ the battle cry of Freedom! As metal rang on metal to explode the firing caps The flashing of the gunfire lit the metal of his hat His young face was filled with fear, his eyes shone white with fright As he sent a dozen bullets into my chest that night And in the silence I succumbed to Thoughts Of Abilene As the bullets smashed into my bones in Nineteen-Sixteen. Now you might wonder who I was, but more importantly than that In which war did I die, you don’t know and that’s a fact. Then there's Country Joe and the Fish with the Vietnam Song. . |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: PHJim Date: 10 Oct 21 - 12:13 AM The Ballad Of Prnny Evans -Steve Goodman |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: punkfolkrocker Date: 10 Oct 21 - 01:56 AM Take yer pick... Charlie Drake - Mr. Custer David Peel & The Lower East Side - Hey, Mr. Draft Board (1970) |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,jim bainbridge Date: 14 Nov 21 - 09:17 AM Peteglasgow re the Hexham riots of 1761, I'm sure the late Terry Conway & Liz Law had a song about this & put it on a CD about 20 years ago? |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Donuel Date: 14 Nov 21 - 09:52 AM Graeme Edge's 'Knights in White Satin' could be included. He passed this month. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Steve Shaw Date: 14 Nov 21 - 12:48 PM It's "Nights," not "Knights." The Late Lament section at the end of the song is presumably what you are referring to, which is the part written by Edge. I fail to see how it's an anti-war song (or poem). Perhaps you could explain. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: GUEST,Don Meixner Date: 14 Nov 21 - 03:00 PM I haven't seen "I Come and Stand At Every Door" listed. It very likely was and I missed it. In a field of some many great songs to choose just one is very near impossible. I think that song that affects each of us the most is the best there every was. Don |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Steve Shaw Date: 14 Nov 21 - 08:09 PM From the Guardian's obit on Edge: Of his seemingly lugubrious piece Late Lament on that album, Edge, who also enjoyed a reputation as the group’s bon vivant, insisted that it was intended to be joyous and uplifting. “It’s a young boy discovering that he loves somebody for the first time, and he just wants to shout it out from the hills – and shout it out again!” he told Rolling Stone in 2018. So not exactly an anti-war song then... |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Stewie Date: 15 Nov 21 - 11:07 PM I reckon this one is worthy of inclusion in an anti-war song collection: THE RILEY BOYS (Carol Denney) It was lovely in the spring All the flowers were in bloom And we met beside the shore For a moment There were birds and there were planes Flying patterns all around And we shared a single sound For a moment If the Riley boys were here They would tell us all was well Not to cry and not to worry for tomorrow If the Riley boys were here This would be a joyous tear Instead of one for mercy and for sorrow If it’s quiet in the street It is not for want of feet That would march if they could only Find the way If the halo round the light In this quiet street tonight Showed the hearts that wander by It would be crying If the Riley boys were here They would probably take our hands And remind us that on earth our days are fleeting If the Riley boys were here And their gentle voices near They’d remind us all that someday we’ll be meeting It’s so hard to read the news And so beautiful outside And the world that seemed so wide Now seems so broken All the things we love and keep In our dreams and in our sleep Startled birds that we have suddenly awoken If the Riley boys were here They would tell us not to cry Dry your eyes, they’d say There’s work to do tomorrow If the Riley boys were here We’d hold fast another year And be thankful for what mercy we could borrow And be thankful for what mercy we could borrow Here's a rendition by Finest Kind: Riley Boys Carol Denney - singer, writer and grassroots activist - composed a quiet, dignified song, The Riley Boys, which she said was her personal metaphor for the Iraq war dead. It was born in the aftermath of Abu Graib when their voices were all she could hear. Carol lives in California, but her roots are in small town West Virginia where she says ‘the loss of one person is felt deeply and mourned collectively’. In such a rural community, discussion of war is more nuanced. Which is more natural - war or peace? Perhaps it is a matter of asking the right question. During the war in Sarajevo, Vedran Smailovic went out into the town square and played his cello whilst bombs were dropping around him. Someone from the press ran out and asked: ‘Sir, why are you playing your cello while they are dropping bombs?’ Smailovic replied: ‘Why are they dropping bombs while I’m playing my cello?’ --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: PHJim Date: 16 Nov 21 - 01:11 AM Infantryman - John Wort Hannam My boy came home from the war today I stood by as his plane touched down An infantryman on foreign shores Coming on back to his hometown And it's been so long since he's been gone I stand before him now and gaze in disbelief My boy came home from the war today Draped in the Mapleleaf My boy came home from the war today With a medal for valour in combat They hoisted high on their shoulders And everyman gathered there clutched his hat But no fanfare played and no speeches were made No pretty young maids waved a hankerchief My boy came home from the war today Draped in the Mapleleaf When my boy came home from the war today He was draped in the Mapleleaf My boy came home from the war today Now my heart is filled with grief |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Raedwulf Date: 16 Nov 21 - 07:03 AM Not a song, but a poem (if that's permitted?), and perhaps not precisely anti-war either. I've posted it more than once before, so here's a link that says everything that needs to be said. I am generally fairly placid, but I think this moves me more than anything else I have ever read or heard. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Lighter Date: 16 Nov 21 - 07:58 AM If poems are of interest, how about this anonymous marker placed on a mass British grave in France after the German Spring Offensive of 1918: The Devonshires held this trench. The Devonshires hold it still. Or two lines from the poet F. S. Flint, about the young combatants of the same war, regardless of nationality (also in 1918): They no longer inherit the earth. The earth inherits them. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Lighter Date: 16 Nov 21 - 02:46 PM Raedwulf, "fifty sons" at age 24. It's a viewpoint that doesn't get enough attention. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Raedwulf Date: 16 Nov 21 - 04:37 PM Aye, Lighter. It's one reason, amongst others, why I post it once in a while. We can't unwish history. I do wish me might learn from it occasionally. We never seem to, alas... :-/ |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Stewie Date: 16 Nov 21 - 07:44 PM This one was composed by Mike Craver, an original member of one of my all-time favourite American groups, the Red Clay Ramblers. After leaving the Ramblers, Craver released a clutch of fine solo albums. 'Argonne Wood' is on his 'Shining Down' album. ARGONNE WOOD (Mike Craver) Billy Leonard was a boy from here A stout-hearted fellow, Billy knew no fear He learned about the war from the newsreels He’d seen in the movie house Billy figured that he’d take a chance He joined the army and he sailed for France He’d give that Kaiser a kick in the pants Any good man should The officer said, ‘Don’t you worry, son ‘We’re gonna give the dickens to the lousy Hun ‘And when we’ve blown ‘em all to kingdom come ‘We’ll cross and make our claim’ Oh Billy, don’t you weep no more You lost your battle but you won our war Just like we knew you could There’s no pretty ladies where the poppies grow Nobody told you what you had to know The only ones who could Lay buried in the Argonne Wood And the orders come and the whistles blow Up from the trenches all the laddies go They looked at each other, but how could they know They’d be cut down like the grain They said it’ll all be over in forty-two days The world situation would improve in ways But none could see it through the murky haze That billowed from an unjust cause Oh Billy, don’t you weep no more You lost your battle but you won our war Just like we knew you would There’s no pretty ladies where the poppies grow Nobody told you what you had to know The only ones who could Lay buried in the Argonne Wood Billy had it better than some of his friends He’s still alive and he still pretends But sometimes at night, he prays for an end To the hell of his same old dream He’s come back home to his family’s care He wears his medals as he sits in his chair But his legs are gone and his soul’s not there He’d claim it if he could Deep in the Argonne Wood Oh Billy don’t you weep no more You lost your battle but you won our war Just like we knew you could No big parades where the poppies grow Nobody told you what you had to know The only ones who could Lay deep in the Argonne Wood Youtube clip The greatest American battle of WWI is largely forgotten today. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also known as the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was part of the final Allied offensive that stretched along the entire Western Front. It was fought from 26 September 1918 until Armistice on 11 November. During those 47 days, the American Expeditionary Force had over 26 000 killed and almost 96 000 wounded, making it the largest and bloodiest of the war for the Americans. The majority of their ground forces fought their way through rough, hilly terrain that the German army had spent 4 years fortifying. The aim was to capture the railway hub at Sedan which would break the German railway support network. Coupled with British and French offensives elsewhere on the Western Front, the assault through Argonne was critical in breaking German resistance and bringing the war to an end. Mike Craver noted: ‘Argonne Wood was inspired by my mother’s writings about life and coming of age in the little North Carolina crossroads community where I was born’. --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Lighter Date: 16 Nov 21 - 08:07 PM The Argonne is sometimes considered one battle, sometimes several. If just one, it's by far the biggest battle in American history. And yes, few people have heard of it today. Fun fact: The terms "H Hour" and "D Day" were coined in 1918 to designate the beginning of the Argonne assault. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Stewie Date: 16 Nov 21 - 08:08 PM This one was mentioned above in 03 but no link to a recording. NORMANDY ORCHARDS (Keith Marsden) They're building a camp on the cornfields at Arlingham Bulldozers churning and changing the land Long barbed-wire fences and acres of tarmac Nissen huts raised where the crops used to stand Wide-eyed young village girls, giggling and staring At tanks and transporters that darken the sky There's convoys of lorries with fresh faces peering out So many young men come learning to die Chorus: They say you can still hear the village-hall band Grey, ghostly couples still glide round the floor But Normandy orchards were waiting to welcome New partners for death in the mad dance of war Mother has started a ‘comforts committee’ But Reverend John's more concerned about sin Hughes at The White Swan is rubbing his hands a lot Watching the troops and the profits roll in Eager young squaddies with overdone courtesy Tipping their caps to the girls going by But too soon from school to be licentious soldiery So many young men come learning to die Chorus And mother would have a blue fit if she knew about Lieutenant Johnson and walks in the wood She's laid down the law and she's always gone on about Men being beasts, so a girl must be good But even she'd laugh at our clumsy propriety Me far too fearful and him far too shy She might even pity his lonely bewilderment, One of the young men come learningto die Chorus And peace came to Arlingham many long years ago Time passing by healed the scars on the land Tanks on the village green just a fond memory Now corn grows again where the huts used to stand Yet when I walk in the woods on a summer's night By the trees' edge when the wind starts to sigh I still hear their voices all rising in harmony Lost, wasted, young men come learning to die YT clip -Cockersdale --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: Greatest Anti-War Song Ever? From: Stewie Date: 16 Nov 21 - 08:26 PM FLOWERS OF SASKATCHEWAN (David Francey) 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 cliffs 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 thought 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 the soldier boys YT clip Most historians agree that the allied raid on Dieppe on 19 August 1942 was an unmitigated disaster. The planners grossly underestimated the strength of the German garrison and the difficulties presented by the cliffs and stony beaches. Churchill privately admitted: ‘It would appear to a layman very much out of accord with the accepted principles of war to attack the strongly fortified town front without first securing the cliffs on either side, and to use our tanks in frontal assault off the beaches’. British war historian, David Reynolds, described Lord Louis Mountbatten, the architect of the raid, as ‘this egregious political climber’ who had been ‘absurdly over-promoted’ by Churchill. Of the 6000 allied troops involved, 4963 were Canadian. Of the latter, only 2104 returned to England, many of whom were wounded. 913 were killed and 1946 captured. Canadian historian, Pierre Berton, wrote: ‘How ironic it is that for Canadians the defining battle of the Great War was a glorious victory – Vimy Ridge – while its counterpart, 25 years later, was a bitter defeat’. One of the 3 Canadian soldiers awarded the Victoria Cross had the last word: ‘The people who planned it should be shot’. --Stewie. |
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