war songs

[nbdysfu]

These two songs played back to back on the local radio station today among a group of similar songs. I have to admit I wasn't expecting this particular combination on memorial day. It does reflect much of the mentality of the city I live in though.

I Ain't Marching Anymore


Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans
At the end of the early British war
The young land started growing
The young blood started flowing
But I ain’t marchin’ anymore
For I’ve killed my share of Indians
In a thousand different fights
I was there at the Little Big Horn
I heard many men lying
I saw many more dying
But I ain’t marchin’ anymore

(chorus)

It's always the old to lead us to the war
It's always the young to fall
Now look at all we’ve won with the sabre and the gun
Tell me is it worth it all

For I stole California from the Mexican land
Fought in the bloody Civil War
Yes I even killed my brother
And so many others
And I ain’t marchin’ anymore

For I marched to the battles of the German trench
In a war that was bound to end all wars
Oh I must have killed a million men
And now they want me back again
But I ain’t marchin’ anymore

(chorus)

For I flew the final mission in the Japanese sky
Set off the mighty mushroom roar
When I saw the cities burning
I knew that I was learning
That I ain’t marchin’ anymore

Now the labor leader’s screamin’ when they close the missile plants,
United Fruit screams at the Cuban shore,
Call it “Peace“ or call it “Treason,”
Call it “Love” or call it “Reason,”
But I ain’t marchin’ any more.

Af Phil Ochs

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Virgil Caine is the 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, just barely alive.
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell,
it's a time I remember, oh so well,


(Chorus)
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the bells were ringing,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the people were
singin'. They went
La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La,

Back with my wife in Tennessee,
When one day she called to me,
"Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!"
Now I don't mind choppin' wood,
and I don't care if the money's no good.
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest,
But they should never have taken the very best.

(Chorus)

Like my father before me, I will work the land,
Like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand.
He was just eighteen, 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.

Any one can make additions, Green Beret or Star Spangled Banner or Woody Guthrie, whatever you like.

 

[Semper Fi]

The minstrel boy to the war is gone,
in the ranks of death you'll find him.
His father's sword he hath girded on,
and his wild harp slung behind him.

"Land of song," said the warrior bard,
though all the world betrays thee.
One sword at least, thy rights shall gaurd,
one faithful harp shall praise thee.

The minstrel fell, but the foeman's chains
could not bring this proud soul under.
The harp he loved never spoke again,
for he tore its cords asunder.

And said no chains shall sully thee,
the sword of love and bravery,
Thy songs were made for the pure and free,
they shall never sound in slavery.

 

[insein]

This is about 9/11

When the Eagle Cries
Music & Lyrics by Jon Schaffer

Another day just like any other
Out of the blue it turned to horror
How could they?
Why would they?
The innocent suffered hell’s inferno
A senseless act that goes unforgotten
How could they?
They will pay

Chorus
When the eagle cries
Blood will flow
When the eagle cries
For freedom’s fight
When the eagle cries
We love her so
When the eagle cries
We will sacrifice

Out of the ashes came a tempting vengeance
But we are focused, we seek redemption
We are free
We’ll stay free
All they’ve done is make us stronger
The sleeping giant is asleep no longer
If need be
We’ll die free

Chorus
When the eagle cries
Blood will flow
When the eagle cries
For freedom’s fight
When the eagle cries
We love her so
When the eagle cries
We will sacrifice

 

[insein]

This one is about the Revolutionary War.

Declaration Day
Music & Lyrics by Jon Schaffer

A desperate situation
Forced to retaliation
The task ahead a burden
Men will suffer, that’s for certain
We’ll charge into the fire
The cause, we must inspire
We raise our fists to tyranny
A high price, freedom is not free

The odds are stacked against us
But with our resolve relentless
And arrogance their weakness
Our cause is just, we won’t be beaten
Upon this declaration
Will come a brand new nation
Where men are seen as equal
Governed by and for the people

Chorus
So we make our stand and pray
On this Declaration Day
For independence I will fight
With liberty I will defy
So we make our stand and pray
On this Declaration Day
Give me liberty or give me death
I’ll fight ‘til my last breath

With virtue as our beacon
Our cause is charged as treason
Battleworn and starving
Through the hell of war we’ll keep marching
The birth of our new nation
An act of desperation
We’ll force King George down to his knees
Capitulation

Chorus
And so we make our stand and pray
On this Declaration Day
For independence I will fight
With liberty I will defy
So we make our stand and pray
On this Declaration Day
Give me liberty or give me death
I’ll fight ‘til my last breath

 

[insein]

This one is about the Revolutionary War.

Valley Forge
Music & Lyrics by Jon Schaffer

Close your eyes and imagine
The soldier at Valley Forge
The suffering that he endured was real
Starvation, total war
Yet in his eyes, the iron will to win
And for the cause he won’t relent

Standing barefoot, frozen bloody hands
His musket clutched, an iron grip
For the cause he has but one regret
That he’s only got one life to give

Chorus
Would he look upon us now
In anger and disgust?
His providence, our birthright and our creed
Will we let ignorance and laziness
Bring our demise?
Complacency, we’re blinded by our greed

It’s time for us to open up our eyes
And cherish the lives we all can have
And to the ones who’ve kept our freedom free
Words can’t express all that you have done

Chorus
Would he look upon us now
In anger and disgust?
His providence, our birthright and our creed
Will we let ignorance and laziness
Bring our demise?
Complacency, we’re blinded by our greed

 

[Said1]

This one is for Vietnam:

Country Joe and the Fish - I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die

Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
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 damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
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 those reds —
The only good commie 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 damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
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 the Viet Cong.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
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 boys off to 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 boy 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 damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
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.

 

[nbdysfu]

A lot of great music was made during Vietnam, including the songs I posted.

"The rock and roll war...
To most of us, the Vietnam War has a rock and roll soundtrack. Almost every novel, memoir or oral history of the war by a veteran mentions the music that the author listened to in country. All the songs of the sixties were part of life in the combat zone; troops listened to music in the bush and in the bunkers (Perry 1968). Sony radios, Akai stereos and Teac tape decks were easily available, American music was performed live by the ubiquitous Filipino rock bands, AFVN Radio broadcast round the clock, and new troops arrived weekly with the latest records from the states. GI-operated underground radio stations, playing mostly hard acid rock, were part of the in-country counterculture of the war. Even the enemy contributed to the sound of American music on the airwaves; Radio Hanoi played rock and soul music, while a series of soft-voiced, Oxford-accented women announcers known collectively to the troops as Hanoi Hannah competed with AFVN disk jockey Chris Noel for the hearts and minds of the American soldiers. The troops had their own top forty, of songs about going home, like "Five Hundred Miles," or "Leaving on a Jet Plane," or of darker or more cynical album cuts which reflected their experiences: "Run Through the Jungle," "Bad Moon," "Paint it Black," or "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." References to popular music are an integral part of the language of the war: "Puff the Magic Dragon" or "Spooky" meant a cargo plane outfitted with machine guns, "rock and roll" fire from an M-16 on full automatic. But there were other songs in Vietnam, too 310 kb -- the songs made by the American men and women, civilians and military, who served there, for themselves."

more


Country Joe and the Fish? They're still alive and kicking:

Cakewalk to Baghdad
Lyrics and music by Bruce Barthol © 2003
I remember back, before we whacked Iraq
I was watching the news, were we gonna attack?
A man named Richard Perle came on and talked
He said going to Baghdad would be a cakewalk

Cakewalk to Baghdad,
Cakewalk to Baghdad

It went real easy,
Took a couple of weeks
Tore down that statue
Set those Saddamites free
The frogs and the krauts, they feel real bad,
'Cause they missed out cakewalkin' into Baghdad

Cakewalk to Baghdad,
Cakewalk to Baghdad

Next we're gonna cakewalk into Teheran,
Gonna cakewalk to Damascus and Pyong-yin-yang
When we strut on in,
They're all gonna cheer
They'll be wavin' old glory,
We'll have kegs of beer, just like that...

Cakewalk to Baghdad,
Cakewalk to Baghdad

Now moms and dads don't worry 'bout
Your soldier boys and girls
We're just sending them cakewalkin'
'Round the world
When the coffins come home and the flag unfurls
Cheer for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Perle

Cakewalk to Baghdad,
Cakewalk to Baghdad
Cakewalk to Baghdad,
Cakewalk to Baghdad

Are we gonna see those Bush boys patrollin' the streets
Like our soldiers got to do in Basram and Tikrit?
We gonna see Richard Perle cakewakin' 'round
The streets and alleys of Baghdad town?

Cakewalk to Baghdad,
Cakewalk to Baghdad
Cakewalk to Baghdad,
Cakewalk to Baghdad

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