Favourite Anti-War Song (1 Viewer)

[Harrytheheid]

Something I've been meaning to post for some time but kept getting sidetracked.
I think its fair to say that the vast majority of members here are anti-war - while being 100% supportive of allied troops in the field. Whether that be WWI, WWII, Korea, The Nam, etc.
One of the best anti-war songs I've ever heard, while not being political or opinionated is;
"Bang The Drum Slowly" by EmmyLou Harris.
Anyone else got a different favourite? (Damian..??)

Cheers
H

 

[damian]

Something I've been meaning to post for some time but kept getting sidetracked.
I think its fair to say that the vast majority of members here are anti-war - while being 100% supportive of allied troops in the field. Whether that be WWI, WWII, Korea, The Nam, etc.
One of the best anti-war songs I've ever heard, while not being political or opinionated is;
"Bang The Drum Slowly" by EmmyLou Harris.
Anyone else got a different favourite? (Damian..??)

Cheers
H

I don't give a dam
Next stop is Vietnam
Regards
Damian

 

[damian]

She stands upon Southampton Dock
With her handkerchief whilst her summer frock clings to her wet body in the rain.
In quiet desperation, knuckles white against the slippery rail
She bravely waves the boys good bye again

 

[damian]

And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?


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copyright © Eric Bogle
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Note: If you're curious about the song Waltzing Matilda, a great deal of information and lyrics can be found here and here.

Additional Note: I am saddened to report that Alec Campbell, the last known survivor of the ANZAC forces at Gallipoli (and the last known survivor of Gallipoli) died on Thursday, May 16, 2002 at the age of 103.

Mr. Campbell enlisted at 16, and served at Gallipoli in 1915. He led Hobart's ANZAC Day parade three weeks prior to his death.

More information about Mr. Campbell can be found here.

But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

 

[damian]

Willie McBride

Melody - Irish traditional


Eric Bogle
Well how do you do Private William McBride,
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside?
And rest for awhile beneath the warm summer sun,
I've been walking all day and now I'm nearly done
I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916;
Well I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean,
Or, young Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?

Refrain:
Did they beat the drum slowly,
Did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the Death March
As they lowered you down?
Did the band play
"The Last Post And Chorus?"
Did the pipes play
"The Flowers Of The Forest?"

Did you leave 'ere a wife or a sweetheart behind?
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined?
And although you died back in 1916,
In that faithful heart are you forever nineteen?
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Enclosed forever behind a glass pane,
In an old photograph, torn, and battered and stained,
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame?
Refrain:

Ah the sun now it shines on these green fields of France,
The warm summer breeze makes the red poppies dance,
And look how the sun shines from under the clouds;
There's no gas, no barbed wire, there're no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard is still No Man's Land,
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man,
To a whole generation that was butchered and ****ed.
Refrain:

Ah, young Willie McBride, I can't help wonder why,
Did all those who lay here really know why they died?
And did they believe when they answered the call,
Did they really believe that this war would end war?
For the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain,
The killing and dying were all done in vain,
For, young Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again and again and again and again.
Refrain:

 

[damian]

Southampton Dock Lyrics by Pink Floyd
They disembarked in 45
And no one spoke and no one smiled
There were too many spaces in the line
Gathered at the cenotaph
All agreed with hand on heart
To sheath the sacrificial knifes
But now
She stands upon southampton dock
With her handkerchief
And her summer frock clings
To her wet body in the rain
In quiet desperation knuckles
White upon the slippery reins
She bravely waves the boys goodbye again
And still the dark stain spreads between
His shoulder blades
A mute reminder of the poppy fields and graves
And when the fight was over
We spent what they had made
But in the bottom of our hearts
We felt the final cut

 

[damian]

Kevin Barry

Melody - Old English Air


- In Mountjoy jail one Monday morning
High upon the gallows tree,
Kevin Barry gave his young life
For the cause of liberty.
But a lad of eighteen summers,
Still there's no one can deny,
As he walked to death that morning,
He proudly held his head on high.

2. Just before he faced the hangman,
In his dreary prison cell,
The Black and Tans tortured Barry,
Just because he wouldn't tell.

The names of his brave comrades,
And other things they wished to know.
"Turn informer and we'll free you"
Kevin Barry answered, "no".

3. "Shoot me like a soldier.
Do not hang me like a dog,
For I fought to free old Ireland
On that still September morn.

"All around the little bakery
Where we fought them hand to hand,
Shoot me like a brave soldier,
For I fought for Ireland."
4. "Kevin Barry, do not leave us,
On the scaffold you must die!"
Cried his broken-hearted mother
As she bade her son good-bye.
Kevin turned to her in silence
Saying, "Mother, do not weep,
For it's all for dear old Ireland
And it's all for freedom's sake."

5. Calmly standing to attention
While he bade his last farewell
To his broken hearted mother
Whose grief no one can tell.

For the cause he proudly cherished
This sad parting had to be
Then to death walked softly smiling
That old Ireland might be free.

6. Another martyr for old Ireland;
Another murder for the crown,
Whose brutal laws to crush the Irish,
Could not keep their spirit down.

Lads like Barry are no cowards.
From the foe they will not fly.
Lads like Barry will free Ireland,
For her sake they'll live and die.

 

[damian]

ain't marching any more
(Phil Ochs)
I marched to the battle of New Orleans
At the end of the early British wars
The young men started growing
The young blood started flowing
But I ain't marchin' any more

For I killed my share of Indians in a thousand different fights
I was there at the Little Big Horn
I heard many men a-lying
I saw many more a-dying
But I ain't marchin' any more

It's always the old who lead us to the wars
Always the young to fall
Now look at what we've won with our sabre and our 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 brothers
And so many others
But I ain't marchin' any more

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' any more

It's always the old who lead us to the wars
Always the young to fall
Now look at what we've won with our sabre and our gun
Tell me is it worth it all

For I flew the final mission in the Japanese sky
Set off the mighty mushroom roar
When I saw the cities burnin'
I knew that I was learnin'
That I ain't marchin' any more

Now the labour leaders screaming when they close a missile plant
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

I ain't marchin' any more

 

[damian]

Patriot Game
Listen: LoFi | Download | Send-Card | Chords
From: Songs of Ireland
words and music by Dominic Behan

Come all ye young rebels, and list while I sing,
For the love of one's country is a terrible thing.
It banishes fear with the speed of a flame,
And it makes us all part of the patriot game.

My name is O'Hanlon, and I've just turned sixteen.
My home is in Monaghan, and where I was weaned
I learned all my life cruel England's to blame,
So now I am part of the patriot game.

This Ireland of ours has too long been half free.
Six counties lie under John Bull's tyranny.
But still De Valera is greatly to blame
For shirking his part in the Patriot game.

They told me how Connolly was shot in his chair,
His wounds from the fighting all bloody and bare.
His fine body twisted, all battered and lame
They soon made me part of the patriot game.

It's nearly two years since I wandered away
With the local battalion of the bold IRA,
For I read of our heroes, and wanted the same
To play out my part in the patriot game.

[extra verse I found]
I don't mind a bit if I shoot down police
They are lackeys for war never guardians of peace
And yet at deserters I'm never let aim
The rebels who sold out the patriot game

And now as I lie here, my body all holes
I think of those traitors who bargained in souls
And I wish that my rifle had given the same
To those Quislings who sold out the patriot game.

KEY D

 

[damian]

The Green Hills Of Tyrol
There was a soldier, a Scottish soldier,
Who wandered far away and soldiered far away,
There was none bolder, with good broad shoulders,
He fought in many a fray and fought and won.
He's seen the glory, he's told the story,
Of battles glorious and deeds victorious.
But now he's sighing, his heart is crying,
To leave these green hills of Tyrol.

Chorus:

Because these green hills are not Highland hills
Or the Island's hills, they're not my land's hills,
As fair as these green foreign hills may be
They are not the hills of home.

And now this soldier, this Scottish soldier,
Who wandered far away and soldiered far away,
Sees leaves are falling, and death is calling,
And he will fade away, on that dark land.
He called his piper, his trusty piper,
And bade him sound away, a pibroch sad to play,
Upon a hillside, a Scottish hillside
Not on these green hills of Tyrol

Chorus:

And now this soldier, this Scottish soldier,
Who wanders far no more, and soldiers far no more,
Now on a hillside, a Scottish hillside,
You'll see a piper play this soldier home.
He's seen the glory, he's told the story,
Of battles glorious, and deeds victorious;
But he will cease now, he is at peace now,
Far from these green hills of Tyrol

Chorus:

 

[damian]

My Sarie Marais is zo ver van my hart,
maar 'k hoop om haar weer te sien.
Sy het in die wyk van die Mooirivier gewoon,
nog voor die oorlog het begin.

O bring my trug na die ou Transvaal,
daar waar my Sarie woon,
Daar onder in die mielies by die groen doringboom,
daar woon my Sarie Marais,
daar woon my Sarie Marais

Ek was so bang dat die Kakies my sou vang,
en ver oor die see wegstuur;
Toe vlug ek na die kant van die Upingtonse sand
daar onder langs die Grootrivier.

O bring my trug na die ou Transvaal,
daar waar my Sarie woon,
Daar onder in die mielies by die groen doringboom,
daar woon my Sarie Marais,
daar woon my Sarie Marais

Verlossing het gekom en die huistoe gaan was daar,
terug na die on Transvaal;
My liewelingspersoon sal seker ook daar wees
om my met 'n kus beloon.

O bring my trug na die ou Transvaal,
daar waar my Sarie woon,
Daar onder in die mielies by die groen doringboom,
daar woon my Sarie Marais

Daar onder in die mielies
by die groen doringboom,
daar woon my Sarie Marais

 

[damian]

My Sarie Marais is so far away from my heart,
But I hope to see her again.
She lives in the district of Mooiriver,
Since before the war began.

Refrain:

Oh, take me back to my dear Transvaal,
To where my Sarie lives:
There down by the maïsfields near the green thorn tree,
That's where my Sarie lives.
There down by the maïsfields near the grren thorn tree,
That's where my Sarie lives.

Refrain:

I was so scared that the English would catch me,
And send me away accross the sea;
That's when I fled in the direction of the sandflats near Upington,
There down by the Orange River (formerly Great River)

Refrain:

The English are just like crocodiles,
They always drag you down to the water.
They trow you on a ship for a very long trip,
Only the Lord knows where to.

Refrain:

Liberation came, and it was time to return home,
Back to my dear Transvaal.
The person I love will certainly be there,
To reward me with a kiss.

Back to top

 

[damian]

Harry where are you?

 

[damian]

I response to the Falklands war the anarcho-punk group Crass released an album called Yes Sir I will.
This quote is from Wikipaedia

The title of the record is ironic, taken from a news cutting reporting a conversation said to have taken place between Charles, Prince of Wales and a badly burned soldier (Simon Weston) who had returned from the Falklands;

"Get well soon," the Prince said. And the heroic soldier replied "Yes sir, I will".

 

[Currahee Chris]

Harry-

I'm a bit confused here- I don't really know if I have ever heard any "Pro War" Songs before Don't you kinda need pro war songs to have anti war songs??

I can say, tongue in cheek, that a lot of songs I hear today want to make me go to war, but not with a nation in particular- more like the artist that put the song out

Well, music is something I enjoy immensely. I guess if I am reading you right here, I would say, in no particular order, the following songs do a good job of portraying war as the horrible event that it is or just good for rebel rowsing:

Imagine- John Lennon
Man in Black- Johnny Cash
Daniel- Sir Elton- bet you didn't see that one coming did you??
War Pigs- Sabbath

A lot of bands these days and over time have done a tremendous job of capturing the horrors of war- Iron Maiden's Paeschendale, The Longest Day and the Trooper are all good ones. Several American country and western songs do a tremendous service to our servicemen and women- Toby Keith's American Soldier, Tim McGraw's If your reading this- brings tears to my eyes, Big and Rich's 8th of November and Arlington by Trace Adkins- all TREMENDOUS songs.

I used to bring my Moody Blues cassette tapes/CDs with me in the field. For whatever reason, after humping 25 miles and doing whatever else nothing helped me unwind like listening to the Moodies- songs like Tuesday afternoon, Nights in White Satin (always invoked memories of me and my wife (fiancee) together, Legend of a mind, the actor (LOVE THAT ONE), Gypsy (of a strange and distant time) and One more time to live- all of those songs really connected with me.

 

[Harrytheheid]

Harry where are you?

Well......I was sleeping.
A state of being that I think I'll resume toot de sweet cos I didn't mean anti-Nam or IRA songs, you clown.
Please remind me not to post opportunities for you to advertise such rubbish in future. The Pink Floyd stuff is good though.
H

 

[Harrytheheid]

Harry-

I'm a bit confused here- I don't really know if I have ever heard any "Pro War" Songs before Don't you kinda need pro war songs to have anti war songs??

I can say, tongue in cheek, that a lot of songs I hear today want to make me go to war, but not with a nation in particular- more like the artist that put the song out

Well, music is something I enjoy immensely. I guess if I am reading you right here, I would say, in no particular order, the following songs do a good job of portraying war as the horrible event that it is or just good for rebel rowsing:

Imagine- John Lennon
Man in Black- Johnny Cash
Daniel- Sir Elton- bet you didn't see that one coming did you??
War Pigs- Sabbath

A lot of bands these days and over time have done a tremendous job of capturing the horrors of war- Iron Maiden's Paeschendale, The Longest Day and the Trooper are all good ones. Several American country and western songs do a tremendous service to our servicemen and women- Toby Keith's American Soldier, Tim McGraw's If your reading this- brings tears to my eyes, Big and Rich's 8th of November and Arlington by Trace Adkins- all TREMENDOUS songs.

I used to bring my Moody Blues cassette tapes/CDs with me in the field. For whatever reason, after humping 25 miles and doing whatever else nothing helped me unwind like listening to the Moodies- songs like Tuesday afternoon, Nights in White Satin (always invoked memories of me and my wife (fiancee) together, Legend of a mind, the actor (LOVE THAT ONE), Gypsy (of a strange and distant time) and One more time to live- all of those songs really connected with me.

Chris - Thanks. That's much more like what I was meaning. NOT anti-Forces and not-political songs (well, not too much anyway).
Cheers
H

 

[damian]

Sorry mate
Just trying to give a spectrum you know
Those Irish rebel songs are so good that I think a British regiment turned Kevin Barry into one of its regimental marches.
They are great talkers the Irish. I mean that with no disrespect. I was raised by Irish mionks you know. Soundly beaten to get the devil out of me and I turned out OK.
Regards
Damian

 

[Harrytheheid]

Sorry mate
Just trying to give a spectrum you know
Those Irish rebel songs are so good that I think a British regiment turned Kevin Barry into one of its regimental marches.
They are great talkers the Irish. I mean that with no disrespect. I was raised by Irish mionks you know. Soundly beaten to get the devil out of me and I turned out OK.
Regards
Damian

Awe....Ye Think So...???
I expected better of you than that IRA trash. Go away....
And by the way, I'm NOT a Rangers supporter. If you really did spend some time in Scotland as you claim, then you'll know exactly what I mean by that one.
No Regards
Mr Angry

 

[Currahee Chris]

Chris - Thanks. That's much more like what I was meaning. NOT anti-Forces and not-political songs (well, not too much anyway).
Cheers
H

It's cool- i certainly didn't take it like that.

I actually have heard some "Anti- servicemen" songs- there are a lot of "underground" radio stations along the DC Beltway that do play some of this rubbish- I guess its Freedom of Speech- too bad those people forgot who gave them that Freedom.

I generally just don't get the point of "Anti-war" songs- some surprise there huh . Some of the music can make you sit up and take notice but here in the States, it just seems like anyone can put themselves in front of a mic and say whatever nonsense comes out of their mouths and there aren't any repercussions over it- except the morale killing to our troops who are in the fight. For some reason, people seem to forget that.

The funny thing is, artists want to sound "punk" or "rebellious"- here in the States- if you want to be "punk" you would need to swing to the "right" as the nonsense crap spilling out of Hollywood or recording studios is diluting what "punk" was. Last time I looked, the Ramones were a legend of punk and yet they had but one "political themed" song-