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All-Time Best Anti-War Songs?

TremulousTetra

prismatic universe
I know some will go really mad, but I really like Frankie goes to Hollywoods War.

Also like Eminem Mosh.

Sting, Children's Crusade.

Pink Floyd, Dogs of War.

Greg Lake, I Believe in Father Christmas (does that count?).
 
In blood and death neath a screaming sky
I lay down on the ground
And the arms and legs of other men
Were scattered all around
Some cursed, some prayed, some prayed then cursed
Then prayed and bled some more
And the only thing that I could see
Was a pair of brown eyes that was looking at me
But when we got back, labeled parts one to three
There was no pair of brown eyes waiting for me

innit
 
Tender Comrade - Billy Bragg

The Grave - Don McLean (Childhood thing)

The grave that they dug him had flowers
Gathered from the hillsides in bright summer colors,
And the brown earth bleached white at the edge of his gravestone.
He’s gone.

When the wars of our nation did beckon,
A man barely twenty did answer the calling.
Proud of the trust that he placed in our nation,
He’s gone,
But eternity knows him, and it knows what we’ve done.

And the rain fell like pearls on the leaves of the flowers
Leaving brown, muddy clay where the earth had been dry.
And deep in the trench he waited for hours,
As he held to his rifle and prayed not to die.

But the silence of night was shattered by fire
As guns and grenades blasted sharp through the air.
And one after another his comrades were slaughtered.
In morgue of marines, alone standing there.

He crouched ever lower, ever lower with fear.
"they can’t let me die! the can’t let me die here!
I’ll cover myself with the mud and the earth.
I’ll cover myself! I know I’m not brave!
The earth! the earth! the earth is my grave."

The grave that they dug him had flowers
Gathered from the hillsides in bright summer colors,
And the brown earth bleached white at the edge of his gravestone.
He’s gone.
 
Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
'Til you spend half your life just covering up

[chorus:]
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

I got in a little hometown jam
And so they put a rifle in my hands
Sent me off to Vietnam
To go and kill the yellow man

[chorus]

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"
I go down to see the V.A. man
He said "Son don't you understand"

[chorus]

I had a buddy at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a little girl in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years down the road
Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go

I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
and ode to left wing working class america.
 
Bob Dylan - Masters of War


Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead
 
Blagsta said:
Bob Dylan - Masters of War


Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

and Dylan says he wasn't political
:rolleyes:
 
Child of the Universe - Barclay James Harvest Lyrics

I'm a child from South Africa
I'm a child of Vietnam

I'm a child of Northern Ireland

I'm a small boy with blood on his hands.
Yes
I'm a child of the universe

Yes
I'm a child of the universe -
You can see me on the TV everynight

Always there to join in someone else's fight.
I never asked to be born
I never asked to die

I'm an endless dream
a dream-machine that cannot reason why.
Yes
I'm a child of the universe

Yes
I'm a child of the universe -
You can see me on the TV everynight:
I'm the child next door 3.000 miles away.
I'm a child from South Africa
I'm a child of Vietnam

I never asked to be born
I never asked to die

You can see me on the TV every day:
I'm the child next door 3.000 miles away.
 
Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of deaths construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait till their judgement day comes, yeah!

Now in darkness, world stops turning
As the war machine keeps burning
No more war pigs of the power
Hand of God has sturck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings
All right now!
 
war pigs is great, and due to being a geek i can play most of Luke's Wall on keyboard

Anti-Flag
Your Gonna Die Gonna Die Gonna Die Gonna die for the government.
die for your country thats shit
 
Never mind Starr's War - his "Stop The War" track is much better. Very similar in some ways, but I prefer it.
 
Don't you hear the H-bombs' thunder
Echo like the crack of doom?
While they rend the skies asunder
Fall-out makes the earth a tomb;
Do you want your homes to tumble,
Rise in smoke towards the sky?
Will you let your cities crumble,
Will you see your children die?

Men and women, stand together.
Do not heed the men of war.
Make your minds up now or never,
Ban the bomb for evermore.

Tell the leaders of the nations
Make the whole wide world take heed:
Poison from the radiations
Strikes at every race and creed.
Must you put mankind in danger,
Murder folk in distant lands?
Will you bring death to a stranger,
Have his blood upon your hands?

Men and women, stand together.
Do not heed the men of war.
Make your minds up now or never,
Ban the bomb for evermore.

Shall we lay the world in ruin?
Only you can make the choice.
Stnp and think of what you're doing.
Join the march and raise your voice.
Time is short; we must be speedy.
We can see the hungry filled,
House the homeless, help the needy.
Shall we blast, or shall we build ?

Men and women, stand together.
Do not heed the men of war.
Make your minds up now or never,
Ban the bomb for evermore.

.
 
The Generals Are Born Again - The Oyster Band

Army Dreamers - Kate Bush

Such a War Has Never Been - Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick
 
nick1181 said:
In blood and death neath a screaming sky
I lay down on the ground
And the arms and legs of other men
Were scattered all around
Some cursed, some prayed, some prayed then cursed
Then prayed and bled some more
And the only thing that I could see
Was a pair of brown eyes that was looking at me
But when we got back, labeled parts one to three
There was no pair of brown eyes waiting for me

innit

I just posted that in the songs that make you cry like a baby thread *sobs*
 
green fields of france - various
gallipoli, various, usually irish
when margaret was eleven and the peat bog soldiers, both the dubliners
 
like this one: but not really anti-war

he's saying that the world is all about conflict at every level


Leonard Cohen - There Is A War Lyrics


There is a war between the rich and poor,
a war between the man and the woman.
There is a war between the ones who say there is a war
and the ones who say there isn't.
Why don't you come on back to the war, that's right, get in it,

why don't you come on back to the war, it's just beginning.


Well I live here with a woman and a child,
the situation makes me kind of nervous.
Yes, I rise up from her arms, she says "I guess you call this
love";
I call it service.

Why don't you come on back to the war, don't be a tourist,
why don't you come on back to the war, before it hurts us,
why don't you come on back to the war, let's all get nervous.


You cannot stand what I've become,
you much prefer the gentleman I was before.
I was so easy to defeat, I was so easy to control,
I didn't even know there was a war.

Why don't you come on back to the war, don't be embarrassed,

why don't you come on back to the war, you can still get
married.

There is a war between the rich and poor,
a war between the man and the woman.
There is a war between the left and right,
a war between the black and white,
a war between the odd and the even.

Why don't you come on back to the war, pick up your tiny burden,

why don't you come on back to the war, let's all get even,
why don't you come on back to the war, can't you hear me
speaking?
 
other anti war songs

Phil Ochs

PHIL OCHS Song Lyrics

I Ain't Marching Anymore
(From the album "I AIN'T MARCHING ANYMORE")

D G C D
Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans
G C D
At the end of the early British war
G C
The young land started growing
G
The young blood started flowing
C Am D
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

C G
It's always the old to lead us to the war
C Am D
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.
 
And The Band Played Waltzing Mathilda - Slim Dusty or the Pogues

With God on Our Side - Bob Dylan

Tribal War - Dillinger

Tribal War - John Holt

Don't Want to be no General - Dennis Brown

African Land/Africa We Want -Carol Calphat/ Clint Eastwood

Mosh - Eminem
 
La Concubine De L'hemoglabine - MC Solaar

(roughly translated from the French)

I saw the concubine of haemoglobin
To balance gusts of normal balls and to make victims
In the rows of the descendants of Adam
It is overpowering, disconcerting, they are not balls with white
One sends pigeons to defend the dove
Who advance like pawns to defend of the tombs
The Sleeper of the Valley does not sleep,
He died and its body is rigid and cold

I saw the concubine of haemoglobin
At the vietmin in Vietnam, in the form of mines and of napalm
Because science balances us his science
Science without conscience equalizes science of unconsciousness
It fout of progress, but wishes the progression
Of all the processes which lead to elimination

I saw the concubine of haemoglobin
Dull like the autumn, one spring in China
That it enough, passed, enough wasted, broken
Porcelain of sorrow, which is the dove of peace
The art of the war kills out of young small children,
The work of Kim Song Man remains on her end
The war screwed Guernica
And like the freeloader, Picasso mended it

I saw the concubine of haemoglobin
In election campaign in my magazines
Jovial, but wobbly, the politician settles
As I AM says it “it is a mental holdup”
I proportion them with prose fights
Pose with the NIC, the NIC became my behaviour fights
I like the policy when it has enough vocation
To fight against the processes which lead to elimination

I saw the concubine of haemoglobin
In an economic fight, Kalach-M 16
The opinion realizes quickly that there are the unhappy ones
When the ground transfers with the red come the blue helmets
The SOLAARSENAL is equipped with vocal balls
Vis-a-vis ground-to-ground the, ground-to-air one, Solaar is done radical
Note the paradox of the fireman pyromaniac, hum,
It is as if the Maffia fought against the Maffia

I saw the concubine of haemoglobin
To be done beautiful like the vaults of the Sixtine Vault
For the elimination of illiteracy of the néo-fachos, cold or hot,
Before Baccalaureat, they wish the Dungeon, will re-examine Dachau
Such is the béaba A B C of the Facho young person
It is the horde with the orders of a new order
A little everywhere in the cities the sphere, the cretins weave their cords

I saw the concubine of haemoglobin
It likes prolactin and the black smokingz
I saw the concubine of haemoglobin
I saw the concubine of haemoglobin…

Here an extract of my major thought:
My war of nerves because ignorance it is Money,
One says to us, we are all brothers, God is light,
But it is noted that the light is extinct,
I wish that we do not make more the same errors,
It is hard to say, but… I am afraid!
 
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