war, what is it good for - protest songs

Swimp how ya be - long time no see?

Edgar! thanks for the lyrics!
Swimp, I've sung that at many a protest!
(back in the day)!

Came to talk about the draft.

They got a building down New York City, it's called Whitehall Street,
where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected,
neglected and selected. I went down to get my physical examination one
day, and I walked in, I sat down, got good and drunk the night before, so
I looked and felt my best when I went in that morning. `Cause I wanted to
look like the all-American kid from New York City, man I wanted, I wanted
to feel like the all-, I wanted to be the all American kid from New York,
and I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all
kinds o' mean nasty ugly things. And I waked in and sat down and they gave
me a piece of paper, said, "Kid, see the phsychiatrist, room 604."

And I went up there, I said, "Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I
wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and
guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill,
KILL, KILL." And I started jumpin up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL," and
he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down
yelling, "KILL, KILL." And the sargent came over, pinned a medal on me,
sent me down the hall, said, "You're our boy."

Didn't feel too good about it.

Proceeded on down the hall gettin more injections, inspections,
detections, neglections and all kinds of stuff that they was doin' to me
at the thing there, and I was there for two hours, three hours, four
hours, I was there for a long time going through all kinds of mean nasty
ugly things and I was just having a tough time there, and they was
inspecting, injecting every single part of me, and they was leaving no
part untouched. Proceeded through, and when I finally came to the see the
last man, I walked in, walked in sat down after a whole big thing there,
and I walked up and said, "What do you want?" He said, "Kid, we only got
one question. Have you ever been arrested?"

And I proceeded to tell him the story of the Alice's Restaurant Massacre,
with full orchestration and five part harmony and stuff like that and all
the phenome... - and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, did you ever
go to court?"

And I proceeded to tell him the story of the twenty seven eight-by-ten
colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and the paragraph on
the back of each one, and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, I want
you to go and sit down on that bench that says Group W .... NOW kid!!"

And I, I walked over to the, to the bench there, and there is, Group W's
where they put you if you may not be moral enough to join the army after
committing your special crime, and there was all kinds of mean nasty ugly
looking people on the bench there. Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father
rapers! Father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me! And
they was mean and nasty and ugly and horrible crime-type guys sitting on the
bench next to me. And the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one, the meanest
father raper of them all, was coming over to me and he was mean 'n' ugly
'n' nasty 'n' horrible and all kind of things and he sat down next to me
and said, "Kid, whad'ya get?" I said, "I didn't get nothing, I had to pay
$50 and pick up the garbage." He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?"
And I said, "Littering." And they all moved away from me on the bench
there, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I
said, "And creating a nuisance." And they all came back, shook my hand,
and we had a great time on the bench, talkin about crime, mother stabbing,
father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the
bench. And everything was fine, we was smoking cigarettes and all kinds of
things, until the Sargeant came over, had some paper in his hand, held it
up and said.

"Kids, this-piece-of-paper's-got-47-words-37-sentences-58-words-we-wanna-
know-details-of-the-crime-time-of-the-crime-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-
you-gotta-say-pertaining-to-and-about-the-crime-I-want-to-know-arresting-
officer's-name-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say", and talked for
forty-five minutes and nobody understood a word that he said, but we had
fun filling out the forms and playing with the pencils on the bench there,
and I filled out the massacre with the four part harmony, and wrote it
down there, just like it was, and everything was fine and I put down the
pencil, and I turned over the piece of paper, and there, there on the
other side, in the middle of the other side, away from everything else on
the other side, in parentheses, capital letters, quotated, read the
following words:

("KID, HAVE YOU REHABILITATED YOURSELF?")

I went over to the sargent, said, "Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to
ask me if I've rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I'm
sittin' here on the bench, I mean I'm sittin here on the Group W bench
'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the army, burn women,
kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug." He looked at me and
said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send you fingerprints
off to Washington."

And friends, somewhere in Washington enshrined in some little folder, is a
study in black and white of my fingerprints. And the only reason I'm
singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar
situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in a
situation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's walk into
the shrink wherever you are ,just walk in say "Shrink, You can get
anything you want, at Alice's restaurant.". And walk out. You know, if
one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and
they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony,
they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them.
And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in
singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an
organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said
fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and
walking out. And friends they may thinks it's a movement.

And that's what it is , the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and
all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it come's around on the
guitar.

With feeling. So we'll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and
sing it when it does. Here it comes.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant

That was horrible. If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud.
I've been singing this song now for twenty five minutes. I could sing it
for another twenty five minutes. I'm not proud... or tired.

So we'll wait till it comes around again, and this time with four part
harmony and feeling.

We're just waitin' for it to come around is what we're doing.

All right now.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Excepting Alice
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant

Da da da da da da da dum
At Alice's Restaurant

Handsome Johnny
by Richie Havens

Hey look yonder, tell me what?s that you see, marching to the fields of Concord It looks like Handsome Johnny with a musket in his hand Marching to the Concord war. Hey, Marching to the concord war.
Hey look yonder, tell me what you see Marching to the fields og Gettysburg It looks like Handsome Johnny with flintlock in his hand Marching to the Gettysburg war, Hey marching to the Gettysburg war



Hey, it?s along the hard road It?s a long hard road It?s a long hard road Before we?ll be free.

Hey look yonder, tell me what?s that you see Marching to the fields of Dunkirk It looks like Handsome Johnny with a carbine in his hand Marching to the Dunkirk war, Hey marching to the Dunkirk war

Hey look yonder, tell me what you see Marching to the fields of Korea It looks like Handsome Johnny with an M1 in his hand Marching to the Korean war, Hey marching to the Korean war



Hey look yonder, tell me what you see Marching to the fields of Viet Nam It looks like Handsome Johnny with an M15 Marching to the Viet Nma war, Hey marching to the Viet Nam war

Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see Marching to the fields of Birmingham It looks like Handsome Johnny with his hand rolled in a fist Marching to the Birmingham war. Hey, marching to the Birmingham war

Johnny We Hardly Knew You = Irish version

While goin' the road to sweet Athy, hurroo, hurroo
While goin' the road to sweet Athy, hurroo, hurroo
While goin' the road to sweet Athy,
A stick in me hand and a drop in me eye,
A doleful damsel I heard cry,
Johnny I hardly knew ye.

Chorus:
With your drums and guns and guns and drums, hurroo,hurroo
With your drums and guns and guns and drums, hurroo,hurroo
With your drums and guns and guns and drums,
The enemy nearly slew ye
Oh my darling dear, Ye look so queer
Johnny I hardly knew ye.

Where are your eyes that were so mild, hurroo, hurroo
Where are your eyes that were so mild, hurroo, hurroo
Where are your eyes that were so mild,
When my heart you so beguiled
Why did ye run from me and the child
Oh Johnny, I hardly knew ye

Chorus

Where are your legs that used to run, hurroo, hurroo
Where are your legs that used to run, hurroo, hurroo
Where are your legs that used to run,
When you went for to carry a gun
Indeed your dancing days are done
Oh Johnny, I hardly knew ye

Chorus

I'm happy for to see ye home, hurroo, hurroo
I'm happy for to see ye home, hurroo, hurroo
I'm happy for to see ye home,
All from the island of Sulloon;
So low in flesh, so high in bone
Oh Johnny I hardly knew ye

Chorus

Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg, hurroo, hurroo
Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg, hurroo, hurroo
Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg,
Ye're an armless, boneless, chickenless egg
Ye'll have to put with a bowl out to beg
Oh Johnny I hardly knew ye

Chorus

They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo
They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo
They're rolling out the guns again,
But they never will take our sons again
No they never will take our sons again
Johnny I'm swearing to ye

Chorus

JOHNNY I HARDLY KNEW YE- ORIGIN: O'Neill (Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody 1922, No. 69) notes: "Classed as a street ballad in Halliday Sparling's Irish Minstrelsy, London 1887, the editor adds, in a note on page 366: Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye !- This favorite old song is here for the first time given complete. It dates from the beginning of the present century (19th), when Irish regiments were so extensively raised for the East India service.

When Johnny Comes Marching Home = Civil War Version

When Johnny comes marching home again,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give him a hearty welcome then,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer, the boys will shout,
The ladies they will all turn out,
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.

The old church bells will peal with joy,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
To welcome home our darling boy,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The village lads and lassies say
With roses they will strew the way,
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.

Get ready for the Jubilee,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give the hero three times three,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The laurel wreath is ready now
To place upon his loyal brow,
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.


Let love and friendship on that day,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Their choicest treasures then display,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
And let each one perform some part
To fill with joy the warrior's heart,
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.

Michael Row the Boat Ashore

Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!

Jordan's river is chilly and cold, Hallelujah!
But it warms the human soul, Hallelujah!
This old world is a mighty big place, Hallelujah
It got Satan all over its face, Hallelujah
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!

They put Daniel in the lion's den, Hallelujah
And he walked right out again, Hallelujah
The reason them felines permitted that, Hallelujah,
Was that Daniel had no fat, Hallelujah
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!

Did you hear what old Jonah said, Hallelujah
When the world thought he was dead, Hallelujah
I was taking' me a ride, Hallelujah
In that big old whales inside, Hallelujah
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!

Old man Noah built an ark, Hallelujah
Worked from dawn 'til after dark, Hallelujah
When he left for foreign shores, Hallelujah
Had a big family but had no oars, Hallelujah
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!

They nailed Jesus to the Cross, Hallelujah
But his faith was never lost, Hallelujah
So Christian soldiers off to war, Hallelujah
Hold that line in Arkansas, Hallelujah
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!

Joshua at Jericho, Hallelujah
Alabama's next to go, Hallelujah
So Mississippi kneel and pray, Hallelujah
Some more buses on the way, Hallelujah
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!
Michael row the boat ashore, Hallelujah!

TO SUSAN ON THE WEST COAST WAITING
Donovan


Dear Susan, I know you love me so
But I want to hear it in my ear.
You know I'd be there working at my craft
Had it not been for the draft.
Dry up your tear and feel no fear,
You're here with me like I'm there with you.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy in Vietnam fighting.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy in Vietnam fighting.
I'm writing a note beneath a tree,
The smell of the rain on the greenery.
Our fathers have painfully lost their way,
That's why, my love, I'm here today
Hear me when I say there will come a day
When Kings will know and love can grow.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy in Vietnam fighting.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy in Vietnam fighting.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy in Vietnam fighting.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy in Vietnam fighting.
Susan, I know you love me so
But I'd like to hear it in my ear.
You know I'd be there working at my craft
Had it not been for the draft.
Dry up your tear and feel no fear,
You're here with me like I'm there with you.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy in Vietnam fighting.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy in Vietnam fighting.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy supposedly hating.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy in Vietnam fighting.

CAMBODIA
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

We've watched them leaving, seen their ragged flight
Children of the jungle, mothers of the night
A boy of ten by the roadside lies
Hears his future in whispers and cries
And clutching a tiny Buddha charm
A baby dies in his mother's arms

Is there only sorrow in Cambodia?
Is there no tomorrow in Cambodia?

Leaving the graves of your ancestors after a thousand years
Leaving a few belongings after a thousand tears
How come you never left before through bombing, famine and flood?
Are the rivers useless now spilling over with blood?

Is there only sorrow in Cambodia?
Is there no tomorrow in Cambodia?

I hear there are very few children from ages one to five
It takes more than jungle leaves to keep the young ones alive
I hear some of the rice got through the outside's trying to send to you
There you sit in the ruins of war, the doctors are waiting at your door

And we will try and feed you, try and go to you
People of Kampuchea, Cambodia

A little way in from the border in the crowded camps
I've seen mothers giving birth, seen beautiful orphans dance
An old man turns and covers his eyes, he was never supposed to cry
With sons and daughters and home and wife
Taken from him in his autumn life

Should we try and feed you, say hello to you
Old man of Kampuchea, Kampuchea, Cambodia

Call another conference, write another song
Deliver another ton of rice and hope it gets where it belongs
And rival teams of bandits are really the only choice
Even if the people had their bellies filled, even if the people had a voice

And meanwhile, lovers are caught in the crossfire
Children are caught in the barbed wire
Military sinks in the mire
Let me show it to you

Is there only sorrow, only sorrow in Cambodia?
Is there no tomorrow, no tomorrow in Cambodia?
Still we'll try and feed you, try and show to you
People of Kampuchea, Kampuchea, Cambodia

© 1980 Gabriel Earl Music (ASCAP)

Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town Lyrics

You've painted up your lips
And rolled and curled your tinted hair
Ruby are you contemplating
Going out somewhere
The shadow on the wall
Tells me the sun is going down
Oh Ruby
Don't take your love to town

It wasn't me
That started that old crazy Asian war
But I was proud to go
And do my patriotic chore
And yes, it's true that
I'm not the man I used to be
Oh, Ruby I still need some company

Its hard to love a man
Whose legs are bent and paralysed
And the wants and the needs of a woman your age
Ruby I realize,
But it won't be long i've heard them say until I not around
Oh Ruby
Don't take your love to town

She's leaving now cause
I just heard the slamming of the door
The way I know I've heard it
Some 100 times before
And if I could move I'd get my gun
And put her in the ground
Oh Ruby
Don't take your love to town

Oh Ruby for God's sake turn around

The War is Over - Ochs

Silent Soldiers on a silver screen
Framed in fantasies and dragged in dream
Unpaid actors of the mystery
The mad director knows that freedom will not make you free
And what's this got to do with me
I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over

Drums are drizzling on a grain of sand
Fading rhythms of a fading land
Prove your courage in the proud parade
Trust your leaders where mistakes are almost never made
And they're afraid that I'm afraid

I'm afraid the war is over
It's over, it's over

Angry artists painting angry signs
Use their vision just to blind the blind
Poisoned players of a grizzly game
One is guilty and the other gets the point to blame
Pardon me if I refrain

I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over

So do your duty, boys, and join with pride
Serve your country in her suicide
Find the flags so you can wave goodbye
But just before the end even treason might be worth a try
This country is to young to die

I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over

One-legged veterans will greet the dawn
And they're whistling marches as they mow the lawn
And the gargoyles only sit and grieve
The gypsy fortune teller told me that we'd been deceived
You only are what you believe

I believe the war is over
It's over, it's over

Where were you in Chicago?
By Phil Ochs


Oh, where were you in Chicago?
You know I didn't see you there
I didn't see them crack your head or breathe the tear gas air
Oh, where were you in Chicago?
When the fight was being fought
Oh, where were you in Chicago?
'Cause I was in Detroit.

We Seek No Wider War
By Phil Ochs

Over the ashes of blood marched the civilized soldiers,
over the ruins of the French fortress of a failure
over the silent screams of the dead and the dying
saying please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

The treaties were signed, the country was split into sections
but growing numbers of prisons were built for protection
rapidly filling with people who called for elections
But please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

Ngo Dinh Diem was the puppet who danced for the power
The hero of hate who gambled on hell for his hour
Father of his country was stamped on the medals we showered
but please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

Machine gun bullets became the bloody baptizers
and the falcon 'copters don't care if someone's the wiser
but the boy in the swamp didn't know he was killed by advisers
So please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

And fires were spitting at forests in defoliation
while the people were pressed into camps not called concentration
and the greater the victory the greater the shame of the nation
but please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

While we were watching the prisoners were tested by torture
and vicious and violent gasses maintained the order
as the finest Washington minds found slogans for slaughter
but please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

Then over the border came the Bay of Pigs planes of persuasion
All remaining honor went up in flames of invasion
But the shattered schools never learned that it's not escalation
[or: But who'll tell the bodies of children it's not escalation? ]
But please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

We're teaching peaple freedom for which they are yearning
While were dragging them down to the path of never returning
But we'll condescend to talk while the cities are burning
But please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

And the evil is done in hopes that evil surrenders
but the deeds of the devil are burned too deep in the embers
and a world of hunger in vengeance will always remember
So please be reassured, we seek no wider war,
we seek no wider war.

WOW! Great stuff ackers. For once I'm gonna shut up and listen.

License to Kill - Dylan


Man thinks 'cause he rules the earth he can do with it as he please
And if things don't change soon, he will.
Oh, man has invented his doom,
First step was touching the moon.

Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there as the night grows still.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

Now, they take him and they teach him and they groom him for life
And they set him on a path where he's bound to get ill,
Then they bury him with stars,
Sell his body like they do used cars.

Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there facin' the hill.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

Now, he's hell-bent for destruction, he's afraid and confused,
And his brain has been mismanaged with great skill.
All he believes are his eyes
And his eyes, they just tell him lies.

But there's a woman on my block,
Sitting there in a cold chill.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

Ya may be a noisemaker, spirit maker,
Heartbreaker, backbreaker,
Leave no stone unturned.
May be an actor in a plot,
That might be all that you got
'Til your error you clearly learn.

Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool
And when he sees his reflection, he's fulfilled.
Oh, man is opposed to fair play,
He wants it all and he wants it his way.

Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there as the night grows still.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

Not sure who'll be able to help with the answer to this.

When I was about 13 I was played a song about a British soldier in Northern Ireland. It went through all the points about nobody wanting him there and he didn't want to be there. But it ended with him laying on a grenade to save the locals, who expected him to do his job, but whom then ignored him afterwards.

Its a sad song (no sh!t, Sherlock) but I have no idea who it was by or how this came to be played to a class of 13 year-olds. I think the song is from around 1970-1974.

Any clues out there??

It`s Good News Weekby: Hedgehoppers Anonymous
Lyrics by: Jonathan King
Year: 1965


It`s good news week,
Someone`s dropped a bomb somewhere,
Contaminating atmosphere
And blackening the sky,
It`s good news week,
Someones found a way to give,
The rotting dead a will to live,
Go on and never die.

Have you heard the news?
What did it say?
Who`s won that race?
What`s the weather like today?

It`s good news week,
Families shake the need for gold,
By stimulating birth control,
We`re wanting less to eat.

It`s good news week,
Doctors finding many ways,
Of wrapping brains in metal trays,
To keep us from the heat.

It`s good news week,
Someone`s dropped a bomb somewhere,
Contaminating atmosphere
And blackening the sky,
It`s good news week,
Someones found a way to give,
The rotting dead a will to live,
Go on and never die.


Hedgehoppers Anonymous had a hit with this but what the public didn't know was that they were RAF lads and were stationed in East Anglia working on - you guessed it - the missile sites!

I remembered the first verse from my youth, had no idea who it was. TY Vivien

We Will All Go Together When We Go
Tom Lehrer

When you attend a funeral,
It is sad to think that sooner or
Later those you love will do the same for you.
And you may have thought it tragic,
Not to mention other adjec-
Tives, to think of all the weeping they will do.
But don't you worry.
No more ashes, no more sackcloth.
And an armband made of black cloth
Will some day never more adorn a sleeve.
For if the bomb that drops on you
Gets your friends and neighbors too,
There'll be nobody left behind to grieve.

And we will all go together when we go.
What a comforting fact that is to know.
Universal bereavement,
An inspiring achievement,
Yes, we all will go together when we go.

We will all go together when we go.
All suffuse with an incandescent glow.
No one will have the endurance
To collect on his insurance,
Lloyd's of London will be loaded when they go.

Oh we will all fry together when we fry.
We'll be french fried potatoes by and by.
There will be no more misery
When the world is our rotisserie,
Yes, we will all fry together when we fry.

Down by the old maelstrom,
There'll be a storm before the calm.

And we will all bake together when we bake.
There'll be nobody present at the wake.
With complete participation
In that grand incineration,
Nearly three billion hunks of well-done steak.

Oh we will all char together when we char.
And let there be no moaning of the bar.
Just sing out a Te Deum
When you see that I.C.B.M.,
And the party will be "come as you are."

Oh we will all burn together when we burn.
There'll be no need to stand and wait your turn.
When it's time for the fallout
And Saint Peter calls us all out,
We'll just drop our agendas and adjourn.

You will all go directly to your respective Valhallas.
Go directly, do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dolla's.

And we will all go together when we go.
Ev'ry Hottenhot and ev'ry Eskimo.
When the air becomes uranious,
And we will all go simultaneous.
Yes we all will go together
When we all go together,
Yes we all will go together when we go.