# Anti-war songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2015, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699 "2015-04-28T04:08:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/1 "2015-04-28T04:08:35Z")
So … what is your favorite anti-war song? Mine is actually from a World of Warcraft machinima. It’s a song sung by a mother, to her son, who has gone off to war. Familiarity with WoW is not essential; the only things you need to know is that Westfall is an agricultural district, and Sentinel Hill is the local military outpost. The mother who is singing raised her son on a farm, in the shadow of Sentinel Hill. I feel like the message of the song is universal. No matter the country, no matter the cause, mothers everywhere must grieve when their sons become soldiers and go off to war. [Sentinel Hill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0CoVOmWRhA) The air stands still, as I find myself again before Sentinel Hill. Cruel time leaves no trace, and the last thing that you said to me was just the look upon your face. (Chorus): You believe in something beautiful, (I know) worth fighting for – but a harvest moon won’t bring my Westfall child back from war. Even sunlight is cold, and I can’t look where you used to play, among these fields of gold. All the bitter seeds are sown, and I’m fighting for a reason to believe you’re coming home. (repeat Chorus) And I’m waiting here still, while the shadows just grow longer over Sentinel Hill. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/2 "2015-04-28T04:18:59Z")
Nick Lowe/Elvis Costello’s “(What’s So Funny 'bout) Peace Love and Understanding” will probably always be one of my favorites. Richard Thompson’s “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me” is a damned fine example. _Dad’s in a bad mood, Dad’s got the blues It’s someone else’s mess that I didn’t choose At least we’re winning on the Fox Evening News Nobody loves me here_ “Dad” refers to Bagdad. One of the best of all time has got to be Eric Bogle’s “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”. _But the band played Waltzing Matilda When we stopped to bury our slain. We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs, Then we started all over again._ ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/3 "2015-04-28T04:29:14Z")
“Masters of War”-Bob Dylan [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOyWO2K9Crw) ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/4 "2015-04-28T04:35:32Z")
“The Call Up”-The Clash [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-ScaGjwkg2Y/maxresdefault.jpg "The Clash - The Call Up (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ScaGjwkg2Y) ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/5 "2015-04-28T08:06:13Z")
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son? Oh, where have you been, my darling young one? I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall [snipped lyrics for copyright protection- ITD] ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/6 "2015-04-28T08:09:56Z")
[quote=“Accidental\_Martyr, post:3, topic:718699”] “Masters of War”-Bob Dylan [/QUOTE] / his ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/7 "2015-04-28T10:30:18Z")
Billy Bragg is my go-to anti-war poet - [Between The Wars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=32&v=xjUA3RU4B8E),for instance. Anti-Thatcher, but also anti-war. Tender Comrade - a love song of sorts, but also anti-war. > [@bienville](#): > > Nick Lowe/Elvis Costello’s “(What’s So Funny 'bout) Peace Love and Understanding” will probably always be one of my favorites. Also Costello’s Shipbuilding (the[Wyatt version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBXOIudgPGI) especially) > [@](#): > > One of the best of all time has got to be Eric Bogle’s “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”. This. Also _No Man’s Land/Green Fields of France_ (I like The Men They Couldn’t Hang’s version) It’s a _little_ twee but I’m fond of\*[Stop the Cavalry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HkJHApgKqw)\* by Jona Lewie. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/8 "2015-04-28T10:31:55Z")
[War Pigs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxgtk_3qwXw) ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/9 "2015-04-28T11:15:39Z")
Edwin Starr’s version of “War” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/10 "2015-04-28T11:28:26Z")
What is it good for? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/11 "2015-04-28T12:53:33Z")
Gotta go with [Country Joe & the Fish “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rArmFRkaFY) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/12 "2015-04-28T13:26:30Z")
Tom Paxton’s Born on the Fourth of July Now I wheel myself down to the crossroads of town, To see the young girls and their lovers. And my mind is afire, it’s alive with desire, Christ, I’d barely begun, now it’s over. In my wheelchair for life, my mechanical wife, I’m supposed to be cheerful and stoic. I’m your old tried-and-true, Yankee Doodle to you, Clean-cut, paralyzed and heroic. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/13 "2015-04-28T14:14:06Z")
Phil Ochs _[Draft Dodger Rag.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFFOUkipI4U)_ ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/14 "2015-04-28T14:19:06Z")
[Travelin’ Soldier](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wRbo9FJ-yM)-Dixie Chicks One Friday night at a football game The Lord’s Prayer said and the Anthem sang A man said folks would you bow your heads For a list of local Vietnam dead Crying all alone under the stands Was a piccolo player in the marching band And one name read but nobody really cared But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/15 "2015-04-28T14:52:12Z")
“Gun Shy”- 10,000 Maniacs [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qHh2zssxPc8/hqdefault.jpg "10000 MANIACS gun shy.wmv") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHh2zssxPc8) ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/16 "2015-04-28T14:54:34Z")
[Dancing at Whitsun](http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=dancing+at+whitsun+tim+hart+youtube&FORM=VIRE11#view=detail&mid=10EA4E4AAC10B8B7045A10EA4E4AAC10B8B7045A) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/17 "2015-04-28T14:58:10Z")
Please make sure you do not repost excessive amounts of lyrics. Better to post a snip and link to the remainder. > [@ouryL](#): > > A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan > Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son? > Oh, where have you been, my darling young one? > I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains > I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways > I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests > I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans > I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard > And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard > And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall > > [snipped lyrics for copyright protection- ITD] ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/18 "2015-04-28T15:37:59Z")
[Some Mother’s Son](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZCsWp5BeZQ) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/19 "2015-04-28T16:11:56Z")
Phil Ochs had several, but I’ll go with “[I Ain’t Marching Any More](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv1KEF8Uw2k).” ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/20 "2015-04-28T16:47:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Phil Ochs had several, but I’ll go with “[I Ain’t Marching Any More](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv1KEF8Uw2k).” +1 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699.md?page=2)