# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/21 "2015-04-28T16:49:42Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Phil Ochs[.] Took out the excess words for you. 🙂 ETA: Didn’t see the later posts before, but that’s one good one. Phil did many. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/22 "2015-04-28T18:19:09Z")
I think of _Blowin’ in the Wind_ as an anti war song, though there’s more to it than that. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/23 "2015-04-28T18:40:51Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Phil Ochs had several, but I’ll go with “[I Ain’t Marching Any More](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv1KEF8Uw2k).” And I’d go with “Draft Dodger Rag”. So there. But seriously, “The Vacant Chair (We Shall Meet but We Shall Miss Him)”, popular on both sides of the US Civil War, is not angry or polemical or bitter, just sad as the bereaved family’s loss sets in. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/24 "2015-04-28T18:42:48Z")
The voice of caution and reason: Pete Seeger’s “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” - and the big fool said to push on. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/25 "2015-04-28T18:57:11Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Gotta go with [Country Joe & the Fish “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rArmFRkaFY) I came to mention this one. Singing “ain’t no time to wonder why, WHOOPIE, we’re all gonna die!” at the top of your lungs is fun and good for firing up the hippies. Too bad it is so specific to a certain time and war. Many thought Freda Payne’s [Band of Gold](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daxiMb0rITA) was a war protest song. I doubt it. But her [Bring The Boys Home](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--fFhunuUJM) left no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/26 "2015-04-28T19:07:15Z")
Oh wait! I just remembered the last anti-war song to hit the top 40. It’s gotta be Black Eyed Peas [Where Is The Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc). This came out in the middle of the first Gulf War, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/27 "2015-04-28T19:08:52Z")
ANZAC day was last weekend… [And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFCekeoSTwg) 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 go a waltzing Matilda with me And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong Who’ll go a waltzing Matilda with me? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/28 "2015-04-28T19:40:56Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > 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._ You are correct, sir. My favorite version: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R2wK-5RxGG4/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-AoACoAKKAgwIABABGF4gXiheMA8=&rs=AOn4CLB6PLrwWW5MLBMOrZmfAhOk_G1fTQ "Dubliners Waltzing Matilda : Eric Bogle : Anzacs Gallipoli") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2wK-5RxGG4) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/29 "2015-04-28T20:00:37Z")
“[The New Recruit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPUkS16JDc0)” by Michael Blessing (\*aka \*Mike Nesmith) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/30 "2015-04-28T20:00:51Z")
[Handsome Johnny](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvJHfYEEpGE) - Richie Havens [My Mother, the War](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hAEvyERuyI) - 10,000 Maniacs ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/31 "2015-04-28T20:02:38Z")
“Universal Soldier,” Buffy Ste. Marie ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/32 "2015-04-28T20:18:21Z")
Since Ochs has already been mentioned, I’ll toss in "“Where have all the flowers gone?” ---
**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, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/33 "2015-04-28T20:19:56Z")
Note, BTW, that “The Universal Soldier” and “Handsome Johnny” share a melody (I believe “Universal Soldier” came first)… which is also shared by the chorus of yet another antiwar song, “Snoopy’s Christmas”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/34 "2015-04-28T20:38:56Z")
[“Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_I_Hardly_Knew_Ye) [“Mrs. McGrath.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._McGrath) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/35 "2015-04-28T20:40:27Z")
[“Johnny Is Gone for a Soldier.”](http://www.elyrics.net/read/j/john-tams-lyrics/johnny-is-gone-for-a-soldier-lyrics.html) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/36 "2015-04-28T20:46:08Z")
Courtesy of Clickhole; [How Many of These Classic Protest Songs Do You Know?](http://www.clickhole.com/quiz/how-many-these-classic-protest-songs-do-you-know-1558) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/37 "2015-04-28T20:57:10Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > (I believe “Universal Soldier” came first) By three years according to Wikipedia. ---
**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, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/38 "2015-04-28T21:14:28Z")
Metallica’s _One_. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/39 "2015-04-29T00:38:05Z")
[Eve of Destruction](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I98KeKV_F9g) ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/40 "2015-04-29T01:05:33Z")
Dave Van Ronk, “Luang Prabang”: [Luang Prabang (Dave Van Ronk) - YouTube](http://youtu.be/_w5JlDn9WCw) I really liked Inside Llewyn Davis, but it ignored Van Ronk’s politics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699.md?page=3)