# 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:** 3
**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 29, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/41 "2015-04-29T01:17:54Z")
“Sky Pilot” by the Animals. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/42 "2015-04-29T01:38:06Z")
_On the side of a hill, in a land called Somewhere / A little boy lies asleep in the earth / While down in the valley, a cruel war rages / And people forget what a child’s life is worth_ Paul Simon ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/43 "2015-04-29T01:49:00Z")
“[The Unknown Soldier](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuxu0HCr0oM)” - The Doors ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/44 "2015-04-29T02:05:27Z")
[Barrett’s Privateers](http://youtu.be/C7Ufe0jF-AE) ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/45 "2015-04-29T02:29:06Z")
I grew up in the early to mid 60’s in the USA. When I first saw this post, my immediate thought was [Buffalo Springfield](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Springfield) and the song “For What It’s Worth”. Kent State shocked and alarmed us kids at the time. Anyway, a link below to Monterrey, with an intro by Peter Tork of the Monkees, of which thread here I just finished reading lol. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RXp7AAirwqo/hqdefault.jpg "For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield - Live @ Monterrey 1967 (Intro Peter Tork) .wmv") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXp7AAirwqo) ---
**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, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/46 "2015-04-29T02:31:53Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > [Barrett’s Privateers](http://youtu.be/C7Ufe0jF-AE) Great sing, with a great parody, “Garnet’s Homemade Beer,” here [http://youtu.be/Igx\_Lo0\_1GI](http://youtu.be/Igx_Lo0_1GI) Stan Rogers wrote the original. Garnet is his brother. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/47 "2015-04-29T02:39:53Z")
There is also [So Long, Mom (I’m Off to Drop the Bomb)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pklr0UD9eSo) But my favorite is probably [My Name is Lisa Kalveledge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOHxAvGu5X4) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/48 "2015-04-29T02:43:06Z")
John Fogerty - “[It’s Like Deja Vu All Over Again](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ouDRxRcBdo).” ---
**Author:** ![MsKaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@MsKaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsKaren)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/49 "2015-04-29T02:56:19Z")
Where Have All the Flowers Gone? www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXNVA9ngx8 and Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ya [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg\_rf2d894k](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg_rf2d894k) are the classic antiwar of my childhood. We have many more. My heart is broken. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/50 "2015-04-29T03:01:40Z")
> [@MsKaren](#): > > Where Have All the Flowers Gone? www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXNVA9ngx8 > > and Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ya [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg\_rf2d894k](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg_rf2d894k) > > are the classic antiwar of my childhood. We have many more. My heart is broken. And both songs were already mentioned in posts 32 and 34. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/51 "2015-04-29T03:07:15Z")
Tom Waits’ song about a young soldier: [Day After Tomorrow](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/tomwaits/dayaftertomorrow.html)[Joan Baez’s version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dppUDBJ4b7c) > [@](#): > > You can’t deny > The other side > Don’t want to die > Any more than we do > What I’m trying to say, > Is don’t they pray > To the same God that we do? > Tell me, how does God choose? > Whose prayers does he refuse? > Who turns the wheel? > And who throws the dice > On the day after tomorrow? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/52 "2015-04-29T03:20:31Z")
**Billy, Don’t Be a Hero** But seriously, I agree with quite a few of the previous posts. ---
**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 29, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/53 "2015-04-29T03:49:42Z")
“Wooden Ships”. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/54 "2015-04-29T05:01:00Z")
Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/55 "2015-04-29T05:46:37Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > [Buffalo Springfield](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Springfield) and the song “For What It’s Worth”. [For What It’s Worth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_What_It's_Worth_(Buffalo_Springfield_song)) is not actually an anti-war song. [QUOTE=Wikipedia] Though often mistaken for an anti-war song, it was the first of the “Sunset Strip riots” which inspired then Buffalo Springfield band member Stephen Stills to write “For What It’s Worth”, recorded about three weeks after on December 5, 1966. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/56 "2015-04-29T06:24:53Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The voice of caution and reason: Pete Seeger’s “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” - and the big fool said to push on. Pete Seeger is credited with adding the final lines to “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”. “Waist Deep” is NOT about war - it is a reference to an incident in which a (drunken?) Drill Instructor ordered his fully-loaded troops into the river. They went, and several died before the mess was over. “Thresher” was about the USS Thresher - an early nuclear sub (armed) which died when the asshole Commander ordered it to dive below its limit. Pete really didn’t like things stupid - especially when wrapped in the flag. Back to Anti-War: “Cruel War” is another from the US Civil war “Who’ll Stop the Rain?” was CCR’s addition. "Rain is a common metaphor for war, and the lines: “'Long as I remember Rain’s been coming down” was dead-on. Remember that it was 1975 before the Boomers knew a country NOT at war. We got the body counts on the 6 o’clock news. Great childhood memories: As long as I can remember, this war has been going on. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/57 "2015-04-29T06:26:55Z")
And back to Paul Simon: Listen to both tracks on Scarborough Fair / Canticle ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/58 "2015-04-29T07:18:33Z")
**usedtobe** No I think “Waist Deep In The Big Muddy” is an anti-war song. It was written by Pete Seeger in 1967 - a time when the Vietnam War was rapidly gaining its _un_popularity. It became famous (perhaps even infamous?) when Pete Seeger’s performance of it was censored from the Smothers Brothers Show. Here’s what Wikipedia says about it: > **[Waist Deep in the Big Muddy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist_Deep_in_the_Big_Muddy#cite_note-2)** > > "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" is a song written by Pete Seeger in 1967 and made famous because of its censorship from The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. > The song tells the story of a platoon wading in a river in Louisiana on a practice patrol in 1942. Imperiously ignoring his sergeant's concerns, the captain orders the platoon to continue with himself in the lead until they are finally up to their necks. Suddenly, the captain drowns and the sergeant instantly orders the unit to turn back to the ... ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/59 "2015-04-29T07:22:49Z")
Jimmy Cliff’s “VietNam” ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699/60 "2015-04-29T07:58:44Z")
_[Sam Stone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl9ZkYViEIs)_, by John Prine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-war-songs/718699.md?page=4)