Cheerful songs about maudlin things

Cafe Society
101

A lot of World War I songs sound pretty cheerful but the fanaticism of some ‘patriotic’ songs as well as the macabre humor in many reveal the miseries of the war.
Some bits and pieces…

*Over There
…
Johnnie get your gun
Get your gun, get your gun
Back in town to run
Home to run, home to run
Hear them calling you and me
Every son of liberty
Hurry right away
Don’t delay go today
Make your daddy glad
To have had such a lad
Tell your sweetheart not to pine
To be proud their boy’s in line.

The Old Barbed Wire
…
If you want to find the old battalion,
I know where they are, I know where they are.
If you want to find the old battalion,
I know where they are,
They’re hanging on the old barbed wire.
I’ve seen 'em, I’ve seen 'em,
Hanging on the old barbed wire,
I’ve seen 'em, I’ve seen 'em,
Hanging on the old barbed wire.
The Watch on the Line
…
So long as a drop of blood still glows,
So long as a hand the dagger can draw,
So long an arm the rifle can hold -
Never will an enemy touch your shore.
Dear Fatherland, rest quietly.
Sure stands and true the watch,
The watch on the Rhine.
*

102

Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart.”

Two of the best anti-Vietnam war songs ever written: Tom Paxton’s “Born on the Fourth of July” and Country Joe & the Fish’s “I-Feel-Like-I’m-A-Fixing-To-Die-Rag”

And it’s one-two-three, what are we fighting for?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn; next stop is Vietnam.
And it’s five-six-seven, open up the pearly gates.
There ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopeeee! We’re all gonna die!