I have prepared a list of ten war-themed songs sung by Canadians. Due
to copyright restrictions, I am not posting the complete lyrics to the
songs, but have provided an excerpt from each song's lyrics, and a
link that will take you to the full text. This list is in no
particular order.
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"Sit Down, Young Stranger," Gordon Lightfoot:
"Now will you try to tell us
You been too long at school
That knowledge is not needed
That power does not rule
That war is not the answer
That young men should not die
Sit down young stranger
I wait for your reply"
Corfid
http://www.corfid.com/gl/Albums/If_You_Could_Read_My_Mind/Sit_Down_Young_Stranger.htm
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"The Fiddle and the Drum," Joni Mitchell:
"And so once again
My dear Johnny my dear friend
And so once again you are fightin' us all
And when I ask you why
You raise your sticks and cry, and I fall
Oh, my friend
How did you come
To trade the fiddle for the drum"
The Modern Religion
http://www.themodernreligion.com/terror/wtc-fiddle.html
=========================================
"Universal Soldier," Buffy Sainte-Marie
"He is five foot two,
Anbd he's six feet four,
He fights with missiles and with spears,
He is all of thirty-one,
And he's only a seventeen,
's been a soldier for thousands years."
Pesenski
http://pesenki.by.ru/internat/saintemariebuffy/songs/1.shtml?lg=en
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"There Is a War," Leonard Cohen:
"There is a war between the rich and poor,
a war between the man and the woman.
There is a war between the ones who say there is a war
and the ones who say there isn't.
Why don't you come on back to the war, that's right, get in it,
why don't you come on back to the war, it's just beginning."
A to Z Lyrics
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/leonardcohen/thereisawar.html
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"Anthem," Leonard Cohen:
"Ah the wars they will
be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
bought and sold
and bought again
the dove is never free...
We asked for signs
the signs were sent:
the birth betrayed
the marriage spent
Yeah the widowhood
of every government --
signs for all to see.
I can't run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud."
A to Z Lyrics
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/leonardcohen/anthem.html
=========================================
"Barrett's Privateers," Stan Rogers:
"God damn them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers...
On the 96th day we sailed again,
When a bloody great Yankee hove in sight
With our cracked four pounders we made to fight...
Then at length we stood two cables away,
Our cracked four pounders made an awful din
But with one fat ball the Yank stove us in"
Steve Briggs
http://stevebriggs.superb.net/stanrogers/songs/bp-sng.html
=========================================
"Resist War," Chris and Kate:
"I will resist war
I will not be seduced by hate
I'll live in service
the only enemy is my own heart
should I decide too late
to challenge the very name
for what is war
but rich spending poor inside a game"
Resist War
http://www.resistwar.com/lyrics.htm
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"Remembrance Day," Bryan Adams:
"For our king and our country and the promise of glory
We came from Kingston and Brighton to fight on the front line
Just lads from the farms and boys from the cities
Not meant to be soldiers we lay in the trenches
We'd face the fighting with a smile - or so we said
If only we had known what danger lay ahead"
Lyrics Style
http://www.lyricsstyle.com/b/bryanadams/remembranceday.html
=========================================
'Don't Drop That Bomb on Me," Bryan Adams:
"We sailed our ships upon the shores
That once were out of reach
Turned the silence into war and bloodied up the beach
Trashed the forests and the trees
Til there's nothin' left to cut
We raped the rivers and the seas and turned the land to dust
It goes on and on
On and on..."
Lyrics Style
http://www.lyricsstyle.com/b/bryanadams/dontdropthatbombonme.html
=========================================
"Let's Roll," Neil Young:
"Let's roll for freedom,
Let's roll for love,
Goin' after Satan,
On the wings of a dove.
Let's roll for justice,
Let's roll for truth,
Let's not let our children,
Grow up fearful in their youth."
Real Lyrics
http://www.reallyrics.com/lyrics/N001500030005.asp
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This was a challenging question, and an interesting one. At first I
tried searching on Google using keyphrases such as "canadian" +
"antiwar" + "songs," but I found that a search engines wasn't of much
use until I had a song in mind, so the only search terms I ended up
using were the names of the songs and singers (so that I could locate
the lyrics for you.) The best search engine for this one turned out to
be the big grey wet thing between my ears. ;-)
I hope this is useful. If anything is in need of explanation, or if a
link does not function, please request clarification, and I'll be glad
to offer further assistance.
Best wishes,
pinkfreud |
