Military/War Songs

[Akira 0]

So I was looking through my music collection and came across a song I hadn't heard since I was like six or seven. I vaguely remember the video in the heady day of music videos; a mix of live concert footage and archive footage. I do remember that it seemed to affect me more than the songs at the time and was interested in what he was singing about, but being so young I had no idea. Well in any case here it is. The lyrics for (no snickering) Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon."

Quote[/b] ]We met as soul mates

On parris island

We left as inmates

From an asylum

And we were sharp

As sharp as knives

And we were so gung ho

To lay down our lives

We came in spastic

Like tameless horses

We left in plastic

As numbered corpses

And we learned fast

To travel light

Our arms were heavy

But our bellies were tight

We had no home front

We had no soft soap

They sent us playboy

They gave us bob hope

We dug in deep

And shot on sight

And prayed to jesus christ

With all our might

We had no cameras

To shoot the landscape

We passed the hash pipe

And played our doors tapes

And it was dark

So dark at night

And we held on to each other

Like brother to brother

We promised our mothers we’d write

And we would all go down together

We said we’d all go down together

Yes we would all go down together

Remember charlie

Remember baker

They left their childhood

On every acre

And who was wrong?

And who was right?

It didn’t matter in the thick of the fight

We held the day

In the palm

Of our hand

They ruled the night

And the night

Seemed to last as long as six weeks

On parris island

We held the coastline

They held the highlands

And they were sharp

As sharp as knives

They heard the hum of our motors

They counted the rotors

And waited for us to arrive

And we would all go down together

We said we’d all go down together

Yes we would all go down together

Feel free to share any songs of a similiar nature.

[Llauma 0]

The lyrics to this song are hilarious

Stan Ridgway - Camouflage

Quote[/b] ]I was a PFC on a search patrol huntin' Charlie down

It was in the jungle wars of '65

My weapon jammed and I got stuck way out and all alone

And I could hear the enemy movin' in close outside

Just then I heard a twig snap and i grabbed my empty gun

And I dug in scared while I counted down my fate

And then a big marine, a giant with a pair of friendly eyes

Appeared there at my shoulder and said wait

When he came in close beside me he said,

"Don't worry, son, I'm here,

If Charlie wants to tangle now he'll have two to dodge."

I said, "Well thanks a lot."

I told him my name and asked him his

And he said, "The boys just call me Camouflage."

Whoa Camouflage

Things are never quite the way they seem

Whoa Camouflage

I was awfully glad to see this big marine

We fought all night and side by side we took our battle stance

and I wondered how the bullets missed this man

'Cause they seemed to go right through him

As if he wasn't there

And in the mornin' we both took a chance and ran

And it was near the river bank when the ambush came on top of us

And I'd thought it was the end and we were had

Then a bullet with my name on it came buzzin' through a bush

And that big marine he just swat it with his hand

Whoa Camouflage

Things are never quite the way they seem

Whoa Camouflage

Was I awfully glad to see this big marine

And I knew there was something weird about him

'Cause when I turned around he was pullin' a big palm tree

Right up out of the ground

And swattin' those Charlies with it from here to Kingdom Come

When he led me out of danger

I saw my camp and waved goodbye

But he just winked at me from the jungle and then was gone

And when I got back to my HQ, I told 'em about my night

And the battle I'd spent with a big marine named Camouflage

When I said his name a soldier gulped

And a medic took my arm

And led me to a green tent on the right

He said, "You may be tellin' the truth boy,

But this here is Camouflage,

And he's been right here since he passed away last night."

But before he went he said, "Semper Fi,"

And said his only whish

Was to save a young marine caught in a barrage

So here, take his dog tag son,

I know he'd want you to have it now."

And we both said a prayer for a big marine named Camouflage

Whoa Camouflage

things are never quite the way they seem

Whoa Camouflage

I was awfully glad to see this big marine

[DeLiltMon 0]

The lyrics to this song are hilarious

Stan Ridgway - Camouflage

Anyone know who did the original song it's based on and what it's called, I heard it on the radio once but had forgotten by the time I got home

[Akira 0]

Another Vietnam song. It's alright in that 1980s kinda way...

Paul Hardcastle's "19"

Quote[/b] ]

In 1965 Vietnam seemed like just another foreign war,

but it wasn't.

It was different in many ways, as so were those that did the fighting.

In World War II the average age of the combat soldier was 26...

In Vietnam he was 19.

In inininininin Vietnam he was 19.

(TV announcer's voice)

The shooting and fighting of the past two weeks continued today

25 miles west of Saigon

I really wasn't sure what was going on (Vet's Voice)

Nininini Nineteen, 19, Ni-nineteen 19

19,19,19,19

In Vietnam the combat soldier typically served a twelve month tour of duty but

was exposed to hostile fire almost everyday

Ninininininininininin 19 nininininninin 19

Hundreds of Thousands of men who saw heavy combat in Vietnam were arrested

since discharge

Their arrest rate is almost twice that of non-veterans of the same age.

There are no accurate figures of how many of these men have been incarcerated.

But, a Veterans Administration study concludes that the greater of Vets

exposure to combat could more likely affect his chances of being arrested or

convicted.

This is one legacy of the Vietnam War

(Singing Girls)

All those who remember the war

They won't forget what they've seen..

Destruction of men in their prime

whose average was 19

Dedededededede-Destruction

Dedededededede-Destruction

War, War

Dededede-Destruction, wa-wa-War, wa-War, War

Dedededededede-Destruction

War, War

After World War II the Men came home together on troop ships, but the Vietnam

Vet often arrived home within 48 hours of jungle combat

Perhaps the most dramatic difference between World War II and Vietnam was

coming home.. .none of them received a hero's welcome

None of them received a heroes welcome, none of them, none of them

Nenene Nenene None of them, none of them, none of them (etc...)

None of them received a hero's welcome

None of them received a hero's welcome

According to a Veteran's Administration study

Half of the Vietnam combat veterans suffered from what Psychiatrists call

Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder

Many vets complain of alienation, rage, or guilt

Some succumb to suicidal thoughts

Eight to Ten years after coming home almost eight-hundred-thousand men are

still fighting the Vietnam War

(Singing Girls)

Dedededededede-Destruction

Nininininininininin Nineteen, 19, Ni-nineteen 19

19,19,19,19

Nininininininininin Nineteen, 19, Ni-nineteen 19

19,19,19,19

(Soldiers Voice)

When we came back it was different.. Everybody wants to know "How'd it

happened to those guys over there

There's gotta be something wrong somewhere

We did what we had to do

There's gotta be something wrong somewhere

People wanted us to be ashamed of what it made us

Dad had no idea what he went to fight and he is now

All we want to do is come home

All we want to do is come home

What did we do it for

All we want to do is come home

Was it worth it?

[kevbaz 0]

ahhh the mighty Quo

Quote[/b] ]In The Army Now

( Bolland / Bolland )

A vacation in a forreign land

Uncle Sam does the best he can

You're in the army now

Oh, oh, you're in the army now

Now you remember what the draftman said

Nothing to do all day but stay in bed

You're in the army now

Oh, oh, you're in the army now

You'll be the hero of the neighbourhood

Nobody knows that you've left for good

You're in the army now

Oh, oh, you're in the army now

Smiling faces as you wait to land

But once you get there no one gives a damn

You're in the army now

Oh, oh, you're in the army now

Hand grenades flying over your head

Missiles flying over your head

If you want to survive get out of bed

You're in the army now

Oh, oh, you're in the army now

Shots ring out in the dad of night

The sergant calls (stand up and fight)

You're in the army now

Oh, oh, you're in the army now

You've got your orders better shoot on sight

Your finger's on the trigger

But it don't seem right

You're in the army now

Oh, oh, you're in the army now

You're in the army now

Oh, oh, you're in the army now

Night is falling and you just can't see

Is this illusion or reality

You're in the army now

Oh, oh, you're in the army now

You're in the army now

Oh, oh, you're in the army now

Oh, oh, you're in the army now

[Messiah 2]

The lyrics for (no snickering) Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon."

one of the best lyric writers IMHO

[harley 3 1185 0]

This is always a tear-jerker, and a sad pleasure to listen to;

Quote[/b] ]When I was a young man I carried my pack

And lived the free life of the rover

From the Murray's Green Basin to the dusty outback

I waltzed my Matilda all over

Then in 1915 my country said "Son,

It's time to stop rambling, there's work to be done."

So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun

And they sent me away to the war

And the band played Waltzing Matilda

As the ship pulled away from the quay

Amidst all the cheers, flag waving and tears

We sailed off for Gallipoli

It's well I remember that terrible day

Our blood stained the sands and the waters

And how in that hell that they called Souvla Bay

We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter

Johnny Turkey' was ready, he'd primed himself well

He rained us with bullets and he showered us with shell

And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell

Nearly blew us right back to Australia

And the band played Waltzing Matilda

As we stopped to bury our slain

We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs

Then it started all over again

Those who were living did their best to survive

In that mad world of death, blood and fire

For ten weary weeks I kept myself alive

While around me the corpses piled higher

Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse-over-head

And when I awoke in my hospital bed

And saw what it had done, Christ, I wished I was dead

Never knew there were worse things than dying

For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda

All around the green bush far and near

For to hang tents and pegs a man needs two legs

No more waltzing Matilda for me

They collected the wounded, the crippled and maimed

And shipped us back home to Australia

The armless, the legless, the blind and insane

The proud, wounded heroes of Souvla

And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay

I looked at the place where my legs used to be

And thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me

To mourn and to grieve and to pity

And the band played Waltzing Matilda

As they carried us down the gangway

But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared

Then they turned all their faces away

So now every April I sit on my porch

And watch the parade pass before me

I see my old comrades, how proudly they march

Reliving their days of past glory

I see the old men all twisted and torn

The tired old heroes of a forgotten war

And the young people ask me "What are they marching for?"

And I ask myself the same question

And the band plays Waltzing Matilda

And the old men still answer the call

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?

The Original Waltzing Matilda wouldn't be so appropriate methinks.

[MeltedAd 0]

Slayer - War Ensemble

Propaganda death ensemble

Burial to be

Corpses rotting through the night

In blood laced misery

Scorched earth the policy

The reason for the seige

The pendulum it shaves the blade

The strafing air blood raid

Infiltration push reserves

Encircle the front lines

Supreme art of strategy

Playing on the minds

Bombard till submission

Take all to their graves

Indication of triumph

The number that are dead

[CHORUS]

Sport the war, war support

The sport is war, total war

When victory's a massacre

The final swing is not a drill

It's how many people I can kill

[CHORUS]

Be dead friend from above

When darkness falls

Descend into my sights

Your fallen walls

Spearhead break through the lines

Flanked all around

Soldiers of attriction

Forward their ground

Regime prophetic age

Old in its time

Flowing veins run on through

Deep in the Rhine

Center of the web

All battles scored

What is our war crimes

(Era forever more...war)

Propaganda war ensemble

Burial to be

Bones shining in the night

In blood laced misery

Campaign of elimination

Twisted psychology

When victory is to survive

And death is defeat

[CHORUS]

Sport the war, war support

The sport is war, total war

When victory's a massacre

When victory is survival

When this end is a slaughter

The final swing is not a drill

It's how many people I can kill

[Guest Ti0n3r]

This is a poem about the first world war.

Quote[/b] ]I send you my greetings, from the trenches at the western front

From four years of missery

From all of us who died

From all of us who fought in nomans land

From the tweelve million dead

We salute you, the war is over

After twenty years the western front is history

And on the fields of death, grass will grow again

The heroes turn into old forgoten men

I have survived the war

But I dont celebrate the moment of peace

I walk towards the future in rags

I cant see it with my extinguished eyes

And although the western front was the anvil

Where the youth of Europe was hammered to death

The buds of the trees are blooming

I know, after twenty years they will point at this place

I will have to take my rifle and my trench coat

And go back again, and die for their cause

[ran 0]

Couldn't resist the temptation :

Funker Vogt - Killing Fields

Quote[/b] ]YOU MUST PLAN AND YOU MUST TRAIN

FOR THE BATTLE YOU DON'T WANT

TO DEFEND WHAT YOU LOVE

THAT'S HOW THE WAR BEGINS

PEACE IS IMPOSSIBLE

NO MATTER WHAT IT SEEMS

SOMEONE'S KILLING SOMEONE

EVEN IN YOUR DREAMS

YOU CAN'T GIVE THEM A REASON

YOU CAN'T TELL THEM THE TRUTH

THEY ARE SO CONVINCED

TO KNOW WHAT TO DO

PEOPLE ARE NOT VERY WISE

DON'T KNOW THEIR LIMITATIONS

DON'T KNOW WHAT DEATH MEANS

WHEN THEY PLAY THEIR DIRTY GAME

CHORUS:

SO WHEN YOU WALK AWAY

LEAVING THE KILLING FIELDS

YOU WILL BE SOON AWARE

WHAT YOU HAVE LOST

DON'T GIVE THEM A REASON

AND HER SCREAMS ARE GETTING LOUDER

so much depth in so few words ... just kidding (sorry for the caps too)

And now for something more serious, a french version of Ich hatt' ein Kamaraden.

It's a funeral song wrtten by a paratrooper named Jean de Brem in Algeria

Quote[/b] ]Un soir dans la fusillade, galopant Å• l'inconnu

Nous étions en cavalcade, tu étais mon camarade

Celui que j'aimais le plus (bis)

Un cavalier par bravade, des siens le plus résolu

Me porta son estocade, ce fut mon camarade

Ce fut toi qui la reçue (bis)

J'ai vengé l'estafilade, que ce coup t'avait valu

Mais trÄs tard dans la nuit froide, j'ai pleuré mon camarade

PrÄs de son corps étendu (bis)

Je suis ma route maussade, et je chevauche sans but

Au hasard d'une embuscade, j'ai perdu mon camarade

Je ne rirai jamais plus (bis)

Prince écoute ma ballade, et cet appel éperdu

Prie le Dieu des cavalcades, de placer mon camarade

A la droite de Jésus (bis)

One evening in the gunfire, rushing in the unknown

We were on a horse ride, you were my comrade,

The one I loved the most (bis)

A horseman to provocate, of his the most resolute

Gave me a blow, it's been my comrade

Who received it (bis)

I avenged the wound this blow caused you

But late in the cold night, I cried my comrade

Near your lifeless body (bis)

I'm on my gloomy road, and I'm walk without goal

In the event of and ambush, I lost my comrade

I will never laugh again (bis)

Prince hear my ballad, and this restless call

Pray the god of the horse rides to sit my comrade

On the right of Jesus (bis)

[kerosene 0]

"the sands of Iwo-jima" by the Drive by Truckers. Its a great song, kind of sad.

Quote[/b] ]George A. was at the movies in December '41

They announced it in the lobby what had just gone on

He drove up from Birmingham back to the family's farm

Thought he'd get him a deferment there's was much work to be done

He was a family man, even in those days

But Uncle Sam decided he was needed anyway

In the South Pacific over half a world away

He believed in God and Country, things was just that way

Just that way…..

When I was just a kid I spent every weekend

On the farm that he grew up on so I guess so did I

And we'd stay up watching movies on the black and white TV

We watched "The Sands of Iwo Jima" starring John Wayne

Every year in June George A. goes to a reunion

Of the men that he served with and their wives and kids and grandkids

My Great Uncle used to take me and I'd watch them recollect

about some things I couldn't comprehend

And I thought about that movie, asked if it was that way

He just shook his head and smiled at me in such a loving way

As he thought about some friends he will never see again

He said "I never saw John Wayne on the sands of Iwo Jima"

Most of those men are gone now but he goes still every year

And George A's still doing fine, especially for his years

He's still living on that homestead in the house that he was born in

And I sure wish I could go see him today

He never drove a new car though he could easily afford it

He'd just buy one for the family and take whatever no one wanted

He said a shiny car didn't mean much after all the things he'd seen

George A. never saw John Wayne on the sands of Iwo Jima

Patterson Hood / Drive-By Truckers (October 19, 2003) © Soul Dump Music (BMI)

[stevevcb 3]

1916 by Motörhead

16 years old when I went to war,

To fight for a land fit for heroes,

God on my side, and a gun in my hand,

Counting my days down to zero,

And I marched and I fought and I bled and I died,

And I never did get any older,

But I knew at the time that a year in the line,

Is a long enough life for a soldier,

We all volunteered, and we wrote down our names,

And we added two years to our ages,

Eager for life and ahead of the game,

Ready for history´s pages,

And we fought and we brawled and we whored ´til we stood,

Ten thousand shoulder to shoulder,

A thirst for the Hun, we were food for the gun,

And that´s what you are when you´re soldiers,

I heard my friend cry, and he sank to his knees,

Coughing blood as he screamed for his mother,

And I fell by his side, and that´s how we died,

Clinging like kids to each other,

And I lay in the mud and the guts and the blood,

And I wept as his body grew colder,

And I called for my mother and she never came,

Though it wasn´t my fault and I wasn´t to blame,

The day not half over and ten thousand slain,

And now there´s nobody remembers our names,

And that´s how it is for a soldier.

Disposable Heroes by Metallica:

Bodies fill the fields I see, hungry heroes end

No one to play soldier now, no one to pretend

running blind through killing fields, bred to kill them all

Victim of what said should be

a servant `til I fall

Soldier boy, made of clay

now an empty shell

twenty one, only son

but he served us well

Bred to kill, not to care

just do as we say

finished here, Greeting Death

he's yours to take away

Back to the front

you will do what I say, when I say

Back to the front

you will die when I say, you must die

Back to the front

you coward

you servant

you blindman

Barking of machinegun fire, does nothing to me now

sounding of the clock that ticks, get used to it somehow

More a man, more stripes you bare, glory seeker trends

bodies fill the fields I see

the slaughter never ends

Soldier boy, made of clay

now an empty shell

twenty one, only son

but he served us well

Bred to kill, not to care

just do as we say

finished here, Greeting Death

he's yours to take away

Back to the front

you will do what I say, when I say

Back to the front

you will die when I say, you must die

Back to the front

you coward

you servant

you blindman

Why, Am I dying?

Kill, have no fear

Lie, live off lying

Hell, Hell is here

I was born for dying

Life planned out before my birth, nothing could I say

had no chance to see myself, molded day by day

Looking back I realize, nothing have I done

left to die with only friend

Alone I clench my gun

Soldier boy, made of clay

now an empty shell

twenty one, only son

but he served us well

Bred to kill, not to care

just do as we say

finished here, Greeting Death

he's yours to take away

Back to the front

you will do what I say, when I say

Back to the front

you will die when I say, you must die

Back to the front

you coward

you servant

you blindman

Back to the front.

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica

Make his fight on the hill in the early day

Constant chill deep inside

Shouting gun, on they run through the endless grey

On the fight, for they are right, yes, by who's to say?

For a hill men would kill, why? They do not know

Suffered wounds test there their pride

Men of five, still alive through the raging glow

Gone insane from the pain that they surely know

For whom the bell tolls

Time marches on

For whom the bell tolls

Take a look to the sky just before you die

It is the last time you will

Blackened roar massive roar fills the crumbling sky

Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry

Stranger now, are his eyes, to this mystery

He hears the silence so loud

Crack of dawn, all is gone except the will to be

Now the will see what will be, blinded eyes to see

For whom the bell tolls

Time marches on

For whom the bell tolls

[Gadger 0]

Men of Harlech, 16th Century AD - Welshmen of Cambria defending Harlech castle against the Saxons (English :P)

Quote[/b] ] Mil melusach i fy nghalon,

Na mwynderau gwlad y Saeson,

Cig a gwin, a da a digon,

Ydyw gwlad y gân:

Nid oes modd i 'ngwęn lawenu,

Tra bo 'fenaid yn hiraethu

Am fynyddoedd cribog Cymru,

A'i dyffrynoedd glân;

Nid y llawn heolydd,

Mwg a thwrf y trefydd;

Nid y byd a'i olud drud,

Sy'n denu bryd y prydydd;

Ond afonydd, gwyrddion ddolydd,

Swn yr awel yn y coedydd,

Cymau, glynau, bryniau bronydd,

Cymru, gwlad y gân.

Cara'r oen y ddafad,

Cara mun ei chariad,

Cara'r cybydd bwrs yn llawn,

A dyn a dawn ei dyniad;

Cara'r babi fron ei fami,

Caraf finau'r wlad wy'n foli,

Duw a wyr mor anwyl i mi

Ydyw Cymru lân.

Translation:

Quote[/b] ]Now to battle they are going,

Every heart with courage glowing,

Pride and passion overflowing

In the furious strife:

Lo! the din of war enrages,

Vengeance crowns the hate of ages,

Sternly foe with foe engages,

Feeding Death with Life:

Hear the trumpets braying,

And the horses neighing,

Hot the strife while fiery foes

Are one another slaying;

Arrows fly as swift as lightning,

Shout on shout the tumult height'ning,

Conquest's ruddy wing is bright'ning,

Helmet, sword, and shield;

With their lances flashing,

Warriors wild are crashing,

Through the tyrant's serried ranks

Whilst onward they are dashing:

Now the enemy is flying,

Trampling on the dead and dying;

Victory aloft is crying,

"Cambria wins the field!"

Late 19th Century version:

Quote[/b] ]Men of Harlech stop your dreaming

Can't you see their spear points gleaming

See their warrior pennants streaming

To this battle field

Men of Harlech stand ye steady

It cannot be ever said ye

For the battle were not ready

Stand and never yield

From the hills rebounding

Let this war cry sounding

Summon all at Cambria's call

The mighty force surrounding

Men of Harlech onto glory

This shall ever be your story

Keep these burning words before ye

Welshmen will not yield

[cornhelium 0]

Return of the Two-Headed King by Big Country:

Quote[/b] ]

I know the very ground you walk,

The colors that you wear.

I know the love of which you talk

I know for I am there.

Let it rise and fall for evermore.

For I have seen my enemy

I looked and he was me.

And I have fed his family

And he has fought for me.

Let it rise and fall for evermore.

For it's a haunted land

Where we're understood.

For it's a haunted land

That we come home to.

Oh guide me through this wilderness

my fine two-headed King.

It's I and you against we two

And what the tide may bring.

Let it rise and fall for evermore.

It's a haunted land

Where we're understood.

It's a haunted land

That we come home to.

[sputnik monroe 102]

When the Tigers broke free- Pink Floyd

Quote[/b] ]It was just before dawn

One miserable morning in black 'forty four.

When the Forward Commander was told to sit tight

When he asked that his men be withdrawn.

And the Generals gave thanks

As the other ranks

Held back the enemy tanks for a while.

And the Anzio Bridgehead was held for the price

Of a few hundred ordinary lives.

And kind old King George

Sent Mother a note

When he heard that father was gone.

It was, I recall, in the form of a scroll,

With gold leaf and all.

And I found it one day

In a drawer of old photographs, hidden away.

And my eyes still grow damp

To remember His Majesty

Signed with his own rubber stamp.

It was dark all around.

There was frost in the ground

When the tigers broke free.

And no one survived

From the Royal Fusiliers Company C.

They were all left behind,

Most of them dead,

The rest of them dying.

And that's how the High Command took my Daddy from me.

The follwing link takes you to a flash site that has the video (which is very powerful if I do say so). Once you are there simply click on the Final Cut album (top left selection). It'll take you to a list it'll be there titled when the Tigers broke free. It's worth a listen, it's a moving piece.

You need quicktime.

http://www.pinkfloyd.co.uk/main.ph....present

*Edit* If you click on the top right picture (Echoes album) You can get to the song with out the video. It's harder to expain how to get to it there though as that section of the site has about 18 songs and to play them you have to click on the picture for the song and click on listen. Why is that hard? Well as part of the flash presentation the pictures are moving around. Any how I just thought I'd add that, as I think the song is more powerful with out the video. Video distracts from the music in my opinion.

[sputnik monroe 102]

This one always puts a lump in my throat.

Roads to Moscow- Al Stewart

Quote[/b] ]They crossed over the border the hour before dawn

Moving in lines through the day

Most of our planes were destroyed on the ground where they lay

Waiting for orders we held in the wood - word from the front never came

By evening the sound of the gunfire was miles away

Ah, softly we move through the shadows, slip away through the trees

Crossing their lines in the mists in the fields on our hands and our knees

And all that I ever was able to see

The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the smoke on the breeze

All summer they drove us back through the Ukraine

Smolensk and Viasma soon fell

By autumn we stood with our backs to the town of Orel

Closer and closer to Moscow they came - riding the wind like a bell

General Guderian stands at the crest of the hill

Winter brought with her the rains, oceans of mud filled the roads

Gluing the tracks of their tanks to the ground while the sky filled with snow

And all that I ever was able to see

The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the snow on the breeze

In the footsteps of Napoleon the shadow figures stagger through the winter

Falling back before the gates of Moscow,

Standing in the wings like an avenger

And far away behind their lines the partisans are stirring in the forest

Coming unexpectedly upon their outposts, growing like a promise

You'll never know, you'll never know

Which way to turn, which way to look, you'll never see us

As we're stealing through the blackness of the night,

You'll never know, you'll never hear us

And the evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely coming

The morning roads leads to Stalingrad, and the sky is softly humming

Two broken Tigers on fire in the night flicker their souls to the wind

We wait in the lines for the final approach to begin

It's been almost four years that I've carried a gun

At home it will almost be spring

The flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to Berlin

Ah, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the ground

The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down

And all that I ever was able to see

The eyes of the city are opening now it's the end of the dream

I'm coming home, I'm coming home,

Now you can taste it in the wind, the war is over

And I listen to the clicking of the train wheels as we roll across the border

And now they ask me of the time

When I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner

"They only held me for a day, a lucky break", I say;

They turn and listen closer

I'll never know, I'll never know

Why I was taken from the line and all the others

To board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy Russia

And it's cold and damp in the transit camp, and the air is still and sullen

And the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be coming

And I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answers "Never"

And the evening sighs and the steely Russian skies go on forever

[daithi 0]

Here's a song with an Irish theme ... and to quote Bono's words "this is not a rebel song"

Quote[/b] ]Well, how do you do, Private William McBride,

Do you mind if I sit down here by your graveside?

And rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,

I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done.

And I see by your gravestone you were only 19

When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916,

Well, I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean

Or, Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?

Did they Beat the drum slowly, did the play the pipes lowly?

Did the rifles fir o'er you as they lowered you down?

Did the bugles sound The Last Post in chorus?

Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind

In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined?

And, though you died back in 1916,

To that loyal heart are you forever 19?

Or are you a stranger without even a name,

Forever enshrined behind some glass pane,

In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,

And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?

The sun's shining down on these green fields of France;

The warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance.

The trenches have vanished long under the plow;

No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now.

But here in this graveyard that's still No Man's Land

The countless white crosses in mute witness stand

To man's blind indifference to his fellow man.

And a whole generation who were butchered and damned.

And I can't help but wonder, no Willie McBride,

Do all those who lie here know why they died?

Did you really believe them when they told you "The Cause?"

Did you really believe that this war would end wars?

Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame

The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,

For Willie McBride, it all happened again,

And again, and again, and again, and again

[Bordoy 0]

Rule Britannia!!

Quote[/b] ]When Britain first at Heaven's command,

Arose from out the azure main,

This was the charter, the charter of the land,

And guardian Angels sung this strain,

Chorus

Rule, Britannia, Britannia rule the waves,

Britons never will be slaves!

The Nations (not so blest as thee)

Must in their turns to Tyrants fall,

While thou shalt flourish great and free,

The dread and envy of them all.

Chorus

Still more majestick shalt thou rise,

More dreadful from each foreign stroke;

As the loud blast that tears the skies,

Serves but to root thy native oak.

Chorus

Thee, haughty Tyrants ne'er shall tame:

All their attempts to bend thee down,

Will but arouze thy gen'rous flame,

But work their woe, and thy renown.

Chorus

To thee belongs the rural reign,

Thy cities shall with commerce shine;

All thine shall be the subject Main,

And ev'ry shore it circles thine.

Chorus

The Muses still with Freedom found,

Shall to thy happy coasts repair; Blest Isle!

With matchless beauty crown'd,

And manly hearts to guide the Fair.

Chorus

1779.

Bold Nelson's Praise

Quote[/b] ]Bold Nelson's praise

I am going to sing,

(Not forgetting our glorious King)

He always did good tidings bring,

For he was a bold commander.

There was Sydney Smith

and Duncan too,

Lord Howe and all the glorious crew;

They were the men that were true blue.

Full of care, yet I swear

None with Nelson could compare,

Not even Alexander.

Bold Buonaparte he threaten'd war,

A man who fear'd not wound nor scar,

But still he lost at Trafalgar

Where Britain was victorious.

Lord Nelson's actions made him quake,

And all French pow'rs he made to shake;

He said his king he'd ne'er forsake.

These last words thus he spake,

Stand true, my lads, like hearts of oak

And the battle shall be glorious.

Lord Nelson bold, though threaten'd wide,

And many a time he had been tried,

He fought like a hero till he died

Amid the battle gory.

But the day was won, their line was broke,

While all around was lost in smoke,

And Nelson he got his death-stroke,

That's the man for old England!

He faced his foe with his sword in hand

And he lived and he died in his glory.

[MSpencer 0]

One of the most effective poems written. It never ceases to have that sobering effect on people.

Quote[/b] ]Dulce et Decorum est

Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!-An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

[Balschoiw 0]

Well, there´s always the other side aswell:

Quote[/b] ]IF I HAD A ROCKET LAUNCHER (1983)

By Bruce Cockburn

(from the LP "Stealing Fire")

Here comes the helicopter -- second time today.

Everybody scatters and hopes it goes away.

How many kids they've murdered only god can say

If I had a rocket launcher...I'd make somebody pay.

I don't believe in guarded borders and I don't believe in hate

I don't believe in generals or their stinking torture states

And when i talk with the survivors of things too sickening to relate

If i had a rocket launcher...I would retaliate

On the Rio Lacantun one hundred thousand wait

to fall down from starvation -- or some less humane fate.

Cry for guatemala, with a corpse in every gate.

If i had a rocket launcher...I would not hesitate.

I want to raise every voice -- at least I've got to try.

Every time I think about it, water rises to my eyes.

Situation desperate, echoes of the victims cry,

"If I had a rocket launcher...some sonofa***** would die."

[Crazysheep 1]

The Partisan-Leonard Cohen

Quote[/b] ]

When they poured across the border

I was cautioned to surrender,

this I could not do;

I took my gun and vanished.

I have changed my name so often,

I've lost my wife and children

but I have many friends,

and some of them are with me.

An old woman gave us shelter,

kept us hidden in the garret,

then the soldiers came;

she died without a whisper.

There were three of us this morning

I'm the only one this evening

but I must go on;

the frontiers are my prison.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,

through the graves the wind is blowing,

freedom soon will come;

then we'll come from the shadows.

Les Allemands e'taient chez moi,

ils me dirent, "Signe toi,"

mais je n'ai pas peur;

j'ai repris mon arme.

J'ai change' cent fois de nom,

j'ai perdu femme et enfants

mais j'ai tant d'amis;

j'ai la France entie`re.

Un vieil homme dans un grenier

pour la nuit nous a cache',

les Allemands l'ont pris;

il est mort sans surprise.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,

through the graves the wind is blowing,

freedom soon will come;

then we'll come from the shadows.

[Bordoy 0]

Hopefully, we will be changing our national anthem to one of:

Rule Britannia! (Lyrics above)

Jerusalem

Quote[/b] ]And did those feet in ancient time

Walk upon England’s mountains green?

And was the Holy Lamb of God

On England’s pleasant pastures seen?

And did the countenance divine

Shine forth upon our clouded hills?

And was Jerusalem builded here

Among these dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!

Bring me my arrows of desire!

Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!

Bring me my chariots of fire!

I will not cease from mental fight,

Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,

Till we have built Jerusalem

In England’s green and pleasant land.

Land of Hope and Glory

Quote[/b] ]Dear Land of Hope, thy hope is crowned.

God make thee mightier yet!

On Sov'ran brows, beloved, renowned,

Once more thy crown is set.

Thine equal laws, by Freedom gained,

Have ruled thee well and long;

By Freedom gained, by Truth maintained,

Thine Empire shall be strong.

Land of Hope and Glory,

Mother of the Free,

How shall we extol thee,

Who are born of thee?

Wider still and wider

Shall thy bounds be set;

God, who made thee mighty,

Make thee mightier yet.

or my favourite "I Vow To Thee My Country"

Quote[/b] ]I vow to thee, my country—all earthly things above—

Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;

The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,

That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;

The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,

The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago—

Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;

We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;

Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;

And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,

And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.

All of them are good songs/poems in my opinion.

[red oct 2]

Guns 'n Roses Civil War

Quote[/b] ]"What we've got here is failure to communicate.

Some men you just can't reach...

So, you get what we had here last week,

which is the way he wants it!

Well, he gets it!

N' I don't like it any more than you men." *

Look at your young men fighting

Look at your women crying

Look at your young men dying

The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding

Look at the fear we're feeding

Look at the lives we're leading

The way we've always done before

My hands are tied

The billions shift from side to side

And the wars go on with brainwashed pride

For the love of God and our human rights

And all these things are swept aside

By bloody hands time can't deny

And are washed away by your genocide

And history hides the lies of our civil wars

D'you wear a black armband

When they shot the man

Who said "Peace could last forever"

And in my first memories

They shot Kennedy

I went numb when I learned to see

So I never fell for Vietnam

We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all

That you can't trust freedom

When it's not in your hands

When everybody's fightin'

For their promised land

And

I don't need your civil war

It feeds the rich while it buries the poor

Your power hungry sellin' soldiers

In a human grocery store

Ain't that fresh

I don't need your civil war

Look at the shoes your filling

Look at the blood we're spilling

Look at the world we're killing

The way we've always done before

Look in the doubt we've wallowed

Look at the leaders we've followed

Look at the lies we've swallowed

And I don't want to hear no more

My hands are tied

For all I've seen has changed my mind

But still the wars go on as the years go by

With no love of God or human rights

'Cause all these dreams are swept aside

By bloody hands of the hypnotized

Who carry the cross of homicide

And history bears the scars of our civil wars

"We practice selective annihilation of mayors

And government officials

For example to create a vacuum

Then we fill that vacuum

As popular war advances

Peace is closer" **

I don't need your civil war

It feeds the rich while it buries the poor

Your power hungry sellin' soldiers

In a human grocery store

Ain't that fresh

And I don't need your civil war

I don't need your civil war

I don't need your civil war

Your power hungry sellin' soldiers

In a human grocery store

Ain't that fresh

I don't need your civil war

I don't need one more war

I don't need one more war

Whaz so civil 'bout war anyway

[Crazysheep 1]

The Soldiering Life-The Decemberists

Quote[/b] ]Ambling madly all over the town

The call to arms, you're likened to a whisper

I liken to a radio

You were a brick bag a bowery tuff, so rough

They called you from a cartoona_Å‚

Pulled out of your pantaloons

But You

My brother in arms

I'd rather I'd lose my limbs

Than let you come to harm

But You

My bombazine doll

The bullets may singe your skin

And the mortars may fall

But I

I never felt so much life

Than tonight

Huddled in the trenches

Gazing on the battle field

Our rifles blaze away

We blaze away

Corporal Bradley of regiment five

And proud array standing by the bathing

Soldiers and the stevedores

We laid on the mattress and tumbled to sleep

Our eyes align, swaddled in our civies

Cradled in our dungarees

But You

My brother in arms

I'd rather I'd lose my limbs

Than let you come to harm

But You

My bombazine doll

The bullets may singe your skin

And the mortars may fall

But I

I never felt so much life

Than tonight

Huddled in the trenches

Gazing on the battle field

Our rifles blaze away

We blaze away

We blaze away

We blaze away

[ran 0]

Vanessa Paradis - Commando

Quote[/b] ]Un commando

Ca saute aux yeux

C’est pas cadeau

C’est pas qu’a deux

Ca prend des ponts

Aux amoureux

Et ca repond

Aux vaniteux

Un commando

C’est resistant

Ca resiste au

Pire existant

Ca fait des bonds

Et des mechants

Et sur le front

C’est sur les dents

Un commando

C’est dans tes yeux

Ca met les larmes

A sang et feu

Dieu comme rimbaud

Beau comme un dieu

Et dans son ame

Ca brule un peu

Un commando

Ca prend sur soi

Et sur la peau

Ca n’decoit pas

Paris saigon

Libre cuba

Un ecusson

S’use au combat

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Commando

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Comment commanditer ?

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Commando

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Comment decommander ?

Un commando

Des commandal

Scie a metaux

Si y’a mental

Un madelon

S’en va aux balles

Ca en dit long

Sur l’animal

Un commando

Ca tombe sous l’sens

C’est juste un mot

Qui sent l’essence

Pleurer ca fait

Bomber le torse

Mais sans jamais

Mouiller l’amorce

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Commando

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Comment commanditer ?

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Commando

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Comment decommander ?

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Commando

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Comment commanditer ?

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Commando

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Comment decommander ?

Comment

Commando

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Commando

Commando ah !! ...

Commando... commando ...