Through the air the song is winging
Down the years hope keeps springing
No more tears! We're still singing. . .
- Carry it on Gil Turner
Now is the time for your loving,dear
Now the time for your company
Now when the light of reason fails
And fires burn on the sea . . .
- Children of Darkness Richard Farina
. . . So I wish you well Sarge, give 'em hell
Yeah, kill a thousand or so
And if you ever get a war without blood and gore
Well, I'll be the first to go!
- Draft Dodger Rag Phil Ochs
. . . And I stole California from the Mexican land
I fought in the bloody Civil War
I even killed my brothers & so many others
But I ain't marchin' any more. . .
- I Ain't Marchin' Any More Phil Ochs
I'm only seven altho' I died
In Hiroshima long ago
I'm seven now now as I was then;
When children die, they do not grow. . ./
All that I ask is that for peace
You fight today, you fight today
So that the children in this world
May live and grow and laugh and play!
- I Come and Stand Nazim Hikmet
I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier
I brought him up to be my pride and joy
Who dares to place a musket on his shoulder
To shoot some other mother's darling boy?
- I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier Alfred Bryan
Why do your war boats ride on my waters?
Why do your death bombs fall from my skies?
Tell me, why do you burn my farm & my town down?
I've got to know, friend, I've got to know.
- I've Got to Know Woody Guthrie
They're rolling out the guns again (3X)
But they'll never take our sons again
No, they'll never take our sons again
Yes, Johnny, I'm swearing to you
- Johnny, I Hardly Knew You traditional Irish
Last night I had the strangest dream I'd ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed to put an end to war
- Last Night I had the Strangest Dream Ed McCurdy
Let there be peace on earth & let it begin with me
Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be
- Let There Be Peace on Earth Sy Miller / Jill Jackspn
All foreign wars I do proclaim
Between Don John and the King of Spain
And by Herrin's! I'll make them rue the time
That they swept the legs from a child of mine.
- Mrs. McGrath traditional Irish
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause?
Did your really believe that this war would end wars?
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
- No Man's Land Eric Bogle
Feel the cool breeze blowing through the smoke and the heat
Hear the gentle voices and the marching feet
Singing back the fire, draw the missiles down
And we'll call this earth our home.
- Peace Is Fred Small
Gonna lay down my sword and shield down by the riverside
Down by the riverside, down by the riverside
Gonna lay down my sword and shield down by the riverside
And study war no more
- Study War No More Black Spiritual, anon.
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These are the songs I was raised on. The first phrase in the title, "Did you hear the song?" is from a dream that I shared as a poem in a recent post "The elephant in the tree". The second phrase in the title, "Singing back the fire" comes from Fred Small's song, "Peace is". I tried to pick lyrics that are just as much about peace as war. It does perplex me no end that it would seem that the the seed of peace is in war and that the opposite is true, that the seed of war is in peace. That is reflected in the traditional Irish lyrics:
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause?
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
For Willie McBride it all happened again
And again and again and again and again
What comes out in some of these songs is, that is the mothers who suffer the most on this wheel of ill-fortune that brings us back to war, again and again and again and again. But there is also plenty of hope in these songs, and not the fluffy kind. Women carry that spirit of lasting peace in their heart of hearts, but for men I think it's going to take assimilating the warrior spirit and harnessing it to serve the maintenance of peace. This spirit is captured in Phil Och's line:
I ain't marchin' any more. . .
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(Article changed on May 15, 2024 at 9:17 AM EDT)