Go ahead and hate your neighbor....

heard this song recently on local radio - pretty damned appropriate, yes?

Listen children to a story that was written long ago
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain and the valley folk below
On the mountain was a treasure buried deep beneath a stone
And the valley people swore they'd have it for their very own.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven, you can justify it in the end
There won't be any trumpets blowin' come the judgement day
On the bloody morning after, one tin soldier rides away.

So the people of the valley sent a message up the hill
Asking for the buried treasure, tons of gold for which they'd kill
Came an answer from the kingdom "With our brothers we will share,
All the secrets of our mountain, all the riches buried there."

Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven, you can justify it in the end
There won't be any trumpets blowin' come the judgement day
On the bloody morning after, one tin soldier rides away.

Now the valley cried with anger, mount your horses, draw your sword
And they killed the mountain people so they won their just reward
Now they stood beside the treasure on the mountain, dark and red
Turned the stone and looked beneath it "Peace on earth" was all it said.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven, you can justify it in the end
There won't be any trumpets blowin' come the judgement day
On the bloody morning after, one tin soldier rides away.

Originally sung by a group called Coven.

Coven (I think their full name was 'The Coven') covered it (in 1971?) for "Billy Jack." Theirs was the bigger hit. I believe that it charted high again some time late in the '70s. It's a great song.

At first, it didn't seem too appropriate for 10 year olds in the context of "hope I see you next year!", but they seemed to respond well to it and all us counselor types got a lot out of it as well.

Peace on Earth was all it said!

That twist blew the mind of many a 10 year old.

...having seen Billy Jack so many times...my sister could play it on the piano...I'd turn the page and sing along...circa 1971 when I was 4...whoa the memories :D

I dusted it off in January and played it quite a bit the first few months of this year. It seemed appropriate.

I also watched Billy Jack for the first time since the 70s. I don't care; I know it's cheesy, but I still loved it.

... just driving when Billy Jack came out. I saw it with a friend at a drive in, and it was a very powerful movie for me. Of course, I'm sure if I saw it now, I'd think it amateurish and lacking in subletly, but so what? I was a lot more receptive when I was a teenager :)

Search it out. Fantastic!

at outdoor ed in junior high!

Doesn't it look a lot like the symbol of Saudi Arabia

Its also where I'm from and where I am.

Here's a Saudi flag:

http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:_zUj3UkAJfgC:

although you might have been thinking about this, which I also found at Google - identified as the emblem of Saudi Arabia:

http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:EcSCZku0ZcsC:

Guess palm trees are admired the world over...

nt

:shrug:

The fact that SC is home to Bob Jones University and that Saudis practice a very fundamentalist version of Islam.

I don't see that irony.

Bob Jones University does not represent SC any more than bush represents America any more than an American flag on an suv represents patriotism.

Equating MY SC flag with Bob Jones would be the same as me equating your Florida state symbol with jeb bush.

Sorry, I don't see it.

It has been with me for many years. I didn't know it was from Billy Jack. I guess I have to rent it now.