Does anyone remember the great anti-war song:

"Waist Deep in the Big Muddy?"

It seem so appropriate to what is happening in Iraq

It was back in nineteen forty-two,
I was a member of a good platoon.
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna,
One night by the light of the moon.
The captain told us to ford a river,
That's how it all begun.
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure,
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place.
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim."
"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"
The Captain said to him.
"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by.
The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!
I'm in charge from now on."
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone.

We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand.
I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper
Than the place he'd once before been.
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone.
We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on.

Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health.
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.

Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on!

Words and music by Pete Seeger (1967)
TRO (c) 1967 Melody Trails, Inc. New York, NY

"Masters of War," "Blowing in the Wind," "Fixin' to Die Rag." "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and "What Have They Done to the Rain?"

May be just a lyric...Country Joe and the Fish?

which began every performance of this song:

"Gimme an F...."

"Whoopee! We're all gonna die!" is the title, more or less.

"Fixin' To Die Rag"

Uncle Sam needs your help again
Got himself in a terrible jam
way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your book and pick up a gun
Gonna have a whole lot of fun

Cause it's 1-2-3 what are we fightin' for
I don't give a damn next stop is Vietnam
5-6-7 open up the pearly gates
ain't no time to wonder why
whippeee we're all gonna die


There's more a really 60s song.

Halloween party this year! He's a nice guy.

... not that Clear Channel would allow it on their stations.

They keep reviving "Feed the World" world, why not this one?

Everytime I hear the verse "It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging" I think of Rumsfeld and his declaration that it'll be a "long hard slog".

AAR and others could play them though. I can't get AAR here so don't know if they play any music. I know mainstream stations are too intimidated to play anything like this.

"Rooster" by Alice in Chains
"Goodnight Saigon" by Billy Joel

Neither tune could be said to glorify war much...

Every time I hear some empty-headed Republican campaign trying to play that without permission at a rally, I have to chuckle to myself: Don't they know the words, or just the refrain?

Let's see, "Draft Dodger Rag", "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore", "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land", and a host of others by the great Phil Ochs.

Drunkin Lullabies - Flogging Molly, We Got the Power - Dropkick Murphys, The Unseen-Scream Out, Gas Chamber-Foo Fighters

working with a group that was trying to raise funds to build a replica of a 19th-century Hudson River sloop . . . the boat was under construction up in Maine, and Pete (who was the moving force behind the project) was doing a series of concerts in the Hudson Valley to help pay for the construction . . . a few friends and I had formed a local chapter of the Hudson River Sloop Restoration, and we went about trying to set up an African-American folk concert with Pete and Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji at a local high school . . .

well, the school board met and refused permission for the concert, on the grounds that Pete was "a known communist" . . . the entire county erupted in controversy, and we were front page news for the next two weeks . . . we dominated every "Letters to the Editor" column as well, and people argued the pros and cons of allowing Pete to sing . . . ultimately another school district offered their high school auditorium, and we packed the place and raised a lot of money (in those days) for the project . . . one of the songs Pete sang that night was "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," the song that had gotten him banned from the Smothers Brothers tv show earlier . . . the audience went nuts, standing ovation and sustained applause . . . it was a great night . . .

btw, the Hudson River sloop CLEARWATER was launched on May 17 of that year, and she's still sailing the waters of the Hudson to this day . . . you can learn all about her here . . . http://www.clearwater.org/

and let Seeger do the song on the Smothers Brothers AFTER Walter Cronkite had come out and said Vietnam was hopeless.

I saw a rerun of that show on one of the cable channels a few years ago and it stilled wowed me.

no need to elaborate.


:evilfrown:

I just think that the way Iraq is turning into a quagmire, this song seems so appropriate.

"War Song"

In the morning when you wake up
You've got planes flying in the sky
Flying bombs made to break up
All the lies in your eyes

There's a man says
he can put an end to war

They shot George Wallace down
He'll never walk around
Our mines are sleeping in the sea
Blow those bridges down
And burn that jungle down
And kill those Vietnamese

There's a man says
he can put an end to war

In the morning when you wake up
You've got planes flying in the sky
Flying bombs made to break up
All the lies in your eyes

There's a man says
he can put an end to war

The grandfathers of "Satan rock" wrote one of the best anti war songs ever....

Generals gathered in their masses
just like witches at black masses
evil minds that plot destruction
sorcerers of death's construction
in the fields the bodies burning as the war machine keeps turning
death and hatred to mankind
poisoning their brainwashed minds... Oh lord yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
they only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait 'till their judgement day comes, yeah!

Now in darkness, world stops turning
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more war pigs of the power
Hand of god has struck the hour
Day of judgement, god is calling on their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings
Oh Lord yeah!

Warner Bros changed the name of their group to Black Sabbath. I remember many good anti war songs I always thought of Who'll stop the rain as an anti Vietnam war song, To really update though to the root causes of terrorism I just love If I Had a Rocket Launcher Bruce Coburn

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 son of a bitch would die