What happened to the music of protest?

[RogueIce]

What's wrong with SoaD?

Everything? (Just kidding; I don't listen to lyrical music in general, so never heard 'em)

Hey, just interested; any pro-war songs out? Or is it dirty and wrong for celebrities to be pro-war?

Bruce Willis is pro-war, I believe. Never heard of anyone else though (doesn't mean they're not out there, but that no one seems to care enough to report it )...

[fgalkin]

System of a Down's song Boom! is the first counterculture anti-war song I've heard that's of any merit. You can get the music video from their site.

The video was directed by Michael Moore.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[CmdrSweevo]

What passes for Punk these days can hardly be described as anything but corporate-cock sucking pop. Good Charlote=Justin Timberlake.

Lyrically, maybe, but Good Charlotte are fantastic musically.

IMHO, of course

[Queeb Salaron]

What passes for Punk these days can hardly be described as anything but corporate-cock sucking pop. Good Charlote=Justin Timberlake.

Lyrically, maybe, but Good Charlotte are fantastic musically.

IMHO, of course

...Tell me I didn't just read what I thought I read...

::Reads it again::

Yeah... that's what I thought I read. How "fantastic" can you be when you're playing the same three chords over and over and over and over again? If you're going to advocate for Good Charlotte, I'd bet you'd advocate for Averil Lavigne, Blink 182 and New Found Glory as well? That's not punk. It's pop. It's emo. But they don't portray themselves as emo. They portray themselves as punk. I wonder what Sid Vicious would have to say about those posers. Go listen to The Clash, The Ramones, even NOFX or Anti-Flag, and THEN tell me what punk is.

[Glocksman]

Hey, just interested; any pro-war songs out? Or is it dirty and wrong for celebrities to be pro-war?

Darryl Worley's Have You Forgotten? is pro-war.
It's Country, so be warned.

Lyrics:

I hear people saying we don't need this war
I say there's some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground
We didn't get to keep 'em by backing down
Now they say we don't realize the mess we're getting in
Before you start your preaching let me ask you this my friend

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And you say we shouldn't worry 'bout bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

They took all the footage off my T.V.
Said it's too disturbing for you and me
It'll just breed anger that's what the experts say
If it was up to me I'd show it everyday
Some say this country's just out looking for a fight
Well after 9/11 man I'd have to say that's right

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And you say we shouldn't worry 'bout bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

Now I've been there with the soldiers
Who've gone away to war
And you can bet that they remember
Just what they're fightin' for

Have you forgotten all the people killed?
Some went down like heros in that Pennsylvania field
Have you forgotten about our Pentagon?
And all the loved ones that we lost and those left to carry on
Don't you tell me not to worry about bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And you say we shouldn't worry 'bout bin Laden
Have you forgotten? Have you forgotten? Have you forgotten?

[Queeb Salaron]

Darryl Worley's Have You Forgotten? is pro-war.
It's Country, so be warned.

That's all well and good... but Mr. Worley seems to have forgotten that Iraq has no proven connection to the Taliban...

[Steve]

Oh, the song is good, and it's stirring... but it also doesn't address any of the direct issues.

Of course, I'd argue that connection between Iraq and bin Laden is irrelevant, and that Iraq could be used as a point from which to deal with the real terrorist-backers in Saudi Arabia and Syria. But then I'd be advocating amoral realpolitik over feel-good "fighting for freedom" stuff.

[Darth Wong]

Oh, the song is good, and it's stirring... but it also doesn't address any of the direct issues.

Of course, I'd argue that connection between Iraq and bin Laden is irrelevant, and that Iraq could be used as a point from which to deal with the real terrorist-backers in Saudi Arabia and Syria. But then I'd be advocating amoral realpolitik over feel-good "fighting for freedom" stuff.

Marina? Is that you?

[David]

There are plenty of war songs out, however these songs no long represent the feels of the whole nation, just the opinions of singers and other celebraties, plus a decided minority of the American people.



Ah I love it when celebraties go out and protest, I think they are just now begining to realize that the people who could actually change those in powers minds ( i.e. the wealthy, well educated, and older) really don't give a flying fuck what the celebs think.

[IRG CommandoJoe]

Is the era of genuine relevant social commentary in music dead? Nothing left but poseurs who whine about the difficulties of growing up in suburbia or being kept down by The Man?

Essentially, yes. First it was the Beatles to put politics into music, Dylan shortly after, EVERYone in the 70's, Punk in the 70s and 80s, Some early-90's metal... and then it just died. Everything went to emotional stuff: a whole bunch of introspection with the grunge movement of 1993, R&B has always been laced with personal accounts of bad situations limited to daily occurences, Hip-Hop is just mindless dance music that rarely ever does anything more than tell a story, techno is a joke, numetal is a whole bunch of mindless screaming about pain and suffering on a shallow personal level, and pop... well... Pop sucks.

Which is why I like old stuff. Particularly old Jazz. Gershwin... ::Drools::

And people wonder why I ignore it all and listen to classical music and oldies...

[Ted]

Marina? Is that you?

Maybe Shep WAS right, maybe Steve and Marina are lovers.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

Is the era of genuine relevant social commentary in music dead? Nothing left but poseurs who whine about the difficulties of growing up in suburbia or being kept down by The Man?

Essentially, yes. First it was the Beatles to put politics into music, Dylan shortly after, EVERYone in the 70's, Punk in the 70s and 80s, Some early-90's metal... and then it just died. Everything went to emotional stuff: a whole bunch of introspection with the grunge movement of 1993, R&B has always been laced with personal accounts of bad situations limited to daily occurences, Hip-Hop is just mindless dance music that rarely ever does anything more than tell a story, techno is a joke, numetal is a whole bunch of mindless screaming about pain and suffering on a shallow personal level, and pop... well... Pop sucks.

Which is why I like old stuff. Particularly old Jazz. Gershwin... ::Drools::

And people wonder why I ignore it all and listen to classical music and oldies...

Yeah, with the no-talent flavor-of the week artists the record companies are mass-producing nowadays, it's no surprise they're losing money.

[CmdrSweevo]

What passes for Punk these days can hardly be described as anything but corporate-cock sucking pop. Good Charlote=Justin Timberlake.

Lyrically, maybe, but Good Charlotte are fantastic musically.

IMHO, of course

...Tell me I didn't just read what I thought I read...

::Reads it again::

Yeah... that's what I thought I read. How "fantastic" can you be when you're playing the same three chords over and over and over and over again?

LOL I love it when this arguement comes up. The number of chords, of course, defines the quality of all music I listen to Good Charlotte because of the atmosphere and depth they can put into their music through their instruments. I don't care if they chose to do that through three chords or thirty.

Each of the songs on their second album (I haven't heard the first) has a very differant sound, but you've got to get past the chord counting and actually listen to it.

If you're going to advocate for Good Charlotte, I'd bet you'd advocate for Averil Lavigne, Blink 182 and New Found Glory as well? That's not punk.

I agree. But why should that matter? Do you only listen to music within certain genres? I hope not, because you're missing out on a lot of great stuff.

I've always approached any music I listen to with an open mind, regardless of genre, because I've long ago realised that trying to classify music doesn't work - all music means something differant to each person. So when you go on to say...

It's pop. It's emo.

...it means nothing to me. I don't know what bands would be classed as Emo. I wouldn't care - some of them might be good, some of them might be crap, just like every other genre...

So, this approach has left me with a fair cross section of bands in my collection, from Ben Folds Five and Divine Comedy, through Foo Fighters, Turin Brakes, some complete unknowns, Offspring, NOFX, Jimmy Eat World... as well as various brass band CDs. Please don't assume I'm some mindless drone just because I listen to a certain band.

But they don't portray themselves as emo. They portray themselves as punk. I wonder what Sid Vicious would have to say about those posers. Go listen to The Clash, The Ramones, even NOFX or Anti-Flag, and THEN tell me what punk is.

hmmm, it seems we both disagree with the industry's definition of Punk.

[Peregrin Toker]

If you want a quite recent anti-war album, I'd suggest M-16 by Sodom, (published 2 years ago) although it's about the Vietnam War rather than the war against Iraq. However, if Sodom make another album this year, I'm sure it'll have some songs about the war in Iraq.

(For those not in the know, Sodom is a trash band from Germany whose lyrics usually are visceral descriptions of war)

[Queeb Salaron]

CmdrSweevo:
I did go on a bit of a tangent about the quality of contemporary music, but my statement about Good Charlotte still stands. They call themselves punk, and are the farthest thing from punk as is humanly possible. They've collectively taken a dive into an ocean of hypocricy from which they show no signs of return. They sing songs about the mindless complaining of rich people while at the same time setting fashion trends both in clothing and in home design in MTV's "Cribs". Do we see the irony? Punk was founded on the premise that music could be as offensive and revolutionary as it could be beautiful and complacent. And a lot of bands today that portray themselves as Punk (or some variation of Punk) keep that image alive. But it's bands like Blink-182, New Found Glory, Fenix TX, Averil Lavigne and Good Charlotte that give this legendary title a bad name. TRUE PUNK MUSIC HAS NO PLACE ON MTV. It's contradictory. I'm not saying that these bands have no place on MTV, because they are all certainly "mainstream" (which is a cuss word in my circle of friends) enough to be pop icons. But to those bands I would say, "Don't you DARE call yourselves Punk!"

As for the musical quality... You're insane to think that ANY Punk music (be it true Punk, or mainstream) has any kind of redeeming musical quality. Any idiot with a guitar can play those songs. It's not the number of the chords I have a problem with, it's the redundancy of those chords. Hell, Simon and Garfunkel played about a dozen chord-forms in their careers, or at least in their mainstream stuff, and that music will go down in history as some of the greatest ever. The point is that it takes little to no talent to be a punk musician. This is made evident by Averil Lavigne: Here is a girl who had never before sung Punk in her life. In fact, she didn't even have a band. Hell, she had never even gotten up in front of a crowd to sing before MTV said, "I like your LOOK. Wanna be a Punk Rock Princess?" And so a star was born, talentless like most of the rest, but nice to look at. And this is the way that Punk is portrayed: Three chords over and over again, lots of dark clothing and dyed hair, and a shitload of bracelets and armbands. Add in shallow lyrics and a general lack of emotion or inspiration (besides the number of zeros at the end of the record contract) and you have a musical style that is shameful and foolish.

And like Obi-Wan said, "Who is more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows?"

Dead is the age of the prodigy, when a man with an instrument was just that: A man with a tool. He was not a musician until he was well-versed in theory and could, at the drop of the hat, provide the most complex and beautiful music that would ever be known to man. Never since that age has a musician produced the fury of O Fortuna, the intensity of Flight of the Bumblebee, the passion of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the ambience of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Never on MTV will we see musicians like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong and Dave Brubeck, just to name a few. I might go so far as to say that even true Rock musicianship is dead: What happened to guitarists like Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Eric Clapton, Steve Vai, Kirk Hammet? Why are there no VJs on MTV claiming "This kid is the next (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, Randy Rhodes, etc.) These men and women were all TRUE musicians in every sense of the word. Masters of their craft, figureheads of their trade. They were educated in music, technical wizards, almost as if music were their native language. And perhaps it is. Hell, I bet if you said the words "augmented triad" to any mainstream Punk musician (and maybe some non-mainstream Punks) they would look at you funny and ask if it had to do with math. Now, tell me again that you listen to Punk for its musical quality, and that I'm missing something by lumping it into a category, and I'll show you what YOU'RE missing.

[/tirade]

[Lord Pounder]

Bono have been very quiet about the war. It's not like him to keep it shut when there's something like this going on. Last i heard Ms Dynamite and George Michael where gonna make an anti-war colabouration.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Bono have been very quiet about the war. It's not like him to keep it shut when there's something like this going on. Last i heard Ms Dynamite and George Michael where gonna make an anti-war colabouration.

Actually Bono did proform an anti war version of a song at the academy awards.

At least he's consistant and smart.

[CmdrSweevo]

CmdrSweevo:
I did go on a bit of a tangent about the quality of contemporary music, but my statement about Good Charlotte still stands. They call themselves punk, and are the farthest thing from punk as is humanly possible.

And I said, "Good Charlotte are fantastic musically." How they portray themselves doesn't bother me - I enjoy their music.

I'm sure there are people out there who follow them because they're "punk" but I've never had much respect for that sheep mentality.

As for the musical quality... You're insane to think that ANY Punk music (be it true Punk, or mainstream) has any kind of redeeming musical quality. Any idiot with a guitar can play those songs. It's not the number of the chords I have a problem with, it's the redundancy of those chords.

But your problem still seems to be with the chords. It seems a daft criteria to go dismissing songs on. The implication is that there's nothing more to music than the chords it uses - that you can tell everything about a piece from a file on OLGA. And everything else that goes into the song isn't important.

Hell, Simon and Garfunkel played about a dozen chord-forms in their careers, or at least in their mainstream stuff, and that music will go down in history as some of the greatest ever. The point is that it takes little to no talent to be a punk musician. This is made evident by Averil Lavigne: Here is a girl who had never before sung Punk in her life. In fact, she didn't even have a band. Hell, she had never even gotten up in front of a crowd to sing before MTV said, "I like your LOOK. Wanna be a Punk Rock Princess?" And so a star was born, talentless like most of the rest, but nice to look at. And this is the way that Punk is portrayed: Three chords over and over again, lots of dark clothing and dyed hair, and a shitload of bracelets and armbands.

You're just attacking the image of bands again. When you can actually hear dyed hair and dark clothing in a recorded track, I might understand the problem with this.

Add in shallow lyrics and a general lack of emotion or inspiration (besides the number of zeros at the end of the record contract) and you have a musical style that is shameful and foolish.

Heh, I've never paid much attention to lyrics when listening to bands like Good Charlotte. The voice in them is just another instrument.

And like Obi-Wan said, "Who is more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows?"

Dead is the age of the prodigy, when a man with an instrument was just that: A man with a tool. He was not a musician until he was well-versed in theory and could, at the drop of the hat, provide the most complex and beautiful music that would ever be known to man.

I hear music like that regularly, from some of the various musicians I meet and Brass Band gatherings. Just because it's not on the airwaves doesn't mean it's not there.

It doesn't make the music that is there bad, either.

Never since that age has a musician produced the fury of O Fortuna, the intensity of Flight of the Bumblebee, the passion of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the ambience of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Never on MTV will we see musicians like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong and Dave Brubeck, just to name a few. I might go so far as to say that even true Rock musicianship is dead: What happened to guitarists like Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Eric Clapton, Steve Vai, Kirk Hammet? Why are there no VJs on MTV claiming "This kid is the next (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, Randy Rhodes, etc.) These men and women were all TRUE musicians in every sense of the word. Masters of their craft, figureheads of their trade. They were educated in music, technical wizards, almost as if music were their native language. And perhaps it is. Hell, I bet if you said the words "augmented triad" to any mainstream Punk musician (and maybe some non-mainstream Punks) they would look at you funny and ask if it had to do with math. Now, tell me again that you listen to Punk for its musical quality, and that I'm missing something by lumping it into a category, and I'll show you what YOU'RE missing.

[/tirade]

I don't listen to punk. I listen to music. And the music I listen to I consider quality music - be it Sweden, The Last Polka, Norman Bearcroft's The First Noel - or Magnetic North, Counting the Days or Motivation.

[Tsyroc]

Whether it was intended as a protest or not this is my favorite "anti-war" song.

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, yeah.

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 have the power,
Hand of God has struck the hour.
Day of judgement, God is calling,
on their knees the war pigs crawling.
Begging mercies for their sins,
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings.
Oh lord, yeah!
--Black Sabbath, War Pigs

[Lord Pounder]

Whether it was intended as a protest or not this is my favorite "anti-war" song.

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, yeah.

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 have the power,
Hand of God has struck the hour.
Day of judgement, God is calling,
on their knees the war pigs crawling.
Begging mercies for their sins,
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings.
Oh lord, yeah!
--Black Sabbath, War Pigs

Ozzys Solo version was better.

[Queeb Salaron]

CmdrSweevo:
We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I just don't find Good Charlotte to be anything more than a bunch of monkies banging talentlessly on their instruments, and a producer making it sound good. But, as they say, a chacun son gout.

As for the Ozzy song, I didn't know he did a version of War Pigs solo. That's pretty cool. I've always liked his solo stuff. Crazy Train is amazing, but I always wished I could her Tony Iommi play it.

[Tsyroc]

Ozzys Solo version was better.

Which album is that one on?

Do you mean the version that Ozzy did with Black Sabbath on The Ozzman Cometh? It's cool but it's not really about war. Still cool though.

Witches gather at black masses
Bodies burning in red ashes
On the hill the church in ruin.
Is the scene of evil doings
It's a place for all black sinners
Watch them eating dead rats' inners.
I guess it's the same, whereever you may go
Oh lord yeah

Carry banners which denounce the lord
See me rocking in my grave
See them anoint my head with dead rat's blood
See them stick the stake through me
Oh

Don't hold me back cause I just gotta go
(Sat'n/They) got a hold of my soul now
Lords got my brain instinct with blood obscene
Look in my eyes I'm there enough
Yeah

On the scene a priest appears
Sinners falling at his knees
Satan sends out funeral pyre
Casts the priest into the fire
It's the place for all bad sinners.
Watch them eating dead rats' inners
I guess it's the same, whereever you may go
Oh lord yeah

[The Yosemite Bear]

I still say

War (What it is Good for)
Feeling like I'm fixing to Die

&
Crow on the Cradle

are some of the best anti war songs ever

Lyrics:
The sheep's in the meadow
The cow's in the corn
Now is the time for a child to be born
You'll laugh at the moon and you'll cry for the sun
And if it's a boy he'll carry a gun
Sang the crow on the cradle

And if it should be that this baby's a girl
Never you mind if her hair doesn't curl
With rings on her fingers DNA bells on her toes
A shadow above her wherever she goes
Sang the crow on the cradle

The crow on the cradle
The black on the white
Somebody's baby is born for a fight
The crow on the cradle
The white on the black
Somebody's baby is not coming back
Sang the crow on the cradle

Bring me my gun and I'll shoot
that bird dead
That's what your mother and
father once said
A crow on the cradle what can we do
This is the thing I must leave up to you
Sang the crow on the cradle

Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Well, come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds
The only good commie is the one who's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Huh!

Well, come on Wall Street, don't move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send 'em off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.

And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

War... (huh!) Yeah!
What is it good for?
Absolutely... (nothin'!) Uh huh uh hu-uh.

War... (huh!) Yeah!
What is it good for?
Absolutely... (nothin'!) Say it again y'all.

War... (huh!) Look out!
What is it good for?
Absolutely... (nothin'!) Listen to me.


Ahhh war...
I despise, cause it means destruction of innocent life.
War means tears to thousands of mothers' eyes,
when their sons go off to fight and lose their lives.


I said, WAR... (huh!) Good God y'all.
What is it good for?
Absolutely... (nothin'!) Say it again.

War... (huh!) Whoa whoa whoa Lord.
What is it good for?
Absolutely... (nothin'!) Listen to me.

War...
It ain't nothin' but a heart breaker.
War...
Friend only, to the undertaker.

Ahhh war...
is an enemy to all mankind.
The thought of war blows my mind.
War has caused unrest within the younger generation.
Induction, then destruction. Who wants to die?

Ahhh war... (huh!) Good God y'all.

What is it good for?
Absolutely... (nothin'!) Say it, say it, say it.
War... (huh!) Uh huh yeah, huh!
What is it good for?
Absolutely... (nothin'!) Listen to me.

War...
It ain't nothin' but a heart breaker.
War...
Its got one friend, that's the undertaker.

Ahhh war...
has shattered, many a young man's dreams.
Made him disabled, bitter and mean.
Life is but too short and precious,
it's been fighting wars each day.
War can't give life, it can only take it away.

Ahhh war... (huh!) Good God y'all.
What is it good for?
Absolutely... (nothin'!) Say it again.

War... (huh!) Whoa whoa whoa Lord.
What is it good for?
Absolutely... (nothin'!) Listen to me.

War...
It ain't nothin' but a heart breaker.
War...
Friend only, to the undertaker.

wooo

Peace, love and understanding, tell me
Is there no place for them today?
They say we must fight, to keep our freedom,
but Lord knows there's got to be a better way.

Ahhh war... (huh!) Good God y'all.
What is it good for?
You tell 'em. (nothin'!) Say it, say it, say it, say it.

War... (huh!) Good God now, huh!
What is it good for?
Stand up and shout it. (nothin'!)... [FADE OUT]

[Stormbringer]

Something entirely appropriate for the situation.


Sullivan by Caroline's Spine


it's not hard to reach back to the day
underneath that iowa sun
running to the tower of waterloo
looking for the Sullivan's train to come
and his five boys would run to the top
and salute him as he went by
first we'd wave hello
then we'd wave goodbye
goodbye

it's not hard to reach back to the days
after the attack on pearl
overnight my buddies turned into men
running out of time for games and girls
and the Sullivan boys were not overlooked
the very next day they left on a mystery train

say goodbye, Mrs. Sullivan
and don't you cry
"-We regret to inform you
the Navy has taken your sons away-"
all five... so put your blue stars in the window

it's not hard to reach back to her smile
when she'd recieve a letter
and the letters they sounded generally the same
said if they couldn't be home
at least they were together
on a mighty fighting battleship
somewhere in the South Pacific
the letters never got much more specific

say goodbye, Mrs. Sullivan
and don't you cry
"-We regret to inform you
the Navy is keeping your sons away-"
all five... so keep your blue stars in the window

it's not hard to reach back to the day
when the war finally came home
Uncle Sam'll send you a telegram
so he doesn't have to tell you over the phone
i heard she cracked up
when they found out what the war had cost
when all five of her boys were lost...

say goodbye, Mrs. Sullivan
go ahead and cry
"-We regret to inform you
that all your sons have passed away-"
all five... so change your blue star to gold

blue stars to gold


[size=0]And if anyone know where I could find a legit MP3 of it I'd be very grateful[/size]

[Queeb Salaron]

I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THAT SONG!! That was my favorite song for the LONGEST time. Caroline's Spine is a GREAT band... though they were definately one-hit wonders.