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Anti-War Music

The Activist Resource Group Anti-War Music CD is now availabe for preview and purchase at the iTunes Store.

Below you will find an index of the included songs as well as lyrics to the songs. Please let us know of any songs that should be added to this compliation.

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Music Index [ Top ]

This entire audio collection is available as a single compilation on the iTunes Store. Click here to preview or purchase the entire compilation now using iTunes. Individual songs are listed here in order and available for preview and purchase as well. Simply click the link indicated next to the song.

  1. "War" by Bruce Springsteen [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  2. "The Dogs of War" by Pink Floyd [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  3. "Till I Go Down" by Jackson Browne [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  4. "No Bomb is Smart" by Sonia Rutstein, SONiA [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  5. "It Won't Take Long" by Ferron [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  6. "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott-Heron [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  7. "I Am A Patriot" by Jackson Browne [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  8. "The Word Justice" by Jackson Browne [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  9. "For America " by Jackson Browne [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  10. "Lives in the Balance" by Jackson Browne [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  11. "Soldier of Plenty" by Jackson Browne [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  12. "What's Going On" by Cyndi Lauper [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  13. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2 [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  14. "Ride Across the River" by Dire Straits [Listen on iTunes Music Store]
  15. "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits [Listen on iTunes Music Store]

iTunes Index [ Index | Top ]

Lyrics

"War" by Bruce Springsteen [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

Spoken to crowd at live concert: "If you grew up in the 1960s, you grew up with war on TV every night - a war that your friends were involved in. I want to do this song tonight for all the young people that are out there. If you're in your teens, I remember a lot of my friends when we were 17 or 18, we didn't have much of a chance to think about how we felt about a lot of things. The next time, they're going to be looking at you, and you're going to need a lot of information to know what you're going to want to do. Because in 1985, blind faith in your leaders or in anything will get you killed. Cause what I'm talking about here is..."

[chorus]
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing

War is something that I despise
For it means the destruction of innocent lives
For it means tears in thousands of mothers' eyes
When their sons go out to fight to give their lives

[chorus]

War
It's nothing but a heartbreaker
War
Friend only to the undertaker
War is the enemy of all mankind
The thought of war just blows my mind
Handed down from generation to generation
Induction, destruction
Who wants to die

[chorus]

War has shattered many young men's dreams
Made them disabled bitter and mean
Life is too precious to be fighting wars each day
War can't give life it can only take it away

[chorus]

War
It's nothing but a heartbreaker
War
Friend only to the undertaker

Peace love and understanding
There must be some place for these things today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord there's gotta be a better way
That's better than
War...

[chorus]

"The Dogs of War" by Pink Floyd [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

Dogs of war and men of hate
With no cause, we don't discriminate
Discovery is to be disowned
Our currency is flesh and bone
Hell opened up and put on sale
Gather 'round and haggle
For hard cash, we will lie and deceive
Even our masters don't know the web we weave

One world, it's a battleground
One world, and we will smash it down
One world ... One world

Invisible transfers, long distance calls,
Hollow laughter in marble halls
Steps have been taken, a silent uproar
Has unleashed the dogs of war
You can't stop what has begun
Signed, sealed, they deliver oblivion
We all have a dark side, to say the least
And dealing in death is the nature of the beast

One world, it's a battleground
One world, and we will smash it down
One world ... One world

The dogs of war don't negotiate
The dogs of war won't capitulate,
They will take and you will give,
And you must die so that they may live
You can knock at any door,
But wherever you go, you know they've been there before
Well winners can lose and things can get strained
But whatever you change, you know the dogs remain.

One world, it's a battleground
One world, and we will smash it down
One world ... One world

"Till I Go Down" by Jackson Browne [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

Till I go down
I'm not gonna shut my eyes
I've already seen the lies
On the faces of the men of war
Leading people to the killing floor

Till I go down
Till the world stops spinning around
Till I'm six feet under the ground
Till there's no sound
Till there's no pain
I'm gonna swing this chain
Till I go down

I'm not gonna shut my mouth
I'm for the truth to come out
About the leader with the iron will
And his allegiance to the dollar bill

Till I go down
Till I go down
Till I go down
I'm not gonna shut my eyes
Till I go down

"No Bomb is Smart" by Sonia Rutstein, SONiA [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

Well this is one more voice across the great big
This land is your land
and this is two more cracks across the backs
‘cause this land was my land

and it’s my time to sing now
I’m singing real loud
‘cause I’m not gonna watch this silently in pain
and I’m not gonna let this Earth go down the drain

once you bought up all the public transit tracks
so there was no way for us to get back home
had to buy a car to get to town
made sure that the bus stations all run down

well it’s my time to sing now
I’m singing real loud
‘cause I’m not gonna watch this silently in pain
and I’m not gonna let this Earth go down the drain

first you said they miscounted the votes
your brother said “no pretzels George, so you won’t choke”
how could a coup like this happen in America
“easily” that’s what the brother said “I already told ya”

it’s not about good guy
it’s not about bad guy
a brain’s a brain don’t ask me why
but if I am me and you are we
and we’re all freedom and democracy
then it’s hypocrisy to keep pushing us apart

no bomb is smart
no bomb is smart

now I’m riding on the back of a ten ton truck through Yucca Mountain
safe and quiet as a nuclear bomb or Chernobyl fountain
happy 50th birthday B-52 bomber
CNN how can you glorify this drama

Have you noticed that American’s on fire
Fueled by the high octane Bush bang bang empire

It’s not about good guy
It’s not about bad guy
A brain’s a brain don’t ask me why
well if I am me and you are we
and we’re all freedom and democracy
then it’s hypocrisy to keep pushing us apart

No bomb is smart
no bomb is smart
No bomb is smart
no bomb is smart

"It Won't Take Long" by Ferron [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

They said some men would be warriors
and some men would be kings
And some men would be owners of land
and other man-made things
False love as the eternal flame
would move some to think in rings
And gold would be our power
and other foolish things

But you who dream of liberty
must not yourselves be fooled
Before you get to plea for freedom,
you have agreed to be ruled
If the body stays a shackle
then the mind remains a chain
That'll link you to a destiny
whereby all good souls are slain.

And it won't take long,
it won't take too long at all
It won't take long, and you may say
"What has that got to do with me?"
and I say "You mean to tell me that's all?"

Of three men in a desert wandering,
one is knowing and two are scared
They say time is in the river,
but the river is not there
Dry in spirit dry in body
two will lend themselves to death
And in grief one weeps into his hands
and drinks his bitter tears

'Cause it don't take long,
it don't take too long at all
It don't take long, and you may say,
"I don't know what you're talking about,"
and I say "You mean to tell me that's all?"

And as I stand before you now,
I am hopeful in my rage
You know love has finally called for me,
I will not wilt upon its stage
But still smaller than my nightmare
do I print upon the page
Do we have to live inside its walls
to identify the cage?

'Cause it takes so long,
why does it take so long,
But it takes so long, and you may say,
"I don't really care what you're talking about,"
and I say, "Are you trying to say you don't belong?"

I am my mother's daughter,
but I have seen myself in you
It's this blessing that I follow now,
and so I must speak true
I dreamed of thousands dying,
it was you and you and you,
And while the city sleeps so quietly
there is something we must do

And it wont' take long,
it won't take too long at all,
It won't take long, and you may say,
"I don't know if I wanna know what you're getting at,"
and it makes me wanna say, "So long."

Because grief will come in measures,
only grief alone will know
And you'll see it on your family,
on your own face it will grow
And they'll try to keep you hungry,
then they'll tell you to eat snow
You know pride can be a moving thing
if we learn the strength of "NO!"

And it won't take long,
it won't take too long at all,
It won't take long, and you may say,
"I don't think this has anything to do with me,"
"But did you ever think you could be wrong?"

At noon on one day coming,
human strength will fill the streets
Of every city on our planet,
hear the sound of angry feet
With business freezed up in the harbor,
the kings will pull upon their hair
And the banks will shudder to a halt,
and the artists will be there

'Cause it won't take long,
it won't take too long at all,
It won't take long, and you may say,
"I don't think I can be a part of that,"
and it makes me want to say,
"Don't you want to see yourself that strong?"

Division between the peoples
will disappear that honored day
And though oceans lie between us,
lifted candles light the way
Half will join their hands by moonlight,
the rest under a rising sun
As underneath the sun and moon,
a ritual'd wailing has begun.

And it won't take long,
it won't take too long at all,
It won't take long, and you may say,
"I don't know how to be a part of what you're talking about,"
and it makes me want to say, "Come on!"

And beware you sagging diplomats,
for you will not hear one gun
And though our homes be torn
and ransacked we will not be undone
For as we let ourselves be bought,
we're gonna let ourselves be free
And if you think we stand alone,
look again and you will see:

We are children in the rafters,
We are babies in the park,
We are lovers at the movies,
We are candles in the dark,
We are changes in the weather,
We are snowflakes in July,
We are women grown together,
We are men who easily cry,
We are words not quickly spoken,
We're the deeper side of try,
We are dreamers in the making,
We are not afraid of "Why?

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott-Heron [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John Mitchell,
General Abrams and Spiro Agnew
to eat hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds thinner,
because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

"I Am A Patriot" by Jackson Browne [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

And the river opens for the righteous (5 times)
Someday

I was walking with my brother
And he wondered what's on my mind
I said what I believe in my soul
Ain't what I see with my eyes
And we can't turn our backs this time

I am a patriot
And I love my county
Because my country is all I know
I want to be with my family
The people who understand me
I've got nowhere else to go

And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
Someday

And I was talking with my sister
She looked so fine
I said, Baby, what's on your mind?
She said, I want to run like the lion
Released from the cages
Released from the rages
Burning in my heart tonight

And I ain't no communist
And I ain't no capitalist
And I ain't no socialist
And I ain't no imperialist
And I ain't no democrat
And I ain't no republican
I only know one party
And it is freedom

I am, I am, I am
I am a patriot
And I love my country
Because my county is all I know

And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
Someday

And the river opens for the righteous...

"The Word Justice" by Jackson Browne [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

A man stands up before God and country
Raises his right hand and takes an oath
Swears he has acted in the line of duty
And he more than anyone wants to tell the truth
But there is a need to keep some things a secret
Some weapons shipments--some private wars
In the future democracy will be defended
Behind closed doors

Now the men of Congress who convene to determine
If covert war is a business or a crime
Are the same men who routinely give their permission
For the shedding of blood in security's name

And there is a need to keep some things a secret
The names of some countries--the terms of some deals
And above all the sound of the screams of the innocent
Beneath our wheels

Does the word justice mean anything to you?
Are the features of a lie beginning to come through?

In the streets of America the children are buried
Caught in an avalanche of weapons and drugs
They live and they die in the bowels of a business
That's disguised as a war between The Crips and The Bloods

And there is a need to keep some things a secret
The C.I.A. deals protecting the source
And the government policies directly connecting the drugs and our wars
Does the word justice mean anything to you?

As the battlefield comes home and democracy falls through
I am waiting for the time to come
When the word will be real for everyone
And not just a word but a thing that can be done
But justice must be won

"For America " by Jackson Browne [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

As if I really didn't understand
That I was just another part of their plan
I went off looking for the promise
Believing in the Motherland
And from the comfort of a dreamer's bed
And the safety of my own head
I went on speaking of the future
While other people fought and bled
The kid I was when I first left home
Was looking for his freedom and a life of his own
But the freedom that he found wasn't quite as sweet
When the truth was known
I have prayed for America
I was made for America
It's in my blood and in my bones
By the dawn's early light
By all I know is right
We're going to reap what we have sown

As if freedom was a question of might
As if loyalty was black and white
You hear people say it all the time-
My country wrong or right
I want to know what that's got to do
With what it takes to find out what's true
With everyone from the President on down
Trying to keep it from you

The thing I wonder about the Dads and Moms
Who send their sons to the Vietnams
Will they really think their way of life
Has been protected as the next war comes?
I have prayed for America
I was made for America
Her shining dream plays in my mind
By the rockets red glare
A generation's blank stare
We better wake her up this time

The kid I was when I first left home
Was looking for his freedom and a life of his own
But the freedom that he found wasn't quite a sweet
When the truth was known
I have prayed for America
I was made for America
I can't let go till she comes around
Until the land of the free
Is awake and can see
And until her conscience has been found

"Lives in the Balance" by Jackson Browne [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

I've been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my ear
You might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you've seen it before
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war
And there's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who send the guns
To the wars that are fought in places
Where their business interest runs

On the radio talk shows and the T.V.
You hear one thing again and again
How the U.S.A. stands for freedom
And we come to the aid of a friend
But who are the ones that we call our friends--
These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can't take any more
And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone
There are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire

There's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who fan the flames
Of the wars that are fought in places
Where we can't even say the names

They sell us the President the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us every thing from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars
I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to die
And there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire

"Soldier of Plenty" by Jackson Browne [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

God is great, God is good
He guards your neighborhood
Though it's generally understood
Not quite the way you would
You try to take the slack
Stay awake and watch his back
But something happens every now and then
And someone breaks into the promised land

Ah, boy
This world is not your toy
This world is long on hunger
This world is short on joy

A E I O
You speak as if you know
What's good for everyone
What's good in what you've done?
What's good about a world in which
War rages at a fever pitch
And people die for the little things
A little corn, a little beans

Ah, boy
This world is not your toy
This world is long on hunger
This world is short on joy
How much longer
You gonna keep the world hungry, boy?

You measure peace with guns
Progress in mega-tons
Who's left when the war is won?
Soldier of misfortune
Soldier of an angry call
Soldier on foreign soil
I'm not here to fight your war
I know what you're fighting for

Ah, boy
This world is not your toy
This world is long on hunger
This world is short on joy
How much longer
You gonna keep the world hungry, boy?

"What's Going On" by Cyndi Lauper [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
and brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring back love here today

Father, father
There's no need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring back lovin' here today

Aw, picket lines, and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Just talk to me so you can see
Oh what's going on,
What's going on...

Mother, mother
Every body thinks we're wrong
Who are they to judge us
Just because our hair is long
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding today

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2 [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

I can't believe the news today
Oh, I can't close my eyes
And make it go away
How long...
How long must we sing this song?
How long? How long...
'cause tonight...we can be as one
Tonight...

Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters
Torn apart

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

How long...
How long must we sing this song?
How long? How long...
'cause tonight...we can be as one
Tonight...tonight...

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
(Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
Oh, wipe your blood shot eyes
(Sunday, Bloody Sunday)

Sunday, Bloody Sunday (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
Sunday, Bloody Sunday (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)

And it's true we are immune
When fact is fiction and TV reality
And today the millions cry
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die

(Sunday, Bloody Sunday)

The real battle just begun
To claim the victory Jesus won
On...

Sunday Bloody Sunday
Sunday Bloody Sunday...

"Ride Across the River" by Dire Straits [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

I'm a soldier of freedom in the army of man
We are the chosen, we're the partisan
The cause it is noble and the cause it is just
We are ready to pay with our lives if we must

Gonna ride across the river deep and wide
Ride across the river to the other side

I'm a soldier of fortune, I'm a dog of war
And we don't give a damn who the killing is for
It's the same old story with a different name
Death or glory, it's the killing game

Gonna ride across the river deep and wide
Ride across the river to the other side

Nothing gonna stop them as the day follows the night
Right becomes wrong, the left becomes the right
And they sing as they march with their flags unfurled
Today in the mountains, tomorrow the world

Gonna ride across the river deep and wide
Ride across the river to the other side

"Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits [Listen on iTunes Music Store] [ Index | Top ]

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've watched all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

There's so many different worlds
So many differents suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

Now the sun's gone to hell
And the moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

Peace Through Music

 

Activist Resource Group
c/o Resources for Life

Postal: P.O. Box 2717, Iowa City, IA 52244-2717 USA
E-Mail: activist @ resourcesforlife.com (without spaces)
Internet: www.resourcesforlife.com/groups/activist
Phone: (319) 621-4911
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