songs about war?

[king_arthur]

Hey -

I'm going to be taking a class called "Art and War" in the fall, so I've been poking around the songfight archive looking for songs on the subject of war, in particular, songs on the subject of the U.S. involvement in Iraq. I found a few through the lyric archive -

Caravan Ray - Massive Intelligence Failure
Jack Shite - Mission Accomplished
Noah McLaughlin - Funeral Director
Nutwalls - Crossroads
Pigpen - I Am Tempted
Posyden - We All Need Love
King Arthur - Troublemaker and Hero Points

... and I'm sure there must be lots more. Pointers, suggestions anybody? I may be able to do hxaros of some of these and get credit for a class semester project "Contemporary Music Responds to the War In Iraq."

Thanks,
Charles

[Eric Y.]

don't have time to research this thoroughly today, but i know there were several "direct to helmet" songs about war (possibly specifically THE war). mine wasn't, but that's about all i remember at the moment.

[stueym]

#and it's one, two, three what are we fighting for#

If you are interested in contemporary songs other than SF entries, can I suggest a couple of tracks off Josh Woodwards new CD "Only Whispering" There are a couple of tracks on there that might fit the bill.

"Postcard from Hell" is the more obvious track as a first person commentary on war.

For fun and giggles and political commentary also try "To Lose the War", especially verse three which I think a number of people here might enjoy.

You can find them and his other new tracks here

[j$]

No thanks


My 'Direct To Helmet' is an anti-war song.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Rabid Garfunkel "Funeral Director"

The speech remixing was done by Dr. Yo (http://www.dr-yo.com) and used with permission of course.

[obscurity]

Not a songfight song, but Superpower (Time Will Come) was written during the run up to the invasion of Iraq, specifically about the hubris of the American foreign policy on the issue.

Given how things eventually turned out, I'm particularly proud of the "make sure you got some evidence before kicking down the door" line :)

Also, I think Bloodberries & Cream's Step Up might have something to do with the subject, but you'd have the check with Hoblit to be sure, he did the lyrics to that one :)

[Caravan Ray]

Caravan Ray's "Janjaweed" enters that territory as well - though not Iraq specific

[jute gyte]

My "Can't Take Our Love Away" is about war, although that might be pretty obscured.

[Eric Y.]

oh and i just remembered: roymond had a pretty awesome tune on somesongs, "just blue":
http://www.somesongs.com/song_info.php?select=2952

and while we're on the subject of roymond, these might fit the bill too?
zombie son : http://www.somesongs.com/song_info.php?select=2338
feathers : http://www.somesongs.com/song_info.php?select=2006

[roymond]

oh and i just remembered: roymond had a pretty awesome tune on somesongs, "just blue":
http://www.somesongs.com/song_info.php?select=2952

and while we're on the subject of roymond, these might fit the bill too?
zombie son : http://www.somesongs.com/song_info.php?select=2338
feathers : http://www.somesongs.com/song_info.php?select=2006

Hey hey, thanks for the plug, Voices. However, Zombie Son us just about the guy responsible for starting the war, not the war itself. And Feathers is really about making birds extinct, though I did mean it to suggest more apocalyptic implications.

Just Blue is about the guy who started the war in Iraq (as opposed to simply G.W.), false patriotism and the wave of support he rode to war on. So it's directly inspired by the war, yet not directly about the war.

But, Hey Ruth is about an agent of the Iraq invasion who questions her mission, her sources, and her own values. Though it is somewhat oblique lyrically.

Die For Me is about the sacrifices being made in the name of Operation Enduring Freedom. This is the most overt Iraq war song of mine.

Also, my friend David Klein recorded Tis The Season, which is about George Bush senior's war on Iraq.

[king_arthur]

Thank you to everyone who's posted suggestions - keep 'em coming. Especially since the lyric archive only goes back to late '04, this is all really helpful.

The songs don't have to be songfight songs, but, obviously, this could turn into a very long list otherwise... so I'm kinda focusing on stuff by songfighters for now.

Charles (KA)

[jack]

my thunderstorm is about the war in iraq. but like you mentioned, so is "mission accomplished" and you've already got that covered nicely.

[Mostess]

HM's Grandfather Sword

[Spud]

Octothorpe's <a href="http://www.songfight.org/music/crinkle_ ... 3">Crinkle Binkle</a>, <a href="http://www.songfight.org/music/mission_ ... 3">Mission Accomplished</a>, and to some extent <a href="http://www.songfight.org/music/back_to_ ... .mp3">Back To The Airplanes</a>.

[jimtyrrell]

How Do You Like The Colors?

[HeuristicsInc]

Well, I haven't written anything about the Iraq war, but my "Rattle" is about the Revolutionary War. Okay, so that's probably not useful to you. I've been wanting to write a song about military death and widows and families but it's so hard not to make it sound stupid.
-bill

[fluffy]

Sockpuppet's "Bad Cat" is about an advisor to the president. Who is also a cat.

Max The Cat's "Bad Cat" has some direct references to GWB and the war.

[Ross]

My "Come a Hellin" fits this category, I think. Also, it's not a songfight song, but I have a song called "protest song" that I did at Songfight live in LA which was inspired by the Iraq war. you can hear it here http://moxieprophets.com/songfight/

Ross

[WeaselSlayer]

"Butterfly Massacre" by Luke Henley's Heartland Choir is written as a Civil War ballad, but was inspired by both Appalachian folk and the various wars we've gotten ourselves into.

[Hoblit]

KA

While the song isn't exactly about war..it's sorta on topic and one of the best songfight songs ..like ever.

http://www.songfight.org/music/friendly ... rty_ff.mp3

[mico saudad]

40 second songs version of Moscow Idaho sticks in my head:

-in the style of a 60's protest song comes a postapocalyptic glimpse into an inevitable american civil war that apparently began in twenty-o-five.

http://www.songfight.org/music/moscow_i ... moscow.mp3

* edit: skip the first 25 seconds...

[king_arthur]

Thanks for the added suggestions - I have been collecting and listening and have been really impressed at the variety and quality of what I'm finding. Hostess Mostess "One Less" blew me away, and I even found a Josh Woodward song I liked (To Lose the War). Caravan Ray's "Massive Intelligence Failure" uses war imagery to tell a different story, which I think will also be fair game for my class on "Art and War." The instructor in that class likes to have students "bring things in" to show / play for the class, and there are definitely some songfight songs that need to be heard!

I will post a list of everything I've found at some point... but I just wanted to say that, for a collection of songs that was put together just around subject matter, I am really impressed with what's being done here at songfight!

Charles (KA)