War! What is it good for?
Acoustic, singer/songwriter, rock and roll, pop.
Story behind the song
Another great lyric from Jonie.
I never get tired of saying that.
This is that rare lyric that reads as well as it sings.
Lyrics
Fresh from their musters and straight into war
Battalions of soldiers marched onto the shore.
Some there for love of their God and their country
Others were fighting for more
In a war between civilized men.
Praying for silence that follows the storm
They called out to mothers and wives safe at home.
Barraged and beleaguered, they fell like a forest
Then bled side by side, all alone.
And they died there like civilized men.
I look to the heavens and wonder at us
How angry we all seem to be.
While inside a doorway, a victim of war
Longs for a moment of peace.
The winners and losers, the treaties and deals
The wounds that will fester and never quite heal
The soldiers amassed at the edge of a nightmare
Eating their last blessed meal
In the strongholds of civilized men.
I look to the heavens and wonder at us
How angry we all seem to be.
While inside a doorway, a victim of war
Longs for a moment of peace.
There are no martyrs who die to defend
Just fathers and brothers, our children, our friends.
All that remains of the valor and vengeance
Are the tears we all cry in the end.
And we call ourselves civilized men.