Steve Earle has a song entitled Rich Man's War. This isn't it. Steve's song a a wonderful ballad. This is a protest song intended for people to get excited about. It worked. I also hoped people would sing it so I wrote it to be a folk song. That's a song the folk can sing and play. Well, you decide if its that.
The truth is that this song started out as a poem. It was been published as a part of the Poets Against the War anthology and subsequently by the Indie Journal, the Web Poety Corner, and others.
The editor of the Indie Journal called me a communist but published the poem and a related article anyway. We subsequently became good friends and I have contributed much poetry and many articles to their effort.
Lyrics
Chorus
[G] No, I ain't gonna [G7] fight in no [C] rich man's [G] war.
Like they did back in Viet [D] Nam.
[G] No, I ain't gonna [G7] march off to [C] kill another [G] soul
off in some [D] foreign [G] land.
Verse #1
When I was a child I was taught to respect
the entire family of man.
So I can't take up arms against anyone
just to fill the pockets of some rich man.
Verse #2
When I was a young man I signed up for the draft
'cause it was the law of the land.
The draft board called me a conscientious objector
when I said I wouldn't kill my fellow man.
Verse #3
Now George W. Bush is calling you young men
to come and fight his dirty little war.
Take time to think before you lay your life on the line
just what you'll be fighting for.
Copyright 2002 by Dr. Mark Winegar
