Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans At the end of the early British war The young land started growing The young blood started flowing But I ain't marchin' anymore
For I've killed my share of Indians In a thousand different fights I was there at the Little Big Horn I heard many men lying I saw many more dying But I ain't marchin' anymore
chorus) It's always the old to lead us to the war It's always the young to fall Now look at all we've won with the saber and the gun Tell me is it worth it all
For I stole California from the Mexican land Fought in the bloody Civil War Yes I even killed my brothers And so many others But I ain't marchin' anymore
For I marched to the battles of the German trench In a war that was bound to end all wars Oh I must have killed a million men And now they want me back again But I ain't marchin' anymore
(chorus)
For I flew the final mission in the Japanese sky Set off the mighty mushroom roar When I saw the cities burning I knew that I was learning That I ain't marchin' anymore
Now the labor leader's screamin' when they close the missile plants, United Fruit screams at the Cuban shore, Call it "Peace" or call it "Treason," Call it "Love" or call it "Reason," But I ain't marchin' any more, No I ain't marchin' any more
One More Parade Phil Ochs Written by Phil Ochs and Bob Gibson
Hup, two, three, four, marchin' down the street Rollin' of the drums and the trampin' of the feet General salutes and the mothers wave and weep Here comes the big parade Don't be afraid, price is paid One more parade
Sailing over to Vietnam, Southeast Asian Birmingham. Well training is the word we use, Nice word to have in case we lose. Training a million Vietnamese To fight for the wrong government and the American Way.
Well they put me in a barracks house Just across the way from Laos. They said you're pretty safe when the troops deploy But don't turn your back on your house boy When they ring the gong, watch out for the Viet-Cong.
Well the sergeant said it's time to train So I climbed aboard my helicopter plane. We flew above the battle ground A sniper tried to shoot us down. He must have forgotten, we're only trainees. Them Commies never fight fair.
Friends the very next day we trained some more We burned some villages down to the floor. Yes we burned out the jungles far and wide, Made sure those red apes had no place left to hide. Threw all the people in relocation camps, Under lock and key, made damn sure they're free.
Well I walked through the jungle and around the bend Who should I meet but President Diem. Said you're fighting to keep Vietnam free For good old de-em-moc-ra-cy (Diem-ocracy). That means rule by one family And 15,000 American troops, give or take a few Thousand. American. Troops.
He said: "I was a fine old Christian man Ruling this backward Buddhist land. Well it ain't much but what the heck It sure beats hell out of Chiang Kai-shek I'm the power elite. Me and the 7th fleet."
He said: "meet my sister, Madam Nhu The sweetheart of Dien Bien Phu" He said: "Meet my brothers, meet my aunts With the government that doesn't take a chance. Families that slay together, stay together."
Said: "If you want to stay you'll have to pay Over a million dollars a day. But it's worth it all, don't you see? If you loose the country you'll still have me. Me and Syngman Rhee, Chiang Kai-shek, Madam Nhu. Like I said on _Meet the Press_ 'I regret that I have but one country to give for my life.'"
Well now old Dien is gone and dead All the new leaders are anti-Red. Yes they're pro-American, freedom sensations Against Red China, the United Nations. Now all the news commentators and the CIA are saying, "Thank God for coincidence."
On the streets of New York city when the hour was getting late There were young men armed with knives and guns, young men armed with hate And Lou Marsh stepped between them and died there in his tracks For one man is no army when the city turns its back
Now the streets are empty, now the streets are dark So keep an eye on shadows and never pass the park For the city is a jungle when the law is out of sight And death lurks in El Barrio with the orphans of the night
He left behind a chamber of a church he served so long For he learned the prayers of distant men will never right the wrongs His church became an alley and his pulpit was the street He made his congregation from the boys he used to meet
There were two gangs approaching in spanish Harlem town The smell of blood was in the air, the challenge was laid down He felt their blinding hatred, and he tried to save their lives And the answer that they gave him was their fists and feet and knives
Will Lou Marsh lie forgotten in his cold and silent grave? Will his memory still linger on, in those he tried to save? All of us who knew him will now and then recall And shed a tear on poverty, tombstone of us all
When the wind from the island is rollin' through the trees
When a kiss from a prison cell is carried in the breeze
That's when I wonder how sad a man can be.
Oh, when will Celia come to me?
I still remember the mountains of the war Sierra Madre and the Philipino shore When will I lie beside my Celia 'neath the trees? Oh, when will Celia come to me?
So many years were stolen, so many years are gone And the vision of my Celia make dreams to dream upon Each hour is a day filled with memories. Oh, when will Celia come to me?
I wake each morning and I watch the sun arise Wonder if my Celia sleeps, wonder if she cries If hate must be my prison lock, love must be the key Oh, when will Celia come to me?
The guns have stopped their firing, you may wander through the hills They kept my Celia through the war, they keep her from me still. She waits upon island now, a prisoner of the sea. Oh, when will Celia come to me?
When the wind from the island is rolling through the trees When a kiss from a prison cell is carried in the breeze That's when I wonder how sad a man can be. Oh, when will Celia come to me? Oh, when will Celia come to me?
Hear the sledges with the bells Silver bells What a world of merriment Their melody foretells
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle In the icy air of night All the heavens seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight
Keeping time, time, time With a sort of Runic rhyme From the tintinnabulation That so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells Hear the mellow wedding bells Golden bells
What a world of happiness Their harmony foretells Through the balmy air of night How they ring out their delight Through the dances and the yells And the rapture that impels
How it swells How it dwells On the future How it tells
From the swinging and the ringing Of the molten golden bells Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells Of the rhyming and the chiming of the bells
Hear the loud alarm bells Brazen bells What a tale of terror now Their turbulency tells
Much too horrified to speak Oh, they can only shriek For all the ears to know How the danger ebbs and flows
Leaping higher, higher, higher With a desperate desire In a clamorous appealing To the mercy of the fire
With the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells With the clamor and the clanging of the bells Hear the tolling of the bells Iron bells
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels For all the sound that floats From the rust within our throats And the people sit and groan In their muffled monotone
And the tolling, tolling, tolling Feels a glory in the rolling From the throbbing and the sobbing Of the melancholy bells
Oh, the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells Oh, the moaning and the groaning of the bells
Oh, I laid down your railroads, every mile of track With the muscles on my arm and the sweat upon my back And now the trains are rolling, they roll to every shore You tell me that my job is through, there ain't no work no more
Though I laid down your highways all across the land With the ringing of the steel and the power of my hands And now the roads are there like ribbons in the sky You tell me that my job is through but still I wonder why
For the wages were low and the hours were long And the labor was all I could bear Now you've got new machines for to take my place And you tell me it's not mine to share
Though I laid down your factories and laid down your fields With my feet on the ground and my back to your wheels And now the smoke is rising, the steel is all a-glow I'm walking down a jobless road and where am I to go
For the wages were low and the hours were long And the labor was all I could bear Now you've got new machines for to take my place And you tell me it's not mine to share
Though I laid down your factories and laid down your fields With my feet on the ground and my back to your wheels And now the smoke is rising, the steel is all a-glow I'm walking down a jobless road and where am I to go
Well, it's of a bold reporter whose story I will tell He went down to the Cuban land, the nearest place to hell He'd been there many times before, but now the law does say The only way to Cuba is with the CIA William Worthy isn't worthy to enter our door Went down to Cuba, he's not American anymore But somehow it is strange to hear the State Department say You are living in the free world, in the free world you must stay Five thousand dollars or a five year sentence may well be For a man who had the nerve to think that travelin' is free Oh why'd he waste his time to see a dictator's reign When he could have seen democracy by travelin' on to Spain? William Worthy isn't worthy to enter our door Went down to Cuba, he's not American anymore But somehow it is strange to hear the State Department say You are living in the free world, in the free world you must stay So, come all you good travelers and fellow-travelers, too Yes, and travel all around the world, see every country through I'd surely like to come along and see what may be new But my passport's disappearing as I sing these words to you Well, there really is no need to travel to these evil lands Yes, and though the list grows larger you must try to understand Try hard not to be surprised if someday you should hear The whole world is off limits, visit Disneyland this year William Worthy isn't worthy to enter our door Went down to Cuba, he's not American anymore But somehow it is strange to hear the State Department say You are living in the free world, in the free world you must stay
In many a time, in many a land, With many a gun in many a hand, They came by the night, they came by the day, Came with their guns to take us away
With a knock on the door, knock on the door. Here they come to take one more, One more.
Back in the days of the Roman Empire, They died by the cross and they died by the fire. In the stone coliseum, the crowd gave a roar, And it all began with that knock on the door
Just a knock on the door, knock on the door. Here they come to take one more, One more.
The years have all passed, we've reached modern times, The Nazis have come with their Nazi war crimes. Yes the power was there, the power was found, Six million people have heard that same sound
That old knock on the door, knock on the door. Here they come to take one more, One more.
Now there's many new words and many new names, The banners have changed but the knock is the same. On the Soviet shores with right on their side, I wonder who knows how many have died
With their knock on the door, knock on the door. Here they come to take one more, One more.
Look over the oceans, look over the lands, Look over the leaders with the blood on their hands. And open your eyes and see what they do, When they knock over their friend they're knocking for you
With their knock on the door, knock on the door. Here they come to take one more, With their knock on the door, knock on the door. Here they come to take one more, One more.
It was just a little while ago, I glued my ears to the radio The announcer was sayin' we'd better beware A crisis was hanging, a wave up in the air Crawlin' on the ground, swimmin' in the sea, headin' for me
Well, I didn't know if I was for or agin' it He was yellin' and screamin' a mile a minute Well, he said "Here comes the President But first this word from Pepsodent Have whiter teeth, have cleaner breath When you're facin' nuclear death"
And then President John began to speak And I knew right away he wouldn't be weak Well, he said he'd seen some missile bases And terrible smiles on Cuban faces Close pictures, carryin' land reform too far Giving land to the USSR
Well, he said we mustn't be afraid We're settin' up a little blockade Put our ships along the Cuban shores And if the Russian bear yells and roars We'll let him have it
From Turkey and Greece, Formosa and Spain The peaceful West European Plain From Alaska and Greenland we'll use our means And twenty thousand submarines We're gonna teach the Russians a lesson For trying to upset the balance of power
Now most Americans stood behind The President and his military minds But me, I stood behind a bar Dreamin' of a spaceship getaway car Head for mars, any other planet that has bars Like Gerde's Folk City
Yes, it seemed the stand was strong and plain But some Republicans was a goin' insane And they still are, well, they said our plan was just too mild Spare the rod and spoil the child Let's sink Cuba into the sea And give 'em back democracy under the water
Well, the deadline was set for ten o'clock For a cold war it was a gettin' hot Well, the Russians tried, the Russians failed Homeward bound those missiles sailed Mr. Khruschev said, "Better Red than dead"
He wrote and he sang and he rode upon the rails And he got on board when the sailors had to sail He said all the words that needed to be said He fed all the hungry souls that needed to be fed
(chorus)
He sang in our streets and he sang in our halls And he was always there when the unions gave a call He did all the jobs that needed to be done He always stood his ground when a smaller man would run (chorus)
And its Pastures of Plenty wrote the dustbowl balladeer And This Land is Your Land, he wanted us to hear And the risin' of the unions will be sung about again And the Deportees live on through the power of his pen (chorus)
Now they sing out his praises on every distant shore But so few remember what he was fightin' for Oh why sing the songs and forget about the aim? He wrote them for a reason, why not sing them for the same (chorus)
He saw his friend a hanging and his color was his crime
And the blood upon his jacket left a brand upon his mind
CHORUS: Too many martyrs and too many dead
Too many lies too many empty words were said
Too many times for too many angry men
Oh let it never be again
His name was Medgar Evers and he walked his road alone Like Emmett Till and thousands more whose names we'll never know They tried to burn his home and they beat him to the ground But deep inside they both knew what it took to bring him down *chorus*
The killer waited by his home hidden by the night As Evers stepped out from his car into the rifle sight he slowly squeezed the trigger, the bullet left his side It struck the heart of every man when Evers fell and died. *chorus*
And they laid him in his grave while the bugle sounded clear laid him in his grave when the victory was near While we waited for the future for freedom through the land (*) The country gained a killer and the country lost a man *chorus*
The peons of Mexico long have known suffering and pain. Zapata and Villa have died there, fighting in vain. Rube'n Jaramillo kept up the tradition, he fought for the land once again. He lived for the land, and there on the land he was slain.
A forty-five bullet has ended the life of a man who had lived by the gun, But all of the bullets of Mexico cannot undo all the work that he's done.
The greedy capiques* have stolen and plundered the land, With pistoleros they ruled with a cold iron hand. The poor campesinos could stand it no longer, resistance was starting to grow. Jaramillo decided to fight for a new Mexico.
A forty-five bullet has ended the life of a man who had lived by the gun, But all of the bullets of Mexico cannot undo all the work that he's done.
For twenty long years he fought and he struggled and tried, Epifania, his wife, always there at his side. Often surrounded, he always was hounded, they searched for him near, far, and wide: A man of deep sorrow, but also a man of deep pride.
A forty-five bullet has ended the life of a man who had lived by the gun, But all of the bullets of Mexico cannot undo all the work that he's done.
Two thousand peasants he led to their long-promised land, And the army's revenge killed the wife and the sons and the man. His assasins rejoiced with their whiskey and women, they laughed and they danced on his grave. Now the land waits again for another to ride on the waves.
A forty-five bullet has ended the life of a man who had lived by the gun, But all of the bullets of Mexico cannot undo all the work that he's done.
Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans At the end of the early British war The young land started growing The young blood started flowing But I ain't marchin' anymore
For I've killed my share of Indians In a thousand different fights I was there at the Little Big Horn I heard many men lying I saw many more dying But I ain't marchin' anymore
chorus) It's always the old to lead us to the war It's always the young to fall Now look at all we've won with the saber and the gun Tell me is it worth it all
For I stole California from the Mexican land Fought in the bloody Civil War Yes I even killed my brothers And so many others But I ain't marchin' anymore
For I marched to the battles of the German trench In a war that was bound to end all wars Oh I must have killed a million men And now they want me back again But I ain't marchin' anymore
(chorus)
For I flew the final mission in the Japanese sky Set off the mighty mushroom roar When I saw the cities burning I knew that I was learning That I ain't marchin' anymore
Now the labor leader's screamin' when they close the missile plants, United Fruit screams at the Cuban shore, Call it "Peace" or call it "Treason," Call it "Love" or call it "Reason," But I ain't marchin' any more, No I ain't marchin' any more
In the heat of the summer F a When the pavements were burning Dm c dm The soul of a city was ravaged in the night Gm dm After the city sun was sinkin'
Dm gm dm Now no one knows how it started F a Why the windows were shattered Dm c dm But deep in the dark, someone set the spark Gm dm And then it no longer mattered.
Dm gm dm Down the streets they were rumbling F a All the tempers were ragin Dm c dm Oh, where, oh, where are the white silver tongues Gm dm Who forgot to listen to the warnings?
Dm gm dm On and on come the angry F a No longer following reason Dm c dm And all the stores were the target now Gm dm Where just the other day they were buyin
Dm gm dm Drunk with the memory of the ghetto F a Drunk with the lure of the looting Dm c dm And the memory of the uniforms shoving with their sticks Gm dm Asking, are you looking for trouble?
Dm gm dm No, no, no, moaned the mayor. F a It's not the way of the order. Dm c dm Oh stay in your homes, please leave us alone Gm dm We'll be glad to talk in the morning.
Dm gm dm For shame, for shame, wrote the papers. F a Why the hurry to your hunger? Dm c dm Now the rubble's resting on your broken streets Gm dm So you see what your rage has unraveled.
Dm gm dm Baricades sadly were risin F a Bricks were heavily flyin Dm c dm And the loudspeaker drowned like a whisperin' sound Gm dm When compared to the angered emotions
Dm gm dm And when the fury was over F a And the shame was replacing the anger. Dm c dm So wrong, so wrong, but we've been down so long Gm dm And we had to make somebody listen Gm dm gm dm gm dm In the heat of the summer......
Oh, I'm just a typical American boy from a typical American town I believe in God and Senator Dodd and a-keepin' old Castro down And when it came my time to serve I knew "better dead than red" But when I got to my old draft board, buddy, this is what I said:
So you tell me that your last good dollar is goneA D Gand you say that your pockets are bare.G B7 Em E7And you tell me that your clothes are tattered and tornA A7 Dand nobody seems to care.B7 EmNow don't tell me your troubles,A D Gno I don't have the time to spare.B7 Em E7But if you want to get together and fightA D Ggood buddy that's what I want to hear.And you tell me that your job was taken awayby a big ol' greasy machine.And you tell me that you don't collect no more payand your belly is growing lean.Now if I had the jobs to giveyou know I'd give them all away.But don't waste your breath calling out my nameif you don't have nothing to say. And you tell me that you don't have nothing to doand you keep on wasting your time.And you say when you want to get your family some foodyou gotta stand in a relief line.Now it's a sin and a bloody shame'bout the way they're pushing you 'round.But when you decide not to take no moreyou know I'll put my money down.'Cause I've seen your kind many times beforeAnd I'll see 'em many times again.Oh but every bad thing that's happened to youhas happened to better men.So don't explain that you've lost your waythat you've got no place to go.You've got a hand and a voice and you're not aloneBrother that's all you need to know.And if you're still wondering what I'm trying to saylet me tell you what it's all about.Now nobody listens to a single manwhen he's walkin' 'round down and out.So if you're looking for an answerhe's standing there by your side.And you'll never really know how far you'll go'til you join together and try.(Repeat first six lines)
