{"id":47822,"date":"2024-05-27T06:04:54","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T14:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=47822"},"modified":"2024-05-27T06:04:54","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T14:04:54","slug":"songs-for-memorial-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/27\/songs-for-memorial-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Songs for Memorial Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><i>Reprinted with permission from Greg Mitchell\u2019s newsletter <a href=\"https:\/\/gregmitchell.substack.com\/\">Between Rock and a Hard Place<\/a>.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fairly eclectic group, but here goes:<\/p>\n<p><strong>John Prine<\/strong> unveils \u201cSam Stone\u201d in very early TV appearance.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OLVWEYUqGew?si=cY5bQT7N-16_6ZGj\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>A little-known early <strong>Joni Mitchell<\/strong> song, \u201cThe Fiddle and the Drum,\u201d performed by <strong>A Perfect Circle<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_B6kheJ8zks?si=TsO8-9lDeaCfHU69\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Neil Young<\/strong> created the best (among the few) full albums protesting the U.S. invasion of Iraq, <em>Living With War<\/em>. Here\u2019s the key cut, \u201cShock and Awe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MOUUnE7awd4?si=80-UIeJtDECVS02Z\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Byrds<\/strong>, after Gene Clark and David Crosby flew the coop, still produced a couple of great albums, and songs (originally penned by Croz) such as \u201cDraft Morning,\u201d here with an extended ending.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XLcmCdB8vks?si=Vfs8WqMwBREiOqe9\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Emmylou Harris &amp; Linda Ronstadt<\/strong> collaborated on the beautiful \u201c1917,\u201d by David Olney, as a woman takes pity on a soldier and sleeps with him.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VFZjeLGmhIw?si=yrKFER7C22pTn9Nx\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Perhaps <strong>The Kinks\u2019 <\/strong>greatest album from 1969, <em>Arthur,<\/em> explored World War II in three songs, including one that applies to all wars, \u201cSome Mother\u2019s Son.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/g4feddEth3M?si=an5lCgi-fvAdbG06\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>No one in our era wrote more anti-war songs than <strong>Phil Ochs<\/strong> \u2013 even the little-remembered U.S. invasion of Santo Domingo earned a fine tune. But several tackled more universal antiwar themes, such as \u201cOne More Parade.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5EXVUpPfyVo?si=WbOPXIky62R3x-Pg\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Also expressing a more timeless and universal message, the master <strong>Bob Marley <\/strong>denounced \u201cWar,\u201d in this searing live performance in 1977.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vPZydAotVOY?si=3-Y1AbVNTlt1q30S\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Not specifically an \u201cantiwar\u201d song but a depiction of the sad treatment and fate that met even one of the most illustrious soldiers, Ira Hayes, the Native American who helped raise the flag in the famous photo on Iwo Jima. <strong>Johnny Cash<\/strong> was proud to do this Peter LaFarge classic and drew wide praise from Native Americans.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Wf_84ZLRoQM?si=IOrAqMETxqMSrp-_\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Jackson Browne\u2019s<\/strong> \u201cLives in the Balance\u201d offered a broad sweep in 1986, here live with Crosby, Nash and longtime collaborator David Lindley.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VPFdbKLUmQk?si=vJI7Ed5OLDynwK1i\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Iris DeMent <\/strong>with a haunting take on the Vietnam \u201cWall in Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mL9rrCJkBJs?si=3LDjXN82qs3utb6i\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve Earle<\/strong>, perhaps the best lefty troubadour\/rocker of our time, explored \u201cRich Man\u2019s War\u201d at the height of our folly in Iraq.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QVEUqXe9UiQ?si=GztwcPaAvzm1mEJw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dire Straits<\/strong> reached a mass audience with the title track of their 1980s album \u201cBrothers in Arms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Dqok5m4lqeE?si=GtCYDtCLJmqPKHC3\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As noted, there were few powerful songs protesting the Iraq War, but guitar ace <strong>Richard Thompson<\/strong> did deliver \u201cDad\u2019s Gonna Kill Me\u201d \u2013 Dad apparently being G.I. lingo for \u201cBaghdad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UyV8gV7HYp4?si=qtLu1X3BjMS1WTub\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Again, not precisely antiwar but a poetic depiction of resistance in France, <strong>Leonard Cohen\u2019s<\/strong> early \u201cThe Partisan\u201d \u2013 sung here, movingly, in Paris.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/j0NPYG_uoxw?si=kV7FWrod4qEnkrEL\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Sounds jaunty from <strong>Ry Cooder<\/strong> with Flaco Jimenez but check out lyrics during Iraq war: \u201cNow Johnny ain&#8217;t got no legs and Billy ain&#8217;t got no face \/ Do they know it&#8217;s Christmas time this year? \/ Tommy looks about the same but his mind is gone \/ Does he know it&#8217;s Christmas time this year?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uZSfimxMKBM?si=p7NXcVbjJOX-I9px\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"subscribe-widget\" data-component-name=\"SubscribeWidget\">\n<div class=\"pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-justify-center--SQPji\">\n<div class=\"frontend-components-free_email_form-module__container--OfBh4\">\n<form class=\"form frontend-components-free_email_form-module__form--LDIzl\" action=\"https:\/\/gregmitchell.substack.com\/api\/v1\/free?nojs=true\" method=\"post\" novalidate=\"\">\n<div class=\"frontend-components-free_email_form-module__sideBySideWrap--yhsgv\">\n<div class=\"frontend-components-free_email_form-module__emailInputWrapper--BXNrb\"><input class=\"pencraft frontend-components-free_email_form-module__emailInput--BLQGf\" name=\"email\" type=\"email\" placeholder=\"Type your email...\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><i>Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books, including \u201cHiroshima in America,\u201d and the recent award-winning <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Beginning-End-Hollywood-Learned-Worrying\/dp\/1620975734\">The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood \u2013 and America \u2013 Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb<\/a><i>, and has directed three documentary films since 2021, including two for PBS (plus award-winning \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/gregmitchphoto.com\/atomic-cover-up\/\">Atomic Cover-up<\/a>\u201d). He has written widely about the atomic bomb and atomic bombings, and their aftermath, for over forty years. He writes often at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/oppenheimer2023.substack.com\/\">Oppenheimer: From Hiroshima to Hollywood<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reprinted with permission from Greg Mitchell\u2019s newsletter Between Rock and a Hard Place. Fairly eclectic group, but here goes: John Prine unveils \u201cSam Stone\u201d in very early TV appearance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-47822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":"From Johnny Cash, John Prine, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Marley, Kinks, Byrds, Leonard Cohen and much more."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/466"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47822"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47844,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47822\/revisions\/47844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47822"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=47822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}