War Sucks
Lyrics
America, no mother, child at your breast Your apple pie is just obviously best But you have moved away out west You know I cannot finish this — you know the rest War sucks!
Well, listen to me, my friend General Fox I have something to say today, you know I don't have much to tell you, my friend, but You might not like what I say — You know war sucks!
Lyndon, our good general, he does weep When he sends his troops out into battle I'm sick to death of your endless prattle 'Cause you remember what happened to Hansel and Gretel War sucks!
America, America, God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood Sea to shining sea — you know war sucks You know war sucks!
Well, Mister God, are you sad this week That we treat each other bad? You know your silence is part of a fad You know that you do nothing — just makes me mad War sucks! War sucks!
Chronology
The Parable of Arable Land - Mono 
/ Stereo
- Mayo Thompson - vocals, guitar
- Steve Cunningham - bass
- Frederick Barthelme - drums
- Recorded April 10, 1967[1]
Retrospectives
Mayo Thompson, 2023[2]
The 'War Sucks' lyrics had never been properly sorted [prior to recording] either. I improvised them as well—after Lelan [Rogers] suggested dropping the original chord progression—a kind of standard repeating ascending rocky sort of thing, he said to play what he called "that jungle thing." "That jungle thing" was a jam in E that owed something to raga. It was a descendent of what we called “free pieces”—where we’d play whatever in no key in particular.
Interpretations
- "From sea to shining sea" - America the Beautiful, also quoted in "Extremism"
- Anti-Vietnam War song
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansel_and_Gretel
- General Fox: see record sleeve
Live recordings
| Show | ||
|---|---|---|
| September 11, 2004 | video |
|
| March 20, 2005 | ||
| December 13, 2006 | ||
| November 19, 2009 | video | YouTube |
| April 19, 2013 | video | YouTube |
Covers
| Artist | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Really Red | YouTube |
| 2009 | Spectrum | YouTube |
Various artists compilations
References
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