The 1969 song sung by Edwin Starr, War, What Is It Good For, captured the dark and terrible essence of the USA’s Vietnam debacle:
War
(War) h’uh
Yeah!
(What is it good for?)
Absolutely (nothin) uh-huh, uh-huh
(War) h’uh
Yeah!
(What is it good for?)
Absolutely (nothin’)
Listen to me
Ooh war, I despise
‘Cause it means destruction of innocent lives
War means tears, to thousands of mother’s eyes
When their sons go off to fight and lose their lives
I said, war (h’uh)
Good God, y’all!
(What is it good for?)
Absolutely (nothin’) ‘gin
Listen to me!
(War)
It ain’t nothin’ but a heartbreaker!
(War)
Friend only to the undertaker
Ooh, war
Is an enemy to all mankind
The thought of war blows my mind
War has caused unrest
Within the younger generation
Induction, then destruction
Who wants to die?
Ooh war, Good God (h’uh) y’all!
(What is it good for?)
Absolutely (nothin’)
Listen to me
(War)
It ain’t nothin’ but a heartbreaker
(War)
It’s got one thing and that’s the undertaker
Ooh, war
Has shattered many a-young man’s dreams
Made him disabled, bitter, and mean
And life is much too short and precious
To spend fighting wars each day
War can’t give life
It can only take it away
Oh, war!
(H’uh) Good God, y’all
(What is it good for?)
Absolutely (nothin’)
Listen to me!
(War)
It ain’t nothin’ but a heartbreaker
(War)
Friend only to the undertaker
Woo!
Peace, love and understanding tell me
Is there no place for anything else?
They say we must fight
To keep our freedom
But Lord, knows there’s got to be
A better way
Songwriters: Norman J. Whitfield, Barrett Strong. For non-commercial use only.
Powerful is the best way to assess this song. Sadly, it encompasses just about every war that any country conducts. Yes, our nation has a track record that is horrific when it comes to wars on other countries. Today is the 21st anniversary of an event that is on equal footing to that Vietnam debacle. The pre-emptive illegal and immoral attack on Iraq on March 19th, 2003 was as ghastly as can be. When this writer awoke that morning and was preparing breakfast I had the TV news on. When they showed the intensive carpet bombing and missile attacks on Baghdad I broke into tears. I could not believe that my nation was doing this! It wasn’t just the Bush/Cheney Cabal that was on the wrong side of this, but people like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, to name but a few. I recall little Katie Couric, newscaster for NBC, strolling through the halls of her studio shouting ‘ Marines Rock!’ Most of the ‘ usual suspects’ from the GOP and its embedded media FOX TV were so full of themselves. The Orange Clown gave his support for what was going down… in spades!
I remember, a year or so previous to our invasion, when the late Senator Robert Byrd spoke to the Senate… to mostly empty seats. He warned of what the Patriot Act (passed overwhelmingly) was doing to our Constitution. It was the Congress, he reminded us, that should be the ONLY ones to declare war on another nation… not the Bush/Cheney Cabal. As Lewis Carroll stated so eloquently in his Alice in Wonderland when the Cheshire Cat said ” Everyone is mad here”. Far too many of those who lead us obviously are.
Philip A Farruggio is regular columnist on itstheempirestupid website. He is also frequently posted on Countercurrents, Dissident Voice and the Nation of Change Blogs. He is the son and grandson of Brooklyn NYC longshoremen and a graduate of Brooklyn College, class of 1974. Since the 2000 election debacle Philip has written over 500 columns on the Military Industrial Empire and other facets of life in an upside down America. He is also host of the ‘ It’s the Empire… Stupid ‘ radio show, co produced by Chuck Gregory. Philip can be reached at [email protected].
