Still Stuck in the Mud
Mar 27th, 2006 at 4:42 pm by Susie
Julia kicked off the meme of posting anti-war songs. Go take a look at the results, and in the meantime, here’s another one for you:
It was back in nineteen forty-two,
I was a member of a good platoon.
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna,
One night by the light of the moon.
The captain told us to ford a river,
That’s how it all begun.
We were knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.
The Sergeant said, “Sir, are you sure,
This is the best way back to the base?”
“Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
‘Bout a mile above this place.
It’ll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We’ll soon be on dry ground.”
We were waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.
The Sergeant said, “Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim.”
“Sergeant, don’t be a Nervous Nellie,”
The Captain said to him.
“All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I’ll lead on.”
We were neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.
All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain’s helmet
Was all that floated by.
The Sergeant said, “Turn around men!
I’m in charge from now on.”
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone.
We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand.
I guess he didn’t know that the water was deeper
Than the place he’d once before been.
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
‘Bout a half mile from where we’d gone.
We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on.
“Waist Deep in the Big Muddy,” Pete Seeger, 1967
I’ve always thought “Battleship of Maine” was a good song to remember in relation to our current adventure, as it celebrated the bs that started the spansih american war.
McKinley called for volunteers,
Then I got my gun,
First Spaniard I saw coming
I dropped my gun and run,
It was all about that Battleship of Maine.
Chorus:
At war with that great nation Spain,
When I get back to Spain I want to honor my name,
It was all about that Battleship of Maine.
Why are you running,
Are you afraid to die,
The reason that I’m running
Is because I cannot fly,
It was all about that Battleship of Maine.
The blood was a-running
And I was running too,
I give my feet good exercise,
I had nothing else to do,
It was all about that Battleship of Maine.
When they were a-chasing me,
I fell down on my knees,
First thing I cast my eyes upon
Was a great big pot of peas,
It was all about that Battleship of Maine.
The peas they were greasy,
The meat it was fat,
The boys was fighting Spaniards
While I was fighting that,
It was all about that Battleship of Maine.
I’ve always been partial to “Arthur McBride”, and if I could sing, I would sing it outside the local recruiting station:
I had a first cousin called Arthur McBride
He and I took a stroll down by the seaside;
Seeking good fortune and what might betide
It was just as the day was a’dawnin’
After restin’ we both took a tramp
We met Sergeant Harper and Corporal Cramp
Besides the wee drummer who beat up the camp
With his row-dee-dow-dow in the morning
He says my young fellows if you will enlist
A guinea you quickly will have in your fist
Besides a crown for to kick up the dust
And drink the King’s health in the morning
For a soldier he leads a very fine life
He always is blessed with a charming young wife
And he pays all his debts without sorrow or strife
And always lives happy and charming
And a soldier he always is decent and clean
In the finest of garments he’s constantly seen
While other poor fellows go dirty and mean
And sup on thin gruel in the morning
Says Arthur, I wouldn’t be proud of your clothes
You’ve only the lend of them as I suppose
And you dare not change them one night or you know
If you do you’ll be flogged in the morning
And although we are single and free
We take great delight in our own company
And we have no desire strange countries to see
Although your offer is charming
And we have no desire to take your advance
All hazards and danger we barter on chance
and you’d have no scruples to send us to France
Where we would be shot without warning
And now says the sergeant, if I hear but one word
I’ll instantly now will out with my sword
And into your bodies as strength will afford
So now my gay devils take warning
But Arthur and I we took the odds
We gave them no chance to launch out their swords
Whacking shillelaghs came over their heads
And paid them right smart in the morning
As for the wee drummer, we rifled his pow
And made a football of his row-do-dow-dow
Into the ocean to rock and to roll
And bade it a tedious returnin’
As for the old rapier that hung by his side
We flung it as far as we could in the tide
To the Devil I pitch you, says Arthur McBride
To temper your steel in the morning
Hey good meme. Billy Bragg has Bush War Blues out as a download for free. Sorry can’t put the linky here it keeps breaking in two. But it’s over at my site on today’s post 3/26. I also love Help Save the Youth of America.
Readers of Left I on the News compiled a list last year which you’ll find here. More recently I wrote about the song which just might be the most relevant at the moment, Edwin Starr’s “Stop the War Now.” You’ll find the lyrics here and the actual mp3 to listen to here.
The Gulf War Song, by Moxy Fruvous
http://www.nuclearbeef.com/2005/11/moxy_fruvous_takes_us_back_to.html
It occurs to me that since no-one above the level of sergeant has been tried for Abu Ghraib, etc., Danny Deever might fit, too.
Susie, have you seen this: http://haveskunk.blogspot.com/2006/03/operation-endgame.html
This is big.
How about Phil Ochs’ One More Parade?
The Seeger song you referenced will be covered on a new CD by Bruce Springsteen called The Seeger Sessions to be released in mid April.