Posted on 04/29/2022 6:02:53 PM PDT by sushiman
Worth a listen . Bob was quite the poet .
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people’s blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud
You’ve thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain’t worth the blood
That runs in your veins
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul
And I hope that you die
And your death’ll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I’ll watch while you’re lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I’ll stand o’er your grave
’Til I’m sure that you’re dead Copyright © 1963 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renew
He wasn’t wrong.
Great song but it’s important to remember these people helped us win WW2. There is good and bad in everything. Bob was talking about Vietnam I think.
He introduced it by saying, "I can't believe I'm playing this song here!
From the song “ With God On Our Side “ .
“The Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And then we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now, too
Have God on their side
I’ve learned to hate the Russians
All through my whole life
If another war comes
It’s them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side . “
Remember it well. Song was released in May 1963 when I was in college. The US involvement in Vietnam was building using military advisers. Little did I know that I would be in Vietnam four years later.
Our escalating involvement in Ukraine is eerily similar. The military-industrial complex is alive and well.
Yes , hence my posting this . Cheers from Japan !
i”Bob was talking about Vietnam I think.”
Bob was using the commie cultist folkies so to kick start his career.
He knew his audience.
Are you saying he was wrong ?
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul
__________________________________________
Pretty sure he was referring to the military industrial complex.
“Are you saying he was wrong ?”
It’s a poem. It’s not wrong or right.
But, yes, it’s wrong. It’s got some right also, but it’s a simple minded polemic at the level his audience and early supporters heard it.
It interesting to look back and see how Dylan played them like a fiddle.
Barry McGuire also did a good version of this on his album, “The World’s Last Private Citizen”.
I’ll check it out .
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