refusing to fight
The Man He Killed
BY THOMAS HARDY
"Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!
"But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.
"I shot him dead because —
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although
"He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand like — just as I —
Was out of work — had sold his traps —
No other reason why.
"Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown."
--------
essentially, soldiers are the driving force behind wars. if we weren't bombarded with propaganda or bribed with benefits or money, would anyone actually go fight? what if massive numbers of soldiers in every organization refused to fight? kind of an impossible feat, but wouldn't it be something!
BY THOMAS HARDY
"Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!
"But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.
"I shot him dead because —
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although
"He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand like — just as I —
Was out of work — had sold his traps —
No other reason why.
"Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown."
--------
essentially, soldiers are the driving force behind wars. if we weren't bombarded with propaganda or bribed with benefits or money, would anyone actually go fight? what if massive numbers of soldiers in every organization refused to fight? kind of an impossible feat, but wouldn't it be something!
Very interesting topic, and I'm kind of surprised you haven't had any more comments on it...great poem too by the way.
I have to agree, if every Son and Daughter refused to fight it really would be something, HOWEVER...having dated Military Personal, I can tell you Soldiers don't usually become Soldiers for the money. Yes, they might be persuaded by it, but (at least from my experiences) money is rarely the deciding factor, they do it because they want to make a difference and protect what they believe in. It's the lying government that actually tells them when and where they're being sent to Hell.
You do bring up an interesting point though, and I can defiantly see where you're coming from.
If you want I have the lyrics to a song I wrote that focuses on this issue posted in the 'Song Lyrics' section. The song,(well I guess actually two, but it's more the first one that talks about this) called "Forgotten Soldiers"
Out of curiosity, what made you decide to start this Thread lol?
I have to agree, if every Son and Daughter refused to fight it really would be something, HOWEVER...having dated Military Personal, I can tell you Soldiers don't usually become Soldiers for the money. Yes, they might be persuaded by it, but (at least from my experiences) money is rarely the deciding factor, they do it because they want to make a difference and protect what they believe in. It's the lying government that actually tells them when and where they're being sent to Hell.
You do bring up an interesting point though, and I can defiantly see where you're coming from.
If you want I have the lyrics to a song I wrote that focuses on this issue posted in the 'Song Lyrics' section. The song,(well I guess actually two, but it's more the first one that talks about this) called "Forgotten Soldiers"
Out of curiosity, what made you decide to start this Thread lol?
The idea of not fighting is a nice ideal, but truthfully a complete impossibility for the human condition. Our species has evolved, and still exists, in a constant state of warfare with our very place in existence; our bodies fight infection, fight to replicate cells, and generally feed upon lesser things in order to sustain ourselves.
However, some of us it seems have attained a sense of peace and balance in this war of ours. Changing this total war state of being, into one more in tune with the natural forces, from the flow of water to the flow of time. (Such as the native American Indians, and Indian gurus.)
I must raise the point that soldiers are not the driving force behind wars, rather it is the strive for resources and power that is the driving force. Soldiers merely allow the war to be prosecuted, and in fairness allow fighting to be done by only part of a country or the world rather than everyone. Even if soldiers were to refuse to fight, the grand irony there would be the sudden fight of refusal: fighting the system.
Though soldiers should be a shield first, and a sword second. Their existence must be more focussed towards prevention and protection than destruction, if we are to ever move forwards or indeed even be alive for a far future.
However, some of us it seems have attained a sense of peace and balance in this war of ours. Changing this total war state of being, into one more in tune with the natural forces, from the flow of water to the flow of time. (Such as the native American Indians, and Indian gurus.)
I must raise the point that soldiers are not the driving force behind wars, rather it is the strive for resources and power that is the driving force. Soldiers merely allow the war to be prosecuted, and in fairness allow fighting to be done by only part of a country or the world rather than everyone. Even if soldiers were to refuse to fight, the grand irony there would be the sudden fight of refusal: fighting the system.
Though soldiers should be a shield first, and a sword second. Their existence must be more focussed towards prevention and protection than destruction, if we are to ever move forwards or indeed even be alive for a far future.
Here's a excerpt from the song I was talking about:
We fight with our lives at stake just to be
Forgotten in an instant/
Tortured by the violence
But haunted by the silence/
We believe in your lies
And live out your wickedest fantasies/
Just to be
Abused and neglected Overseas/
But still we will never regret it/
Becoming forgotten Soldiers of
Her majesty’s united dynasty/
(Verse)
You send us to Hell to kill or be killed/
And we answer your call without hesitation/
Void of all emotion when we pull that trigger/
But are we really Soldiers or have we become our own grave diggers/?
Now I ain’t tryna say I don’t believe in the mission/
I’m just questioning the reason for its inception/
Have we really fallen prey to someone else’s deception?
And are we really here as the contraception to another act of Terror/?
Or do the powers that be just simply believe
That they can send us away as the bearers of death and despair/?
To spread our own version of bloodshed and fear/
And when it comes time for them to face the music
They just hide behind the word
“Classified/”
We fight with our lives at stake just to be
Forgotten in an instant/
Tortured by the violence
But haunted by the silence/
We believe in your lies
And live out your wickedest fantasies/
Just to be
Abused and neglected Overseas/
But still we will never regret it/
Becoming forgotten Soldiers of
Her majesty’s united dynasty/
(Verse)
You send us to Hell to kill or be killed/
And we answer your call without hesitation/
Void of all emotion when we pull that trigger/
But are we really Soldiers or have we become our own grave diggers/?
Now I ain’t tryna say I don’t believe in the mission/
I’m just questioning the reason for its inception/
Have we really fallen prey to someone else’s deception?
And are we really here as the contraception to another act of Terror/?
Or do the powers that be just simply believe
That they can send us away as the bearers of death and despair/?
To spread our own version of bloodshed and fear/
And when it comes time for them to face the music
They just hide behind the word
“Classified/”
Soldiers are usually the willing tool of Governments who do often place them in danger through grave mistakes in their policies.
Yet some wars are worth fighting - some causes are just. The noble often frightened foot soldiers of freedom advance throughout history with valour.
They stave off fascists and tyrants alike. The other kind - conscripts and kids in rag tag armies well. they may fight for money or even food,
Between a rock and a hard place.There are lots of different kinds of soldiers. Most would buy their enemy a beer if circumstances were different.
Yet some wars are worth fighting - some causes are just. The noble often frightened foot soldiers of freedom advance throughout history with valour.
They stave off fascists and tyrants alike. The other kind - conscripts and kids in rag tag armies well. they may fight for money or even food,
Between a rock and a hard place.There are lots of different kinds of soldiers. Most would buy their enemy a beer if circumstances were different.
The Victorian poet, Rudyard Kipling, born in India in 1865 at the time of the British Raj (Rule), wrote many poems about the plight of the ordinary soldier. This is one of his best-known. The title, 'Tommy' refers to the nickname for the ordinary British soldier at the time, Tommy Atkins, and the poem clearly expresses the idea that in peacetime, soldiers are often looked down upon, but in war, they're suddenly treated as heroes. The dialect and vocabulary is of its time, but still perfectly understandable today, I think.
Tommy
I went into a public 'ouse to get a pint o'beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, ``We serve no red-coats here.''
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy, go away'';
But it's ``Thank you, Mister Atkins,'' when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's ``Thank you, Mr. Atkins,'' when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music 'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy, wait outside'';
But it's ``Special train for Atkins'' when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's ``Special train for Atkins'' when the trooper's on the tide.
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy how's yer soul?''
But it's ``Thin red line of 'eroes'' when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's ``Thin red line of 'eroes'' when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints:
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an ``Tommy, fall be'ind,''
But it's ``Please to walk in front, sir,'' when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's ``Please to walk in front, sir,'' when there's trouble in the wind.
You talk o' better food for us, an'schools, an' fires an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Chuck him out, the brute!''
But it's ``Saviour of 'is country,'' when the guns begin to shoot;
Yes it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool--you bet that Tommy sees!
Tommy
I went into a public 'ouse to get a pint o'beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, ``We serve no red-coats here.''
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy, go away'';
But it's ``Thank you, Mister Atkins,'' when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's ``Thank you, Mr. Atkins,'' when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music 'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy, wait outside'';
But it's ``Special train for Atkins'' when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's ``Special train for Atkins'' when the trooper's on the tide.
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy how's yer soul?''
But it's ``Thin red line of 'eroes'' when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's ``Thin red line of 'eroes'' when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints:
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an ``Tommy, fall be'ind,''
But it's ``Please to walk in front, sir,'' when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's ``Please to walk in front, sir,'' when there's trouble in the wind.
You talk o' better food for us, an'schools, an' fires an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Chuck him out, the brute!''
But it's ``Saviour of 'is country,'' when the guns begin to shoot;
Yes it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool--you bet that Tommy sees!
Pho3nix19xx said:Here's a excerpt from the song I was talking about:
We fight with our lives at stake just to be
Forgotten in an instant/
Tortured by the violence
But haunted by the silence/
We believe in your lies
And live out your wickedest fantasies/
Just to be
Abused and neglected Overseas/
But still we will never regret it/
Becoming forgotten Soldiers of
Her majesty’s united dynasty/
(Verse)
You send us to Hell to kill or be killed/
And we answer your call without hesitation/
Void of all emotion when we pull that trigger/
But are we really Soldiers or have we become our own grave diggers/?
Now I ain’t tryna say I don’t believe in the mission/
I’m just questioning the reason for its inception/
Have we really fallen prey to someone else’s deception?
And are we really here as the contraception to another act of Terror/?
Or do the powers that be just simply believe
That they can send us away as the bearers of death and despair/?
To spread our own version of bloodshed and fear/
And when it comes time for them to face the music
They just hide behind the word
“Classified/”
I'd love to hear the audio for this. Do you have one?
We fight with our lives at stake just to be
Forgotten in an instant/
Tortured by the violence
But haunted by the silence/
We believe in your lies
And live out your wickedest fantasies/
Just to be
Abused and neglected Overseas/
But still we will never regret it/
Becoming forgotten Soldiers of
Her majesty’s united dynasty/
(Verse)
You send us to Hell to kill or be killed/
And we answer your call without hesitation/
Void of all emotion when we pull that trigger/
But are we really Soldiers or have we become our own grave diggers/?
Now I ain’t tryna say I don’t believe in the mission/
I’m just questioning the reason for its inception/
Have we really fallen prey to someone else’s deception?
And are we really here as the contraception to another act of Terror/?
Or do the powers that be just simply believe
That they can send us away as the bearers of death and despair/?
To spread our own version of bloodshed and fear/
And when it comes time for them to face the music
They just hide behind the word
“Classified/”
I'd love to hear the audio for this. Do you have one?
Astyanax said:The Victorian poet, Rudyard Kipling, born in India in 1865 at the time of the British Raj (Rule), wrote many poems about the plight of the ordinary soldier. This is one of his best-known. The title, 'Tommy' refers to the nickname for the ordinary British soldier at the time, Tommy Atkins, and the poem clearly expresses the idea that in peacetime, soldiers are often looked down upon, but in war, they're suddenly treated as heroes. The dialect and vocabulary is of its time, but still perfectly understandable today, I think.
Tommy
I went into a public 'ouse to get a pint o'beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, ``We serve no red-coats here.''
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy, go away'';
But it's ``Thank you, Mister Atkins,'' when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's ``Thank you, Mr. Atkins,'' when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music 'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy, wait outside'';
But it's ``Special train for Atkins'' when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's ``Special train for Atkins'' when the trooper's on the tide.
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy how's yer soul?''
But it's ``Thin red line of 'eroes'' when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's ``Thin red line of 'eroes'' when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints:
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an ``Tommy, fall be'ind,''
But it's ``Please to walk in front, sir,'' when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's ``Please to walk in front, sir,'' when there's trouble in the wind.
You talk o' better food for us, an'schools, an' fires an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Chuck him out, the brute!''
But it's ``Saviour of 'is country,'' when the guns begin to shoot;
Yes it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool--you bet that Tommy sees!
I fuckin love this... Can't believe I'd never seen it before. This is true in the US, too. Too many homeless veterans.
Tommy
I went into a public 'ouse to get a pint o'beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, ``We serve no red-coats here.''
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy, go away'';
But it's ``Thank you, Mister Atkins,'' when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's ``Thank you, Mr. Atkins,'' when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music 'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy, wait outside'';
But it's ``Special train for Atkins'' when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's ``Special train for Atkins'' when the trooper's on the tide.
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Tommy how's yer soul?''
But it's ``Thin red line of 'eroes'' when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's ``Thin red line of 'eroes'' when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints:
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an ``Tommy, fall be'ind,''
But it's ``Please to walk in front, sir,'' when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's ``Please to walk in front, sir,'' when there's trouble in the wind.
You talk o' better food for us, an'schools, an' fires an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' ``Chuck him out, the brute!''
But it's ``Saviour of 'is country,'' when the guns begin to shoot;
Yes it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool--you bet that Tommy sees!
I fuckin love this... Can't believe I'd never seen it before. This is true in the US, too. Too many homeless veterans.
KittyFromHell said:
I'd love to hear the audio for this. Do you have one?
No not really, I have just the lyrics recorded on my phone but the quality sucks
here's the entire song though...
Forgotten Soldiers
HOOK
We fight with our lives at stake just to be
Forgotten in an instant/
Tortured by the violence
But haunted by the silence/
We believe in your lies
And live out your wickedest fantasies/
Just to be
Abused and neglected Overseas/
But still we will never regret it/
Becoming forgotten Soldiers of
Her majesty’s united dynasty/
(Verse)
You send us to Hell to kill or be killed/
And we answer your call without hesitation/
Void of all emotion when we pull that trigger/
But are we really Soldiers or have we become our own grave diggers/?
Now I ain’t tryna say I don’t believe in the mission/
I’m just questioning the reason for its inception/
Have we really fallen prey to someone else’s deception?
And are we really here as the contraception to another act of Terror/?
Or do the powers that be just simply believe
That they can send us away as the bearers of death and despair/?
To spread our own version of bloodshed and fear/
And when it comes time for them to face the music
They just hide behind the word
“Classified/”
Honoring those who have died once a year/
But never doing nothing about the ones who cower
Whenever they hear the sound of fireworks/
Because it takes them back to the sand/
Where they were forced to watch their best friends get blown up
And land twenty feet from where they used to stand/
Everyday seeing defenceless people slaughtered
Their own men and women abducted/
Their moral compass obstructed because
Quitting is not accepted and
Helping is not what they were instructed to do/
Now can you see why they all sing
HOOK
“We fight with our lives at stake just to be
Forgotten in an instant/
Tortured by the violence
But haunted by the silence/
We believe in your lies
And live out your wickedest fantasies/
Just to be
Abused and neglected Overseas/
But still we will never regret it/
Becoming forgotten Soldiers of
Her Majesty’s united dynasty/”
(Verse)
And even though you pull us out when the enemy surrenders/
We are still under siege,
Haunted by the memories of that failed breach/
But silently we fight on,
Not on some beach/
But in our own fucking homes
We live out the lies that you preach/
Searching for answers but never asking questions/
“How can you live in mansions while we’re out on the street competing for food to eat/?”
You said you’d take care of us because the life we lead is horrendous/
Never thinkin’ twice about slashing the funding for our training/
But when it comes time for you to help us from crashing or regaining our footing/
You keep putting it off saying
That the flashing lights and mental fights are nothing
Or that we’re just hallucinating/
Seriously, are you fucking kidding/?!?
Hallucinating/?!?
And you think you have the right to boast about how you’re
“Illuminating the damaging effects of combat/?”
Well why don’t you take a step back and come back at it
Once you’ve seen it through our eyes/
Or better yet strap a vest to your chest and
Dawn our Battle Dress,
Fly over and live your lies/
Hear the cries of an innocent mother as she kisses her child just before he dies/
Live everyday seeing defenceless people slaughtered/
Your own men and women abducted/
And feel your moral compass become obstructed because
HOOK
We fight with our lives at stake just to be
Forgotten in an instant/
Tortured by the violence
But haunted by the silence/
We believe in your lies
And live out your wickedest fantasies/
Just to be
Abused and neglected Overseas/
But still we will never regret it/
Becoming forgotten Soldiers of
Her majesty’s united dynasty/
(Verse)
We are your Sons and Daughters
With broken shoulders/
Haunted by all the innocent lives we’ve stolen/
No our pain will never cease
It spreads like a disease/
But still we report to be deployed to see another enemy of yours destroyed/
Camped out in the shadows with no emotion, no hesitation/
At home or in some foreign nation
We play God for peace and protection/
But in the darkest of nights
We push our lives into the shadows/
All to be placed upon a bulletin board of forgotten Soldiers/
Our voices cry,
Our guns scream,
Our dreams die when our fears come to life/
Who would wanna live this life/?
Everything is a lie/
Our children will never say goodbye to
Forgotten Soldiers/
We are your Sons and Daughters
But now we live in Flanders Field/
How many more lives have to be lost before we can rise up
And shatter the shield of silence/?
Put an end to this fucking endless fight/?
Cuz I’m getting sick of the shadows
I need to feel the light on my face/
But then I’m taken right back to that motherfucking place/
And forced to see the faces of every life I’ve erased/
Cursed to live everyday
Seeing defenceless people slaughtered/
My own Men and Women abducted/
And ten years later my moral compass is still obstructed/
Because I was useless and helpless
And that Oath is fucking blasphemous/!
I'd love to hear the audio for this. Do you have one?
No not really, I have just the lyrics recorded on my phone but the quality sucks
here's the entire song though...
Forgotten Soldiers
HOOK
We fight with our lives at stake just to be
Forgotten in an instant/
Tortured by the violence
But haunted by the silence/
We believe in your lies
And live out your wickedest fantasies/
Just to be
Abused and neglected Overseas/
But still we will never regret it/
Becoming forgotten Soldiers of
Her majesty’s united dynasty/
(Verse)
You send us to Hell to kill or be killed/
And we answer your call without hesitation/
Void of all emotion when we pull that trigger/
But are we really Soldiers or have we become our own grave diggers/?
Now I ain’t tryna say I don’t believe in the mission/
I’m just questioning the reason for its inception/
Have we really fallen prey to someone else’s deception?
And are we really here as the contraception to another act of Terror/?
Or do the powers that be just simply believe
That they can send us away as the bearers of death and despair/?
To spread our own version of bloodshed and fear/
And when it comes time for them to face the music
They just hide behind the word
“Classified/”
Honoring those who have died once a year/
But never doing nothing about the ones who cower
Whenever they hear the sound of fireworks/
Because it takes them back to the sand/
Where they were forced to watch their best friends get blown up
And land twenty feet from where they used to stand/
Everyday seeing defenceless people slaughtered
Their own men and women abducted/
Their moral compass obstructed because
Quitting is not accepted and
Helping is not what they were instructed to do/
Now can you see why they all sing
HOOK
“We fight with our lives at stake just to be
Forgotten in an instant/
Tortured by the violence
But haunted by the silence/
We believe in your lies
And live out your wickedest fantasies/
Just to be
Abused and neglected Overseas/
But still we will never regret it/
Becoming forgotten Soldiers of
Her Majesty’s united dynasty/”
(Verse)
And even though you pull us out when the enemy surrenders/
We are still under siege,
Haunted by the memories of that failed breach/
But silently we fight on,
Not on some beach/
But in our own fucking homes
We live out the lies that you preach/
Searching for answers but never asking questions/
“How can you live in mansions while we’re out on the street competing for food to eat/?”
You said you’d take care of us because the life we lead is horrendous/
Never thinkin’ twice about slashing the funding for our training/
But when it comes time for you to help us from crashing or regaining our footing/
You keep putting it off saying
That the flashing lights and mental fights are nothing
Or that we’re just hallucinating/
Seriously, are you fucking kidding/?!?
Hallucinating/?!?
And you think you have the right to boast about how you’re
“Illuminating the damaging effects of combat/?”
Well why don’t you take a step back and come back at it
Once you’ve seen it through our eyes/
Or better yet strap a vest to your chest and
Dawn our Battle Dress,
Fly over and live your lies/
Hear the cries of an innocent mother as she kisses her child just before he dies/
Live everyday seeing defenceless people slaughtered/
Your own men and women abducted/
And feel your moral compass become obstructed because
HOOK
We fight with our lives at stake just to be
Forgotten in an instant/
Tortured by the violence
But haunted by the silence/
We believe in your lies
And live out your wickedest fantasies/
Just to be
Abused and neglected Overseas/
But still we will never regret it/
Becoming forgotten Soldiers of
Her majesty’s united dynasty/
(Verse)
We are your Sons and Daughters
With broken shoulders/
Haunted by all the innocent lives we’ve stolen/
No our pain will never cease
It spreads like a disease/
But still we report to be deployed to see another enemy of yours destroyed/
Camped out in the shadows with no emotion, no hesitation/
At home or in some foreign nation
We play God for peace and protection/
But in the darkest of nights
We push our lives into the shadows/
All to be placed upon a bulletin board of forgotten Soldiers/
Our voices cry,
Our guns scream,
Our dreams die when our fears come to life/
Who would wanna live this life/?
Everything is a lie/
Our children will never say goodbye to
Forgotten Soldiers/
We are your Sons and Daughters
But now we live in Flanders Field/
How many more lives have to be lost before we can rise up
And shatter the shield of silence/?
Put an end to this fucking endless fight/?
Cuz I’m getting sick of the shadows
I need to feel the light on my face/
But then I’m taken right back to that motherfucking place/
And forced to see the faces of every life I’ve erased/
Cursed to live everyday
Seeing defenceless people slaughtered/
My own Men and Women abducted/
And ten years later my moral compass is still obstructed/
Because I was useless and helpless
And that Oath is fucking blasphemous/!
I think it's too glib to say that war is all the fault of soldiers. Soldiers are, in the main, young men and women who've signed up for a variety of reasons: a desire for excitement, lack of job prospects in their locality, patriotism, etc. (I suspect that the last of these is the least common reason for joining). Very few of them, I imagine, join the army in order to go to war or kill people. The people who make the decisions to engage in conflict are politicians and national leaders, not the people who are sent to fight their wars. Why don't the soldiers refuse to fight? Because they have a sense of honour and duty, and the comradeship of their fellow-soldiers. They deserve our respect, not our blame.
During the Iraq war, our war dead were brought back to a military airfield, then a convoy of hearses would transport the coffins to a military hospital where they would be handed over to their families. The convoy passed through a small village called Wootton Bassett, and each time a convoy came through, all the villagers would line the main street in silent tribute to the fallen. This is what I wrote at the time:
Coming Home
No take-off nerves, no in-flight drinks,
No airline meals, no raucous badinage;
They come off the back of the plane
Like cargo, like freight,
Carried by bearers, covered with a flag;
A careful inching down the ramp,
Then slid into the waiting hearse
To drive off in formation.
Through the streets of the little town.
And always, the silent crowd:
The men, the girls, the old, the young,
The weeping wives and families,
Pale and stunned with loss too vast to bear,
And the babes in arms, not knowing,
But lulled to wide-eyed silence
By the weight of grief around them.
We owe them this; they went for us -
Not solemnly, with frowns and lawyers’ words,
But cheerfully, with young men’s open smiles,
And boisterous jokes and cracks about the food -
And now they’re back.
They’ve given all they had, we must give them our thanks,
It is the very least that we can do.
During the Iraq war, our war dead were brought back to a military airfield, then a convoy of hearses would transport the coffins to a military hospital where they would be handed over to their families. The convoy passed through a small village called Wootton Bassett, and each time a convoy came through, all the villagers would line the main street in silent tribute to the fallen. This is what I wrote at the time:
Coming Home
No take-off nerves, no in-flight drinks,
No airline meals, no raucous badinage;
They come off the back of the plane
Like cargo, like freight,
Carried by bearers, covered with a flag;
A careful inching down the ramp,
Then slid into the waiting hearse
To drive off in formation.
Through the streets of the little town.
And always, the silent crowd:
The men, the girls, the old, the young,
The weeping wives and families,
Pale and stunned with loss too vast to bear,
And the babes in arms, not knowing,
But lulled to wide-eyed silence
By the weight of grief around them.
We owe them this; they went for us -
Not solemnly, with frowns and lawyers’ words,
But cheerfully, with young men’s open smiles,
And boisterous jokes and cracks about the food -
And now they’re back.
They’ve given all they had, we must give them our thanks,
It is the very least that we can do.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/interactive/2013/oct/26/war-poets-1914-carol-anne-duffy-seamus-heaney
http://noglory.org/index.php/multimedia/poetry-and-spoken-word/223-dh-lawrence-s-first-world-war-poetry-was-banned-and-butchered-by-the-state-censors#.U6MZsbHZcYI
let's not forget some countries forced people to join up by enacting conscription. then executed their own soldiers because they got scared or shellshocked
http://noglory.org/index.php/multimedia/poetry-and-spoken-word/223-dh-lawrence-s-first-world-war-poetry-was-banned-and-butchered-by-the-state-censors#.U6MZsbHZcYI
let's not forget some countries forced people to join up by enacting conscription. then executed their own soldiers because they got scared or shellshocked
Astyanax is right - war IS the fault of politicians, through failure to make peace or aggression on behalf of their (dressed up as their country's) interests.
(If I were an American voter now I would not want Donald Trump (who has had neither legislative nor service command experience) as my chief legislator and commander-in-chief.)
(If I were an American voter now I would not want Donald Trump (who has had neither legislative nor service command experience) as my chief legislator and commander-in-chief.)
