Song Meme

Just noticed Mike Gallagher from has followed up on meme he got from Patrick Neilson Hayden, to post anti-war song lyrics on yer journal / blog. Mike's picked the song that I would've gone for (I remember it from childhood; I was never really one for folk music but I make exceptions for that on account of it being truly haunting and for this one, which I remember me mum singing waaaaaaaaaaay back.) . So I guess I'll cheat and post up one of me own (it's cheating, I think, because I've already posted this on my erratically-updated lyrics blog). Anyhoo...

Dogtags And Rosaries

The soldier held his dogtags like a rosary
And bowed his head as if to pray.
The whore she ran her fingers through his hair, and he
Looked up at her as if to say,

Let me have one night,
O, just one night of peace.
Gather me into your arms.
Lost my white rabbit's foot
Down a foxhole,
So enchant me with your charms

Foreign devil, loyal son.
And all the folks back home say, we support our guns.
The whore she only whispers in his ear
She says, this kind of war is never won.

Let me have one night,
He says, one night of peace.
Gather me into your arms.
Lost my white rabbit's foot
Down a foxhole,
So enchant me with your charms.

Dogtags and rosaries,
Bodies bagged like groceries
Delivered to your door.
Dogtags and rosaries,
Folded flags and ribboned trees,
Mean nothing to a whore.

Let me have one night,
He says, one night of peace.
Gather me into your arms.
I lost my friends today,
I lost my faith,
So enchant me with your charms.

Dogtags and rosaries,
Bodies bagged like groceries,
Delivered to your door.
Dogtags and rosaries.
Folded flags and ribboned trees
Stars & Stripes, Land of the Free
Doesn't mean a thing to me,

O, Dogtags and rosaries,
Bodies bagged like groceries,
Delivered to your door.
Dogtags and rosaries.
Tie a fucking yellow ribbon round the old oak tree,
And watch me die on your TV

Just to settle Daddy's score

In another pointless war,

Said the soldier to the whore