Archive › Albums & compilations › The Ballad of Bill White
Scan filed under “The Army's Appeal to Mothers” · all scans →
Release The Ballad of Bill White
Year 1968
Label MP # 57
Format 7" · Single
Country Australia
Language English
Songs here 3 in the archive
Citation: Justin A. Brummer, Vietnam War Song Project (VWSP) — Glen Tomasetti, The Ballad of Bill White; cite each song by its SongID

The Ballad of Bill White

1968 · Single · MP # 57 · Australia
3 songs from this release are in the archive, listed below in catalogue order. Track positions are not recorded; the release may carry other songs that do not reference the war. Most common themes: ANZUS, Anti-War, Draft.
Annotation
Glen Tomasetti, contemporary folk artist born 21 May 1929 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She died 25 June 2003. This EP contained three anti-Vietnam War songs.. The first song "Ballad of Bill White" (MP 57) told the true story of a Sydney-based school teacher William "Bill" White, who defied the Australian draft, as a conscientious objector. He was arrested an dragged from his home by Australian police, which was famously captured on photo by John Fairfax in 1966. He was jailed in 1966. Several other songs were written about William White, by Willow Macky and Don Henderson, see the note below, which displays the importance of this case to the Australian anti-war movement. So in this song, the narrator told of William White receiving the draft card, and then going before the judge, saying: "I cannot go against the things I have been taught, violence leads to violence" . The judge threw out the case, and ordered William White to fight.
The second song "Do Not Sing the Old Songs" was a more generic protest songs, which contained some anti-war sentiment, regarding the old sending out the young to fight and die: "the young are still sent out to fight and die, for the lust and lies of the old, when the bodies lie stiffning, still the heroe's dreams grow cold" . The final song "The Army's Appeal to Mothers" took a comedy / novelty approach in presenting an anti-war position, in which the army appealed to mothers, to teach the children to "hate each foreign name, colour, race or tongue" , because it will make him a better soldier. The lyrics of this song also featured in The Vietnam Songbook published in 1969, and compiled by Barbara Dane and Irwin Silber (founders of Paredon Records) - containing 100+ Vietnam War protest songs, 9 of which came from Australia & New Zealand.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Collections
Songs from this release appear in these 3 curated collections.
The songs
1.
1968 · Single · MP # 57 · Australia · The Ballad of Bill White

MP 57, 45, picture labels with a black-and-white photograph of Glen Tomasetti holding a guitar. Side 1 (MP-57-A): "The Ballad of Bill White" (4.08). Side 2 (MP-57-B): "Do Not Sing the Old Songs" (2.26) and "The Army's Appeal to Mothers" (1.11); both sides "Composed and sung by Glen Tomasetti", copyright Glen Tomasetti. [From the record sleeve and labels]

2.
1968 · Single · MP # 57 · Australia

Matrix MP-57-A; "composed and sung by Glen Tomasetti", copyright Glen Tomasetti. MP 57, 45, picture labels with a black-and-white photograph of Glen Tomasetti holding a guitar. Side 1 (MP-57-A): "The Ballad of Bill White" (4.08). Side 2 (MP-57-B): "Do Not Sing the Old Songs" (2.26) and "The Army's Appeal to Mothers" (1.11); both sides "Composed and sung by Glen Tomasetti", copyright Glen Tomasetti. [From the record sleeve and labels]

3.
1968 · Single · MP # 57 · Australia · The Ballad of Bill White

Australian folk singer, songwriter, writer and activist (1929-2003), based in Melbourne; a prominent voice in Australia's anti-Vietnam War and equal-pay movements ('Don't Be Too Polite, Girls'). [Source: Wikipedia]