It's On

Annotation

Contemporary folk artist Trevor Lucas, born 25 December 1943 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He died on 4 February 1989 in Sydney, NSW, Australia. This album featured the anti-war song "It's On" (CBS # BA-221124), composed by Don Henderson, who wrote many Vietnam War-related songs, discussed below. As discussed above, Gary Shearston released a version in 1964, prior to Australia's major involvement in the Vietnam War: It's On. Raymond Crooke recorded a version on his YouTube channel. While the Vietnam conflict was well underway in 1964, very few Australians participated until the Menzies government upgraded its commitment in April 1965 - so this is more of a Vietnam-era protest song, not specifically mentioning the conflict, but a representation of the early 60s anti-war movement in Australia. The lyrics revolved around the absurdity of conflict as two people get into a fight: "reason and logic are gone, winning the fight won't prove that you're right". The final verse criticised governments / politicians that "save on education and spend on defence".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: A sad story you'll hear if you listen to me / About two men who could never agree / What one said was white, the other called black / They'd argue a while ands then they'd step out the back / And it's on, and it's on / Reason and logic are gone / Winning the fight won't prove that you're right / It's sad, but it's true, it's on / And when it was over they'd come back then / The argument would become heated again / Who won the first round they couldn't decide / To one asked the other, would he step outside, and it's on... / They'd been fighting so long they could neither recall what in the first place started it all / But they keep at day in and day out / Now they're fighting to see what they're fighting about / It's on... / Well can you imagine if intellectuals came to an agreement by Queensberry rules / It could easily be argued that the square root of 4 was 15 less 3, plus a smack in the jaw, and it's on... / And when government thinks that it makes better sense to save on education and spend on defence / It could also be argued, that on the same grounds, that elections should be the best of ten rounds / It's on, and it's on / Reason and logic are gone / Winning the fight won't prove that you're right / It's sad, but it's true, it's on

About the artist

Born 25 December 1943 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He died on 4 February 1989 in Sydney, NSW, Australia

Themes

Anti-War

In collections

Australian & New Zealand Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]