No More War

Annotation

Born Jacqueline Steiner (11 September 1924) in New York, USA, she was an American folk singer and social activist who played an active part in the 1950s and 1960s folk scene, collaborating with Pete Seeger on the 1954 album Hootenanny Tonight! (under her married name Jackie Berman). In 1966 she released the anti-Vietnam War album "No More War" (Cutty Wren Records # CWR 101).1 She died on 25 January 2019.2 The title track "No More War" centred around a speech given by Pope Paul VI to the United Nations General Assembly on 4 October 1965, captured on several LPs, including Mission to America, October 4, 1965 (Columbia Records # xx2). The Pope diplomatically did not mention any specific conflict, but sent out a general message of peace: "the blood of millions of men...useless massacres and fearful ruins have sealed the pact united you with a vow which must change the future of the world: Never again war, war never again! Peace".3 This criticism contrasted to some American Church leaders who backed President Johnson in Vietnam - most notably Cardinal Francis Spellman (as dealt with in the "Dean Rusk Song" by Bill Frederick on the 1967 album Hey, Hey...LBJ! discussed below, and in the unrecorded Tom Paxton song "The Cardinal" published in Broadside # 80, May 1967). The lyrics also re-phrased another section of the Pope's speech: "we can't be brothers 'till the weapons fall from our hands". Broadside published the lyrics to "No More War" in # 75 in October 1966, accompanied by a lengthy explanation of the song - written the day after the Pope's speech, Barbara Dane and Irwin Silber aired an early demo recording on 6 October 1965, two days after the speech, on the WBAI radio station. Sources1Billboard, 18 March 1967↩2The New York Times: Jacqueline steiner dead↩3Paul VI, Speech to the United Nations Organization, 4 October 1965 (vatican.va)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Civil Rights Songs

Born Jacqueline Steiner (11 September 1924) in New York, USA, she was an American folk singer and social activist who played an active part in the 1950s and 1960s folk scene, collaborating with Pete Seeger on the 1954 album Hootenanny Tonight! (under her married name Jackie Berman). In 1966 she released the anti-Vietnam War album "No More War" (Cutty Wren Records # CWR 101).1 She died on 25 January 2019.2 The title track "No More War" centred around a speech given by Pope Paul VI to the United Nations General Assembly on 4 October 1965, captured on several LPs, including Mission to America, October 4, 1965 (Columbia Records # xx2). Broadside published the lyrics to "No More War" in # 75 in October 1966, accompanied by a lengthy explanation of the song.The song "Chant for the Murdered" from the album No More War (Cutty Wren Records # CWR 101) tackled the issues of blind patriotism during the Vietnam War period, while mainly focused on the issue of Civil Rights: "one nation torn apart by hate and wrong... justice for some". Note the reference to several high profile murders of Civil Rights activists, including Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner: "my name is... Schwerner, and my name Jim Chaney, Andy Goodman". Songs referencing the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and SchwernerSources1Billboard, 18 March 1967↩2The New York Times: Jacqueline steiner dead↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: No more war, war never again / When Pope Paul came across the sea / He came with his message for you and me / United Nations, best hope of mankind / What you build must never fall / It must be big enough for all / You great powers put away your pride / Each new nation at its birth must share the riches of this earth / We can't be brothers 'till the weapons fall from our hands / Let the world's worst nightmare end I pledge an allegiance to the flag / Oh you red white and blue / Of the United States with an exception or two / Of America, with its prison wars / And to the republic for which it stands or falls / One nation torn apart by hate and wrong / Under god, why have you forsaken me so long / With liberty and death you'll never know when it will come / And justice for some / Because I'm from Alabama, I'm from Harlem, New York City, I'm from Watts in L.A., Philadelphia, Mississippi... / My name is James Lee Jackson, and my name is Mickey Schwerner, and my name Jim Chaney, Andy Goodman, James Reeb, and my name is Willie Bruster, Viola Liuzzo, and my name is Medgar Evers, and my name is Jonathan Daniels / I pledge an allegiance to the flag / Oh you red white and blue...

Notes

Title track (A6, 2:41 on RYM) of the 12-track LP Cutty Wren CWR-101, 1966, arrangements Walter Raim. [From Rate Your Music]

About the artist

Born Jacqueline Steiner (11 September 1924) in New York, USA

Themes

Anti-War · Pope Paul VI · United Nations

In collections

Civil Rights Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]