The Universal Coward
1965 · Liberty 55845 · USA
- Artist
- Jan Berry
- Title
- The Universal Coward
- Release
- The Universal Coward / I Can't Wait to Love You
- Year
- 1965
- Label
- Liberty # 55845
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Genre
- Rock · Surf Rock
- Primary theme
- US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs
Annotation
The song "Universal Coward" (Liberty Records # 55845), a patriotic track, can be seen as an answer to Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Universal Soldier" - both the same tune, but with lyrics representing opposite views. The narrator attacked the peace movement, draft card burning, and defended the role of the US in holding back communism and the USSR. The lyrics sought to define a participant of the anti-war movement, as "twisted...a pacifist, an extremist, a communist or just a yank, a demonstrator, an agitator...a conscious objector, a fanatic or a defector". Whatever one called then, the narrator concluded that they were a "coward" who "runs from Vietnam". Billboard reported on the release of the single on 27 November 1965, writing that "half of the duo of Jan & Dean has a hot entry in this solo performance of hard-driving and timely material describing the opposite side of Universal Soldier". (1) It had region success, such as in Chicago. (2) Berry later released another Vietnam record with the Jan & Dean duo, called "Only a Boy".
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
American singer (Jan & Dean), born 3 April 1941 in Los Angeles, California; died 26 March 2004 in Los Angeles. [Source: Wikipedia]
Themes
In collections
Draft Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs