The War Song

Annotation

Jon Lucien (1942-2007), from the Virgin Islands, released the soul-jazz track "The War Song" (RCA Records # APL1-0161), which took an anti-war position. It was written by Lucien, with the orchestra arranged by Dave Grusin. He mainly focused on children / young people been sent to war by the government: "when your son comes of age, they tell him, pack his sack". He noted their deaths, with "mothers crying, young boys dying", while some returned to the US with disabilities: "the leg you lost...to humanity". The song's central message was to "save the children, stop the killin'".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Children lose their lives in the war / They don't know just what they're fighting for / They only know that they've got to kill... / My friend what good is the war when you can't stay alive? / People shouting "Freedom" everyday / How can one be free living this way? / When they want more guns to fight / They raise your income tax / And when your son comes of age / They tell him, pack his sack / Mothers crying, young boys dying... / Save the children, stop the killin'... / When you come back home to your land / You're no longer qualified as a man / The leg you lost was your token to humanity

About the artist

Jon Lucien (born Lucien Leopold Harrigan, 8 January 1942 in Tortola, British Virgin Islands; died 18 August 2007 in Orlando, Florida, aged 65, of respiratory failure) was a jazz, soul and rhythm-and-blues vocalist raised in St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, discovered at a New York party by an RCA executive and marketed by the label - to his own discomfort - as a 'black Sinatra'; he recorded for RCA, Columbia and Mercury across four decades, his best-known song being 'Lady Love'. "The War Song", written by Lucien himself, appeared on his RCA Victor album 'Rashida' (APL1-0161, 1973), an…

Themes

Anti-War

In collections

Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years] · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs