With God on Our Side
I've been wanting to post this song for a while now. There is so much bullshit going on in our country and in the world that I guess I got sidetracked. All of this war and fighting over religion and cultures is sickening. I don't see a change happening in my lifetime. It's senseless. I've always loved the lyrics to this Bob Dylan song and this version by Arron Neville is great. It could probably use a new verse or two by now...
Oh my name it is nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I's taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side.
Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
Oh the country was young
With God on its side.
Oh the Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
I's made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side.
Oh the First World War, boys
It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting
I never got straight
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead
When God's on your side.
When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side.
I've learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war starts
It's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side.
But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God's on your side.
In a many dark hour
I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.
So now as I'm leavin'
I'm weary as Hell
The confusion I'm feelin'
Ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God's on our side
He'll stop the next war.
Oh my name it is nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I's taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side.
Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
With God on its side.
Oh the Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
I's made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side.
Oh the First World War, boys
It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting
I never got straight
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead
When God's on your side.
When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side.
I've learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war starts
It's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side.
But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God's on your side.
In a many dark hour
I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.
So now as I'm leavin'
I'm weary as Hell
The confusion I'm feelin'
Ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God's on our side
He'll stop the next war.
9 Comments:
You would have thought he'd have got fed up of taking in all the casualties by now, wouldn't you?
Especially since he seems to be on everyone's side.
I do wish people would stop using this silly excuse about God being on their side. That includes Heads of State, Presidents, Prime Ministers etc. It's rubbish.
By
kat, At
February 24, 2006 12:38 PM
That's the irony of it all. God isn't about killing and punishment but governments, religions and people have made it in to that. My God can kick your God's ass. If there is a God, I would think that he is pissed about how many have been killed in his name (or Allah's or whatever)
By
:phil:, At
February 24, 2006 1:38 PM
It's definitely a holy war. Just gotta be strong in your faith---that's all that matters. Put your armor of God on and be strong!
By
~Deb, At
February 24, 2006 3:43 PM
Gotta love Bob Dylan, some of his lyrics are great!
By
PBS, At
February 25, 2006 2:28 AM
I really truly hope there is a god, but I still want him to continue to not take an active part in what happens here on Earth, which to me, means he doesn't aid any side in any war.
Unfortunately, for mere humans, all wars are holy wars, and whomever has the most faith has the biggest, strongest god. And there's no way to counteract faith's effect on the faithful, as pointed out in the thought below:
"The existence of god is a given, a certain truth with a probability of one. And, as for science, well, if it's important for the experiment to come out right, a benevolent god will see that it does so. Besides, god doesn't mess with little things like test tubes and phosphorus assays, only with big things like virgin births, raising the dead, turning wives into pillars of salt, and keeping you alive in the belly of a "great fish." And faith is not just indifferent to evidence; if the physical evidence disagrees with a statement of faith, faith must thereby become all the stronger."
-- Lucia Hall, 1999
By
gon4good, At
February 25, 2006 12:52 PM
Good song. I'll have to find the Aaron Neville version.
I do think God takes sides in everything, including wars. The Bible is full of stories in which he had whole armies brought down by a handful of relatively unskilled soldiers. He definitely gets involved, for reasons and outcomes we can't possibly know.
By
StringMan, At
February 26, 2006 11:39 PM
Bible is full of stories...
By
:phil:, At
February 27, 2006 7:43 AM
Goose pimples!
By
Dakota, At
February 27, 2006 9:38 AM
Tis...
And great lyrics. Gonna see if I can download the tune.
Thanks, Phil.
By
gon4good, At
February 28, 2006 9:18 AM
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