"With God On Our Side" lyrics
"With God On Our Side"
Oh, my name—it ain't 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 the 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
The Indians died
Oh, the country was young
With God on its side
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
The First World War, boys
It came and it went
The reason for fighting
I never did get
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead
When God's on your side
The Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And then 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 the Russians
All through my whole life
If another war comes
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 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
Through 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 they fall to the floor
That if God's on our side
He'll stop the next war
Thanks to Robin Hillyard, kim, dave for correcting these lyrics.
Writer(s): Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan first performed this song during his debut at The Town Hall in New York City on the 12th of April 1963.
Though these lyrics originally didn't mention Vietnam War, the additional verse about the matter was added to some live performances of the song in 1980s.
The melody of "With God on Our Side" is borrowed from the traditional Irish folk song "The Merry Month of May". Dominic Behan used the same melody in his song "The Patriot Game" but claimed the melody as an original composition, and questioned the origin of Dylan's song as a whole.
Bob Dylan and
Joan Baez performed the song as a duet at the Newport Folk Festival in July 1963 and July 1964.
- AZLyrics
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- Bob Dylan Lyrics
album:
"The Times They Are A-Changin'" (1964)