"Civil War" lyrics

"Civil War"

What we've got here is failure to communicate
Some men, you just can't reach
So, you get what we had here, last week
Which is the way he wants it
Well, he gets it
And I don't like it any more than you men

Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before
Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before

My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
An' the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
An' all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands, time can't deny
An' are washed away by your genocide
An' history hides the lies of our civil wars

D'you wear a black armband when they shot the man
Who said peace could last forever?
An' in my first memories, they shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall in D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom when it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin' for their promised land

And I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich, while it buries the poor
Your power hungry, sellin' soldiers in a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh? I don't need your civil war
Ooh, no, no, no, no, no, no

Look at the shoes you're filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
An' I don't want to hear no more

My hands are tied
For all, I've seen has changed my mind
But still, the wars go on, as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
An' all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars

We practice selective annihilation
Of mayors and government officials
For example, to create a vacuum
Then we fill that vacuum
As popular war advances
Peace is closer

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich, while it buries the poor
Your power hungry, sellin' soldiers in a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh? I don't need your civil war
No no no no no no no no no no no no
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
Your power hungry, sellin' soldiers in a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh? I don't need your civil war
No no no no no no no no no no, no, no
I don't need one more war
Ooh, I don't need one more war
No no no, no whoa, no whoa

What's so civil 'bout war anyway?


Thanks to Nathan, Estrella DeGore, Nathan Burns, josh for correcting these lyrics.
Writer(s): W. Axl Rose, Duff Rose McKagan, Saul Hudson, Matt Sorum, Izzy Stradlin, Darren A. Reed
This song was first released on the fund-raising compilation "Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal" (1990) before its release on the album "Use Your Illusion II".
This song is the only song on the album with Steven Adler on drums because it was recorded in 1990. The rest of the songs features Matt Sorum, who replaced Adler later.
The introduction of this song is a sample from the the film "Cool Hand Luke" (1967).
In this song Axl Rose whistles the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" written during the American Civil War.
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