With God On Our Side
Bob Dylan
Album:The Times They Are A-Changin'
He sang this song at the Newport Folk Festival with Joan Baez 26 July 1964. Bob was unplugged after starting a ruckus among folkies over three
decades ago at the Newport Folk Festival by plugging in. In this album he is at the peak of his awesome power.
LYRICS:
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 an it went
The reason for fightin' 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 boys, 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 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 an' shot the world wide
An' you never ask questions when God's on your side
Through a many dark hour i've been thinkin' 'bout 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
That if God's on our side, he'll stop the next war.
