Music Relevant to the Anti-War Movement and Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun
- Johnny Get Your Gun or Over There - Written by George M. Cohan, 1917.
Written by George M. Cohan the song was widely performed by various artists (initially by Charles King) from its publication in 1917.
Cohan later recalled that the words and music to the song came to him while travelling by train from New Rochelle to New York shortly after the U.S. had declared war against Germany in April 1917. Over There proved a nationwide hit in the months immediately following America's entry into the war.
Cohan himself was formally recognised by Congress with the award of the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor in 1940. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbggEGUaE28
Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun
Take it on the run, on the run, on the run
Hear them calling you and me
Every Son of Liberty
Hurry right away, no delay, go today
Make your Daddy glad to have had such a lad
Tell your sweetheart not to pine,
To be proud her boy's in line
Johnny, get your gun, get your gun, get your gun
Johnny, show the "Hun" you're a son-of-a-gun
Hoist the flag and let her fly
Yankee Doodle, do or die
Pack your little kit, show your grit, do your bit
Yankee to the ranks from the towns and the tanks
Make your Mother proud of you
And the old red-white-and-blue
Over there, over there,
Send the word, send the word over there
That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming
The drum's rum-tumming everywhere
So prepare, say a prayer,
Send the word, send the word to beware
We'll be over, we're coming over
And we won't come back till it's over, over there
2. One - Metallica, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, 1986. One was written in November, 1987 by Metallica's principal composers - rhythm guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich. The song was released in 1989 as the second single taken from the album “…And Justice for All.” One was the first Metallica song for which a music video was created. The music video directed by Bill Pope and Michael Salomon debuted on MTV on January 20, 1989. The video is almost entirely in black & white, and features the band performing the sog in a warehouse. It features dialogue and several scenes from the movie Johnny Got His Gun. In 1990, Metallica won their first Grammy Award for One, winning Best Metal Performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM8bTdBs-cw
I can't remember anything
Can't tell if this is true or dream
Deep down inside I feel the scream
This terrible silence stops it there
Now that the war is through with me
I'm waking up, I cannot see
That there's not much left of me
Nothing is real but pain now
Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please god, wake me
Back in the womb it's much too real
In pumps life that I must feel
But can't look forward to reveal
Look to the time when I'll live
Fed through the tube that sticks in me
Just like a wartime novelty
Tied to machines that make me be
Cut this life off from me
Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please god, wake me
Now the world is gone I'm just one
Oh god, help me
Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please god, wake me
Darkness imprisoning me
All that I see
Absolute horror
I cannot live I cannot die
Trapped in myself
Body my holding cell
Landmine has taken my sight
Taken my speech
Taken my hearing
Taken my arms
Taken my legs
Taken my soul
Left me with life in hell