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Guns Before Butter Lyrics
All this talk of blood and iron
Is the cause of all my shaking
All this talk of blood and iron
Is the cause of all my shaking
All this talk of blood and iron
Is the cause of all my shaking
All this talk of blood and iron
It's the cause of all my shaking
The fatherland's no place to die for
It makes me want to run out shaking
I hear some talk of guns and butter
That's something we can do without
If men are only blood and iron
O Doctor Doctor, what's in my shirt?
Just keep quiet, no room for doubt
All this talk of joy in labor
I'll tell you this you can leave me out
The motherland's no place to cry for
I want some sand to hide my head in
I'm hearing talk of strength in labor
That's something I can do without
If I'm only blood and iron
O Doctor Doctor, what's in my shirt
Just keep quiet, no room for doubt
All this talk of blood and iron
It's the cause of all my shaking
The fatherland's no place to cry for
It makes me want to run out shouting
I hear some talk of guns and butter
That's something I can do without
If men are only blood and iron
O Doctor Doctor, what's in my shirt?
Just keep quiet, no room for doubt
Is the cause of all my shaking
All this talk of blood and iron
Is the cause of all my shaking
All this talk of blood and iron
Is the cause of all my shaking
It's the cause of all my shaking
The fatherland's no place to die for
It makes me want to run out shaking
I hear some talk of guns and butter
That's something we can do without
If men are only blood and iron
O Doctor Doctor, what's in my shirt?
I'll tell you this you can leave me out
The motherland's no place to cry for
I want some sand to hide my head in
I'm hearing talk of strength in labor
That's something I can do without
If I'm only blood and iron
O Doctor Doctor, what's in my shirt
It's the cause of all my shaking
The fatherland's no place to cry for
It makes me want to run out shouting
I hear some talk of guns and butter
That's something I can do without
If men are only blood and iron
O Doctor Doctor, what's in my shirt?
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Pleat's pretty close, but missed the 'guns and butter' bit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns_and_butter
Pleat is completely right, but missed the literal meaning point of "Guns Before Butter". Hermann Goering famously said in a speech:
"Guns will make us powerful; butter will only make us fat."
Oh you 3 are all wrong! And you're all idiots! "I'm hearing talk of joy in labor I'll tell you this you can leave me out The motherland's no place to cry for I want some sand to hide my head in I'm hearing talk of strength in labor That's something I can do without" This is about Soviet Russia! And how if you work you will find happiness Which workers did not Pleat is an idiot Phillstac3 is an idiot And Samhalverson is an idiot! Those lines are anti-Soviet and anti-Russian Russians usually refer to their country as the Motherland And Soviet's are evil Because they just think of material goods And nothing spiritual Pleat you are a complete idiot Case closed!
I'm convinced this song is about living in Nazi Germany before WWII.
'All this talk of blood and iron' - Bismarck said Germans were made from blood and iron; similarly the Nazis talked of 'blood and soil'
'I hear some talk of guns and butter/that's something I can do without' - in the build up to the War the German economy was geared towards the production of weapons and home-grown food (guns and butter); King's character can see a war is looming and is pleading 'The Fatherland's no place to die for'
'Joy in labour' - trade unions were destroyed and instead workers joined Nazi clubs and societies that promoted 'joy through work'
I think that's the German spelling of 'Doctor' as well.
Case closed!
One theory is the Guns versus Butter model came from the USA just before they entered WW1. There was a great need of nitrates for explosives and fertilizer and Chile was neutral so the USA need to find its own source of nitrates which they did in Alabama but not till a deadlock in Congress was broken to sponsor the National Defense act of 1916-it was presented by the news media as "guns and butter" because they now had the secretary of agriculture manufacturer nitrates in peace and war but the way some were presenting it was guns versus butter...
One theory is the Guns versus Butter model came from the USA just before they entered WW1. There was a great need of nitrates for explosives and fertilizer and Chile was neutral so the USA need to find its own source of nitrates which they did in Alabama but not till a deadlock in Congress was broken to sponsor the National Defense act of 1916-it was presented by the news media as "guns and butter" because they now had the secretary of agriculture manufacturer nitrates in peace and war but the way some were presenting it was guns versus butter was never really accurate because food was always going to be secure. There's other theories too but I think that's the earliest reference even if it wasn't presented correctly at the time
It’s about government spending and being sick of defense spending (guns) always exceeding production of goods (butter) using war and death as examples
@Richard sh yeah theres a lot to parse out from just a few verses. First you have the literal economic model of "guns versus butter", it's a macroeconomic idea, just look up that on Wikipedia, it's well known. Then in the first verse he doesn't want to die for an ideal he doesn't believe in (firstly the fatherland) as he thinks he's more than iron in his blood, otherwise what's that under his short (a heart). The face he talks about the Fatherland likely means the Nazis but I think there's a little more to it underneath but I'll circle...
@Richard sh yeah theres a lot to parse out from just a few verses. First you have the literal economic model of "guns versus butter", it's a macroeconomic idea, just look up that on Wikipedia, it's well known. Then in the first verse he doesn't want to die for an ideal he doesn't believe in (firstly the fatherland) as he thinks he's more than iron in his blood, otherwise what's that under his short (a heart). The face he talks about the Fatherland likely means the Nazis but I think there's a little more to it underneath but I'll circle back later. Next verse is clearly Soviet Russia, he hears there's joy in labour, motherland is no place to cry for, he just wants to hide his head in the sand and again he asks well what's under my short (his heart-he knows he is more than production, and a clone because he can feel something more in him). This is where I said I'd circle back-remember when this was written, the Cold War was at its height, East Germany and West Germany was still a thing, the some people were genuinely looking back at the Nazi era with some fondness and of course the West was telling us to keep our heads down and not worry and coming out but of course he's worrying, he's shacking as he knows where this can lead and all around him everyone in power seems to be just using humans as models and workers but again, because of that beating under his shirt he knows he's more than that. He just wants to live. Anyway that's a bit long, I've maybe seen more than is actually there but that's my thoughts lol