Oh my name it ain't nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I was taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that 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 was 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 a 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 fall to the floor
That if God's on our side
He'll stop the next war
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I was taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that 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 was 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 a 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 fall to the floor
That if God's on our side
He'll stop the next war
Lyrics submitted by Jack, edited by aaron11773
With God on Our Side Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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dylan's point about russia and germany is not a commentary on the facts surrounding world war II and the tragedies that occured, but about the nature of politics and the quick shifting of loyalties and how history is told from the perspective of the victors etc etc, if you're focusing in on that one detail you're not seeing the brilliant, ironic forest for the trees.
the 1964 live version with joan baez and dylan is the best by far.
i think god prefers an athiest
You're totally missing the point. And, at this point, you already know that.
Dylan doesn't even criticize the Germans
What he does criticize is the double-standard that led the public opinion to change the way they feel about them once their leaders tell them to do so.
Of course, forgetting whatever principals that might have led them to feel either way.
You already know what we all mean, so stop tryin' to pick a cheap fight.
It's very easy.
It's not about Jews being victims, or Commies innocent, or Germans being the bad guys.
It's all about how easily Americans buy the oficial version of the story, and how distracted they are about the obvious truth:
War-Bad
Killing-Bad
Going to war to kill in the name of any God-Bad
God-Good
DJacques75-Good
DJacques75 listening and enjoying a beautifull Dylan song-Good
DJacques75 getting lost in the way of petty different versions of "the truth" and totally missing the point-Bad
Oh and by the way DJacques,
"That Dylan (and, evidently, you) only see Jewish deaths as worthy of recognition says quite a bit about how the American media is stacked"
- I would prefer if you kept you small-minded anti-semitic views out of the discussion
But this song really makes a lot of sense, and it's easy to see that it's always been controversial.
But the point is that God is not to be used to defend or justify war.
Smile, be happy, thank God you're alive, suck it up, and love everyone.
:)
Humans have gotten used to the idea of gods, and the people who are in power convince the masses that the Easter Bunny (God, Zeus, Spaghetti Monster, call him whatever you want) would approve of the torture and murdering of millions of people all in the name of the greater good which is their religion.
In my opinion religion is the one flaw in the evolution of man, and it will be the death of us all.
Of course, advances in science could also wipe us out (and obviously have already to a certain extent), but I sincerely believe that "sheeple" blindly growing into who they are based on religion is much more harmful than people actually concerned with finding out what's really going on, and not just blindly accepting fairy tales as fact to explain life's mysteries.
trousers@verizon.net, let me know if I pissed you off or if I made any sense to anyone
If your god helps you get through your day, more power to you, but I believe that if you had never heard of "god" that something else in your life would help you day to day in the exact same way (perhaps helping those close to you for the sole reason of it being the RIGHT THING TO DO). And I truly believe the negative effects of religion far outweigh the good, on a global and historical scale at least.
I hate to be so anti religious, but I sincerely think the time has come for this nonsense to stop and for people to think for themselves. Stop Brainwashing Kids.