Tag: anti-war

Songs of Peace: War Isn’t Murder

Jesse Welles gave us this gem in 2024. Listen carefully, and read the lyrics. You will get the point. This is an anti-war song for our time rooted in the traditions of protest songs from ages past.

War isn’t murder, good men don’t die
Children don’t starve and all the women survive
“War isn’t murder, ” that’s what they say
When you’re fighting the Devil, murder’s okay
War isn’t murder, they’re called casualties
There ain’t a veteran with a good night’s sleep

Let’s talk about dead people
I mean a-dead people
The dead don’t feel honor
They don’t feel that brave
They don’t feel avenged
They’re lucky if they got graves

Call your dead mother, ask her when she died
It’s a deathly silence on the other line
The dead don’t talk, but the children don’t forget
So in 20 short years, you could live to regret that

War isn’t murder, there’s money at stake
Girl, even Kushner agrees it’s good real estate
War isn’t murder, ask Netanyahu
He’s got a song for that and a bomb for you
War isn’t murder, it’s an old desert faith
It’s a nation-state sanctioned, righteous hate

Let’s talk about dead people
I mean a-dead people
War isn’t murder, it’s the vengeance of God
If you can’t see the bodies, they don’t bloat when they rot
And the flies don’t swarm, and the children don’t cry
If war isn’t murder, good men don’t die
So in a short 20 years, when you vacation the Strip
Don’t think about the dead and have a nice trip

War isn’t murder, we should all give thanks
I saw it all in a movie, give it up for Tom Hanks
War isn’t murder, they don’t ship out the poor
And the bullets they fire aren’t part of the cure
War isn’t murder, land is a right
But the banks called dibs, it’s something you can’t fight

Let’s talk about dead people
I mean a-dead people
The dead don’t feel honor
They don’t feel that brave
They don’t feel avenged
They’re lucky if they got graves

War isn’t murder, ain’t a river of blood
Stretching all-through time and raining down in a flood
It’s a dark sacrifice, made on your behalf
So get down on your knees and thank the sweet Lord that
War isn’t murder

Find out more about Jesse Welles, “War Isn’t Murder,” and other protest songs:

Other “Songs of Peace” in this series:

November is Peace Month at your School Library

Songs of Peace: Love and War

Canadian legend Neil Young, who has been singing about love and war all his life, gave us this song in 2010.


When I sing about love and war
I don’t really know what I’m saying
I’ve been in love and I’ve seen a lot of war
Seen a lot of people praying
They pray to Allah and they prey to the Lord
And mostly they pray about love and war
Pray about love and war
Pray about love and war

Seen a lot of young men go to war
And leave a lot of young brides waiting
I’ve watched them try to explain it to their kids
And seen a lot of them failing
They tried to tell them and they tried to explain
Why Daddy won’t ever come home again


Daddy won’t ever come home
Daddy won’t ever come home

I said a lot of things that I can’t take back
But I don’t really know if I want to
And songs about love, I sang songs about war
Since the backstreets of Toronto
I sang for justice and I hit a bad chord
But I still try to sing about love and war

The saddest thing in the whole wide world
Is to break the heart of your lover
I made a mistake and I did it again
And we struggled to recover
I sang in anger, hit another bad chord
But I still try to sing about love and war

Sing about love and war
Sing about love and war
Love and war

When I sing about love and war
I don’t really know what I’m saying
I’ve been in love and I’ve seen a lot of war
Seen a lot of people praying
They pray to Allah and they prey to the Lord
And mostly they pray about love and war

When I sing about love and war
I don’t really know what I’m saying
I’ve been in love and I’ve seen a lot of war
Seen a lot of people praying
They pray to Allah and they prey to the Lord
And mostly they pray about love and war

Pray about love and war
Pray about love and war

Seen a lot of young men go to war
And leave a lot of young brides waiting
I’ve watched them try to explain it to their kids
And seen a lot of them failing
They tried to tell them and they tried to explain
Why Daddy won’t ever come home again

Daddy won’t ever come home
Daddy won’t ever come home

I said a lot of things that I can’t take back
But I don’t really know if I want to
And songs about love, I sang songs about war
Since the backstreets of Toronto
I sang for justice and I hit a bad chord
But I still try to sing about love and war

The saddest thing in the whole wide world
Is to break the heart of your lover
I made a mistake and I did it again
And we struggled to recover
I sang in anger, hit another bad chord
But I still try to sing about love and war

Sing about love and war
Sing about love and war
Love and war

When I sing about love and war
I don’t really know what I’m saying
I’ve been in love and I’ve seen a lot of war
Seen a lot of people praying
They pray to Allah and they prey to the Lord
And mostly they pray about love and war

Other “Songs of Peace” in this series:

November is Peace Month at your School Library

Songs of Peace: Holy War

Alicia Keys brings us this powerful song that looks at the irony of a society that seems to be more scared of sex than it is of war. “Holy War” was first released in 2016 by the acclaimed American singer/songwriter.


If war is holy and sex is obscene
We’ve got it twisted in this lucid dream
Baptized in boundaries, schooled in sin
Divided by difference, sexuality, and skin

Oh, so we can hate each other and fear each other
We can build these walls between each other
Baby, blow by blow and brick by brick
Keep yourself locked in, yourself locked in
Yeah, we can hate each other and fear each other
We can build these walls between each other
Baby, blow by blow and brick by brick
Keep yourself locked in, yourself locked

Oh, maybe we should love somebody
Oh, maybe we could care a little more
So maybe we should love somebody
Instead of polishing the bombs of holy war

What if sex was holy and war was obscene
And it wasn’t twisted, what a wonderful dream
Living for love, unafraid of the end
Forgiveness is the only real revenge

Oh, so we can heal each other and fill each other
We can break these walls between each other
Baby, blow by blow and brick by brick
Keep yourself open, yourself open
Yeah, we can heal each other and fill each other
We can break these walls between each other
Baby, blow by blow and brick by brick
Keep yourself open, you’re open

So maybe we should love somebody
Maybe we could care a little more
So maybe we should love somebody
Instead of polishing the bombs of holy war

What if love is holy and hate obscene
We should give life to this beautiful dream
‘Cause peace and love ain’t so far
If we nurse our wounds before they scar
Nurse our wounds before they scar

Other “Songs of Peace” in this series:

November is Peace Month at your School Library

Songs of Peace: Blowin’ in the Wind

Bob Dylan has written many songs that are prominent in lists of the greatest protest songs of all time. One of his greatest is “Blowin’ in the Wind” from 1962.


How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, ’n’ how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, ’n’ how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it’s washed to the sea?
Yes, ’n’ how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, ’n’ how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, ’n’ how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, ’n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind

Over the years song has been performed with some iconic covers. In fact, just weeks after Dylan’s version debuted, Peter, Paul and Mary released their cover.

Other great cover versions include those from Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, and Joan Baez, who has performed and recorded solo versions and duets with Bob Dylan.

Other “Songs of Peace” in this series:

November is Peace Month at your School Library

Songs of Peace: War Pigs

Fans of metal and hard rock know that some of the most overt anti-war songs have come from bands such as Metallica, Megadeth and Iron Maiden. Going way back to the roots of metal, in 1970 Black Sabbath gave us “War Pigs,” a scathing indictment of war.


Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerer of death’s construction

In the fields, the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
Oh lord, yeah!

Other “Songs of Peace” in this series:

November is Peace Month at your School Library

Songs of Peace: Fussing and Fighting

Many of Bob Marley’s Songs show up on lists of the greatest songs about peace and critiques of war. We previously featured “One Love.” In 1971 Bob Marley and the Wailers gave us “Fussing and Fighting.” The lyrics are simple but the message combined with the music is deeply compelling.


We should really love each other
In peace and harmony, ooh
Instead, we’re fussing and fighting
And them workin’ iniquity

Other “Songs of Peace” in this series:

November is Peace Month at your School Library

Champions of Peace

Can you identify these individuals who championed peace, non-violence, civil disobedience, reconciliation, conscientious objection, and other alternatives to war and violence?

Give it a try. Then check the answer key to see how you did. Comment below.

Answer Key

You can also try the SPORCLE version: click here

November is Peace Month. Come down to your School Library to find out more.

Songs of Peace: War

War, huh, yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, uhh

Written by Barrett Strong / Norman Whitfield

Originally written for The Temptations, “War” was eventually released as a single by Edwin Starr. Although the song has been covered by many artists, including Bruce Springsteen, the preeminent version remains that of Edwin Starr. Originally written as part of the protests against the Vietnam War, Edwin Starr’s peformance of “War” has stood the test of time and remains one of the most famous anti-war anthems to this day.

Join us in your school library this month as we explore and celebrate November’s themes: Peace, non-violence, and alternatives to war.

Other “Songs of Peace” in this series:

Songs of Peace: One Love

“Let’s get together and feel all right”

–Bob Marley, “One Love”
source: YouTube / John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band

There are many songs by Bob Marley that are considered “Songs of Peace.” Today we take a moment to consider “One Love.”

November 11 is Remembrance Day
November 5-11 is Veterans’ Week
November is Peace Month

Other “Songs of Peace” in this series:

Songs of Peace: Give Peace a Chance

“All we are saying is give peace a chance.”

–John Lennon
source: YouTube / John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band

The antiwar movement of the 1960s and early 1970’s focused on the American war in Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia. Many songs became forever associated with this era, perhaps none more so than “Give Peace a Chance.”

Although he was still a member of the Beatles, this was John Lennon’s first single released without the “Fab Four.” Originally the writing credits went to both Lennon and Paul McCartney, however later Lennon claimed that Yoko Ono deserved a credit, not Paul. The song was the musical highlight of the “Bed-In” of Lennon and Ono in Montreal in 1969. “Give Peace a Chance” would become what many consider to be the ultimate antiwar anthem.

Of course, many others will argue the ultimate antiwar anthem is John Lennon’s masterpiece, “Imagine.” Look for that in a future “Songs of Peace” post.

Find out more:

Give Peace a Chance (Wikipedia)

Official Site of John Lennon

Pop Matters: John Lennon

November 11 is Remembrance Day
November 5-11 is Veterans’ Week
November is Peace Month

Other “Songs of Peace” in this series: