He’s five foot-two, and he’s six feet-four, He fights with missiles and with spears. He’s all of thirty-one, and he’s only seventeen, Been a soldier for a thousand years. He’a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain, A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew. And he knows he shouldn’t kill, And he knows he always will, Kill you for me my friend and me for you. And he’s fighting for Canada, He’s fighting for France, He’s fighting for the USA, And he’s fighting for the Russians, And he’s fighting for Japan, And he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way. And he’s fighting for Democracy, He’s fighting for the Reds, He says it’s for the peace of all. He’s the one who must decide, Who’s to live and who’s to die, And he never sees the writing on the wall. But without him, How would Hitler have condemned them at Dachau? Without him Caesar would have stood alone, He’s the one who gives his body As a weapon of the war, And without him all this killing can’t go on. He’s the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame, His orders come from far away no more, They come from here and there and you and me, And brothers can’t you see, This is not the way we put the end to war.

Well this song Universal soldier is timeless…this is not the way we put an end to war!

Donovan was superb in the 60’s. Another great who never gets enough credit. He was as good as almost anyone in those days.

‘without him all this killing can’t go on’ – by 1971-72 the greater majority of us fighting troops in Vietnam, flat out refused direct orders to go into battle; this consciousness spread like wild fire, forcing Nixon to abandon the ground troop strategy, by beginning to bring home the troops. The reality of the situation is he had to go to an air war because his ground troops flat out refused to fight it out anymore. This was an unprecedented event in American history, the troops refusing to fight from unit to unit. Whole company units refused to move, and since the military stockades were over filled to capacity, the companies were held for arrest within their own company perimeter. Some now say it was this refusal to fight that had spread all over Vietnam, is what shut down the war; the troops, not Nixon . Read ‘Soldiers in Revolt,’ by David Cortright; it’ll blow your mind. As weapons of the war, they chose not to be, and without them all this killing can’t go on.’

The look of the girl at 1:37 is priceless. Someone getting it. 🙂

“What if they gave a war and nobody came?” ( John Lennon)

Never more needed than today

love this song people are so disconnected from the horror of war since they ended the draft.

THANK YOU BUFFY SAINT MARIE

Saw Donovan perform this on Wednesday. Still mesmerizing. Could have heard a pin drop in the room. Legend.

Incredible antiwar song.

You know you are good  when you can silence a crowd like that .

this is the universal song to that universal problem WAR, I hope one day that we will not need to sing songs like this to protest it any longer. PEACE

I have the most special memory. My father worked at a youth club and he told us about a talented person who had no idea how talented he was …

There are no Atheists in foxholes

Such a poinagnt timeless song.

still is a great song,after al this years and we sil do not listen

I thought this was Marlon from Emmerdale.

He blames the soldiers.. yes. But if there were no soldiers then there could be no wars. Ever. Soldiers are the ultimate weapon in any conflict. I think I know what he means. And I understand. If no man decided to be a soldier….. what then?

“Politicians hide themselves away, they only started the war,…. Why should they go out to fight, they leave that role to the poor,…” – Back Sabbath, “War Pigs”