There were two brothers John and James,
And when the town went up in flames,
To save the house of James dashed John,
Then turned, and lo! his own was gone.
And when the great World War began,
To volunteer John promptly ran:
And while he learned live bombs to lob,
James stayed at home and sneaked his job.
John came home with a missing limb;
That didn't seem to worry him;
But oh, it set his brain awhirl
To find that James had sneaked his girl!
Time passed. John tried his grief to drown;
To-day James owns one half the town;
His army contracts riches yield;
And John ? Well, _search the Potter's Field._
And when the town went up in flames,
To save the house of James dashed John,
Then turned, and lo! his own was gone.
And when the great World War began,
To volunteer John promptly ran:
And while he learned live bombs to lob,
James stayed at home and sneaked his job.
John came home with a missing limb;
That didn't seem to worry him;
But oh, it set his brain awhirl
To find that James had sneaked his girl!
Time passed. John tried his grief to drown;
To-day James owns one half the town;
His army contracts riches yield;
And John ? Well, _search the Potter's Field._
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Note for non-Italian users: Sorry, though the interface of this website is translated into English, most commentaries and biographies are in Italian and/or in other languages like French, German, Spanish, Russian etc.
Recorded at Vanguard Studios, 71 West 23rd Street, New York City, 1971
Music composed by Country Joe McDonald,
based on poems written by Robert Service, used with permisssion
PART ONE
Foreword - The Call (War! War! War!) - Young Fellow, My Lad - The Man from Athabasca
PART TWO
The Munition Maker - The Twins - Jean Desprez
PART THREE
War Widow - The March of the Dead