When I was just a young boy
I played with sword and gun
and I dreamed of the day that I'd become a soldier.
Kill all of the enemy
My country 'tis of thee
I sing this anthem sadly, won't you hear me?
I watched the cannon blazing
On the giant silver screen
the swastika was burning and the hero was me.
The general gave the orders
Gladly I obeyed
but the movie faded quickly all at once today.
And now I stand alone with the charges made.
Nowhere to run and not a place to hide.
We're all little children playing grownup games.
Guess the time has come.
The damage has been done.
Oh, stray dogs that live on a highway walk on three legs.
Learn too slow to get the message.
Just like the Indians in the early days
The battle's lost and won
Yet it still goes on
It's just another ballad for a soldier.
I had no understanding
'til I saw my mother cry
When I told how many babies I had killed that night.
A dozen color photographs
inside of a magazine
told the morbid story like a movie screen.
But I was not the hero
I thought myself to be
Movies aren't much different than reality.
The general was convicted
but to get him off the hook,
the President lied freely for the chance I took.
And we all stand alone when the charge's made
A sad way to live for a way to die.
We're sad little children playing grownup games.
Can we burn the guns
before the next time comes?
Oh, stray dogs that live on a highway walk on three legs.
Move too slow to learn the message.
Give up and win, that's all I have to say.
You haven't really won
when all your fightin's done
there's no more ballads for a soldier.
I played with sword and gun
and I dreamed of the day that I'd become a soldier.
Kill all of the enemy
My country 'tis of thee
I sing this anthem sadly, won't you hear me?
I watched the cannon blazing
On the giant silver screen
the swastika was burning and the hero was me.
The general gave the orders
Gladly I obeyed
but the movie faded quickly all at once today.
And now I stand alone with the charges made.
Nowhere to run and not a place to hide.
We're all little children playing grownup games.
Guess the time has come.
The damage has been done.
Oh, stray dogs that live on a highway walk on three legs.
Learn too slow to get the message.
Just like the Indians in the early days
The battle's lost and won
Yet it still goes on
It's just another ballad for a soldier.
I had no understanding
'til I saw my mother cry
When I told how many babies I had killed that night.
A dozen color photographs
inside of a magazine
told the morbid story like a movie screen.
But I was not the hero
I thought myself to be
Movies aren't much different than reality.
The general was convicted
but to get him off the hook,
the President lied freely for the chance I took.
And we all stand alone when the charge's made
A sad way to live for a way to die.
We're sad little children playing grownup games.
Can we burn the guns
before the next time comes?
Oh, stray dogs that live on a highway walk on three legs.
Move too slow to learn the message.
Give up and win, that's all I have to say.
You haven't really won
when all your fightin's done
there's no more ballads for a soldier.
inviata da Bartleby - 23/12/2011 - 10:07
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Dall’album “Asylum Choir II”
Scritta da Leon Russell
Musica di Leon Russell e Marc Benno
William Calley fu in un primo tempo condannato all’ergastolo ma poi di fatto fu perdonato da Nixon nel 1974. E c’è da dire che, purtroppo – anche a giudicare dal numero di canzoni in sua difesa o addirittura apologetiche – la stragrande maggioranza degli americani salutò con favore e con sollievo la liberazione di Calley, un mostro che aveva trucidato con le sue mani almeno 22 delle centinaia di vittime e che con la baionetta aveva inciso il logo della compagnia sul petto dei bambini massacrati.
Nel 2009, 40 anni dopo, Calley – vecchio e roso dagli incubi - ha pubblicamente ammesso la propria responsabilità e ha chiesto perdono.
Lo ha fatto nel corso di una cena di beneficienza organizzata dal Club “Kiwanis - Serving the Children of the World” (già…).
Al proposito, il vecchio custode del sacrario di My Lai, che ebbe la sorella tra le vittime della furia della compagnia Charlie, ha semplicemente dichiarato: “Io lo perdono anche, ma deve venire qui, a My Lai, e chiederlo a noi”.
Non mi risulta che Calley sia mai tornato a My Lai…
Sul massacro di My Lai si vedano anche The Massacres of My Lai (Song My) and Truong An, March 1968, Everybody's Got A Right To Live, Pinkville Helicopter e, come testimonianza dell’appoggio di cui Calley l’assassino godette nell’opinione pubblica americana, The Battle Hymn Of Lt. Calley.