War to end all wars © Tony Smith 2014
In nineteen hundred and fourteen
At the tail end of July
A Serbian hothead killed a duke
Of Austria and his wife
Small states had allies great
A-spoiling for a fight
By August’s end all Europe
Was plunged in darkest night
They called it the war to end all war
But this was plainly lying
A cynical phrase to justify
The killing and the dying
The assassination lit a fire
But the fuel was decades mounting
In the minds of xenophobes
And men their profits counting
They armed themselves to the teeth
Their empires defending
Calculated marks and pounds
While ten million lives were ending
They called it the war to end all war
But this was plainly lying
A cynical phrase to justify
The killing and the dying
Most of the victims were just boys
Young girls bore the cost
Their fondest hopes and precious dreams
Forever they were lost
Decades on, the world denied
Their elder moderation,
Fell again into the abyss
Of death and devastation
They called it the war to end all war
But this was plainly lying
A cynical phrase to justify
The killing and the dying
While sacrifice is made in blood
The killing will not cease
For the only peace that war can bring
Is a peace that ends all peace
The greatest cause of war is war
And we must reject the glory
With our hearts and with our minds
To write a truthful story
They called it the war to end all war
But this was plainly lying
A cynical phrase to justify
The killing and the dying
They called it the war to end all war
But this was plainly lying
A cynical phrase to justify
The killing and the dying
At the tail end of July
A Serbian hothead killed a duke
Of Austria and his wife
Small states had allies great
A-spoiling for a fight
By August’s end all Europe
Was plunged in darkest night
They called it the war to end all war
But this was plainly lying
A cynical phrase to justify
The killing and the dying
The assassination lit a fire
But the fuel was decades mounting
In the minds of xenophobes
And men their profits counting
They armed themselves to the teeth
Their empires defending
Calculated marks and pounds
While ten million lives were ending
They called it the war to end all war
But this was plainly lying
A cynical phrase to justify
The killing and the dying
Most of the victims were just boys
Young girls bore the cost
Their fondest hopes and precious dreams
Forever they were lost
Decades on, the world denied
Their elder moderation,
Fell again into the abyss
Of death and devastation
They called it the war to end all war
But this was plainly lying
A cynical phrase to justify
The killing and the dying
While sacrifice is made in blood
The killing will not cease
For the only peace that war can bring
Is a peace that ends all peace
The greatest cause of war is war
And we must reject the glory
With our hearts and with our minds
To write a truthful story
They called it the war to end all war
But this was plainly lying
A cynical phrase to justify
The killing and the dying
They called it the war to end all war
But this was plainly lying
A cynical phrase to justify
The killing and the dying
Contributed by Tony Smith - 2016/1/25 - 23:16
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