A sad story you'll hear if you listen to me
About two men who could never agree
What one said was white, the other called black
They'd argue a while and then they'd step out the back
And it's on
Reason and logic are gone
Winning the fight won't prove that you're right
It's sad, but it's true and it's on
And when it was over they'd come back then
The argument would become heated again
Who won the last round they couldn't decide
To one asked the other, would he step outside,
And it's on
Reason and logic are gone
Winning the fight won't prove that you're right
It's sad, but it's true and it's on
They'd been fighting so long they could neither recall
what in the first place started it all
But they keep at day in and day out
Now they're fighting to see what they're fighting about
And it's on
Reason and logic are gone
Winning the fight won't prove that you're right
It's sad, but it's true and it's on
Well can you imagine if intellectuals
came to an agreement through Queensberry rules
It could easily be argued that the square root of 4
was 15 less 3, plus a smack in the jaw,
And it's on
Reason and logic are gone
Winning the fight won't prove that you're right
It's sad, but it's true and it's on
And when government thinks that it makes better sense
to save on education and spend on defense
It could also be argued, that on the same grounds,
that elections should be the best of ten rounds
And it's on
Reason and logic are gone
Winning the fight won't prove that you're right
It's sad, but it's true and it's on
About two men who could never agree
What one said was white, the other called black
They'd argue a while and then they'd step out the back
And it's on
Reason and logic are gone
Winning the fight won't prove that you're right
It's sad, but it's true and it's on
And when it was over they'd come back then
The argument would become heated again
Who won the last round they couldn't decide
To one asked the other, would he step outside,
And it's on
Reason and logic are gone
Winning the fight won't prove that you're right
It's sad, but it's true and it's on
They'd been fighting so long they could neither recall
what in the first place started it all
But they keep at day in and day out
Now they're fighting to see what they're fighting about
And it's on
Reason and logic are gone
Winning the fight won't prove that you're right
It's sad, but it's true and it's on
Well can you imagine if intellectuals
came to an agreement through Queensberry rules
It could easily be argued that the square root of 4
was 15 less 3, plus a smack in the jaw,
And it's on
Reason and logic are gone
Winning the fight won't prove that you're right
It's sad, but it's true and it's on
And when government thinks that it makes better sense
to save on education and spend on defense
It could also be argued, that on the same grounds,
that elections should be the best of ten rounds
And it's on
Reason and logic are gone
Winning the fight won't prove that you're right
It's sad, but it's true and it's on
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Incisa da Gary Shearston e da Trevor Lucas
While the Vietnam conflict was well underway in 1964, very few Australians participated until the Menzies government upgraded its commitment in April 1965 - so this is more of a Vietnam-era protest song, not specifically mentioning the conflict, but a representation of the early 60s anti-war movement in Australia. The lyrics revolved around the absurdity of conflict as two people get into a fight: "reason and logic are gone, winning the fight won't prove that you're right". The final verse criticised governments / politicians that "save on education and spend on defence".
Melbourne artist Trevor Lucas also recorded a version, on his 1966 album Overlander, and Raymond Crooke, on his YouTube channel.
Vietnam War Song Project (#12)