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"When the War Was On" is a call and response blues song recorded in 1929 by Blind Willie Johnson and Willie B. Harris, who is thought to have been his first wife. Johnson plays bottleneck guitar, and sings throughout in his 'growl' (false bass) voice; Harris sings soprano.

The war referred to is World War I (1914–18). The lyrics reference U.S. President Wilson (1913–21) and the German Kaiser; the United States entered the war in 1917.

Unusually for Johnson, the song deals with a temporal rather than a spiritual subject.

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Da un commento del video :
This actually sounds more like a war protest song than gospel