Anti-War Songs - The horrors of war and promoting peace

Featuring Radiohead, Metallica, U2 and John Lennon...

Earlier today Radiohead unveiled their poignant tribute song to Harry Patch - the last surviving British army World War 1 veteran – who recently died aged 111. In honour of this, Gigwise takes a look at more songs from over the decades that have dealt with the atrocities of war.

Paul Hardcastle: '19' – Featuring a vocal sample of US television presenter Peter Thomas speaking about post-traumatic stress disorder, the famous anti-war track slams America's involvement in the Vietnam War. The title comes from the statistic that 38% of US soldiers killed in the war were aged just 19 or 20. Recorded in 1985, a decade after the end of the Vietnam War, the song astonishingly hit the top spot in 13 countries.

Manic Street Preachers: 'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next' – The Welsh band's first UK number one dealt with perhaps surprising subject matter; the Spanish Civil War. Its name come from a Spanish Republican poster from the late 1930s which depicted a child killed by Nationalist bombs under the title “If you tolerate this your children will be next”. As well as The Clash's single 'Spanish Bombs', the track takes inspiration from George Orwell's first-hand account of the horrors of the war 'Homage To Catalonia'.

Guns 'n' Roses: 'Civil War' - Born from an instrumental Slash and Duff McKagan used to play in a sound check this Guns 'n' Roses song took on a life of its own when Axl Rose wrote lyrics around it. Essentially an homage to Vietnam style protest songs 'Civil War' mentions both Kennedy and Martin Luther King whilst playing with the dual meaning of the word civil in Civil War.

Black Sabbath: 'War Pigs' - Taken from the classic 1979 album 'Paranoid', this is Black Sabbath's blitzkrieg of an anti-war song. The song title is derived from the term 'walpurgis' meaning a witches sabbath, whilst the outro to the song has the separate title 'Luke's Wall'. The lyrics see Ozzy Osbourne call out politicians for “Only starting the war” and leaving the poor to go out and fight it.

Alice In Chains: 'Rooster' – The 1993 song was written by guitarist Jerry Cantrell and referenced his father's nickname, Rooster, when he served in the Vietnam War. Depicting his dad's macabre experiences on the front line, Cantrell later said that the track “was the start of the healing process between my Dad and I from all that damage that Vietnam caused.” The single cover poignantly featured the image of the Vietnam War – the young girl Phan Thị Kim Phúc running from a napalm attack.

Pink Floyd: 'When The Tigers Broke Free' - Written about the death of singer Roger Waters' Father in World War Two's Operation Shingle the 1982 song is taken from the movie version of The Wall. As Waters tells it, the forward commander had asked to withdraw his forces from a German Tiger I tank assault, but the generals refused, and "the Anzio bridgehead was held for the price / Of a few hundred ordinary lives" as the Tigers eventually broke through the British defence, killing all of C Company, including Eric Waters.

Bob Marley: 'War' - Derived from a speech by Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia this Bob Marley track is a key anti war song. Marley often referred to Selassie as 'The Lion' and, like many, worshipped him as a God. During the 1963 U.N Conference Selassie called for equality amongst all races, class and nationalities which Bob Marley then set to music and 'War' was born.

John Lennon: 'Give Piece A Chance' - The phrase “Give peace a chance” was originally said by Lennon to a journalist in an interview during his famousBed-In with Yoko Ono. He liked the line so much he eventually went on to write the song. The classic anti-war anthem then gained fame when it was sung by half a million demonstrators in Washington at the 1969 Vietnam Moratorium Day.

Paul McCartney: 'Pipes Of Peace' – Lifted from his 1983 album of the same name, this number one hit was Sir Paul's plea for world harmony. The promo video depicted the 1914 Christmas Day truce through the separate stories of a British and German soldier (both played by Sir Paul) when they met up in no man's land to exchange photos and play a game of football. A bomb forces them back to their respective trenches where they both realise they still have each other's pictures.




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JTSM