This track was never intended to be a popular one, but it is nonetheless a sincere statement of my views on war, and the way a nation’s feelings can be whipped up to a jingoistic frenzy by politicians and the popular press.
Initially, it was inspired by a quote that I read on Facebook: “When the rich go to war it’s the poor who die”. I felt that this short phrase perfectly summed up my feelings on war and even more so when I tracked down the origin of the phrase and found it to be by French existentialist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre. I felt this would lend an air of gravitas to an anti-war protest song I was planning. I had originally thought of calling it “Help the Heroes” with lines like “If you want to help the heroes then don’t send them to war” – but the Sartre quote changed everything.
The words to the song came first, and although I had the suggestion of a tune in my mind I purposely kept my options open, for I knew from the start that the lyrics would be the most important part of the song. When I first thought of writing an anti-war protest song, Bob Dylan’s “Times they are a-changing” was somewhere in the back of my mind along with Dire Straits’ “Brothers in Arms”. Other influences in the melting pot included Wilfred Owen’s war poetry, especially “Dulce Et Decorum Est”, Britten’s “War Requiem” and “Mars”, the first movement of Holst’s “Planets”.
Once the Sartre quote had been slightly altered to make it scan better, the continuation of my chorus came quickly, as I remember:
When the rich go to war it’s the poor folks who die
Laying down their sweet lives to preserve the old lie
That to die for one’s country is noble and fine
And we swallow that wicked lie time after time.
The “Old lie”, of course, is “Dulce et decorum est” and although Owen’s poem was written nearly a century ago (in October 1917) successive generations have chosen to ignore its uncompromising message while paying lip-service to its poetic qualities.
After the chorus was in place, I next thought of re-using the “Land, Sea or Air” structure of “I Wish I Was” to address soldiers, sailors and airmen in successive verses of my song. “Come all you…” was intentionally borrowed from Bob Dylan but as he had in turn borrowed it from the English folk song tradition I felt that this was fair game – I was just plundering his primary source. These verses took a lot of crafting; for a few days I kept a pen and paper constantly by my beside so I could jot down ideas (which always seemed to arrive in the insomniac early hours of the morning). I remember that the line “Now you’re left with no choice: it’s to kill or to die” only came to me after I rejected countless other variants.
Perhaps, the line that pleases me most is in the last verse:
And it’s damned unforgiveable, downright obscene.
That you’re trained to be part of the killing machine.
I had originally written “And it’s quite unforgiveable” but Cavan thought this was too polite. He was quite right, of course, and “damned” is just the right word here. It still has an English politeness about it but it is a politeness which conceals seething anger. Also, its assonance with “downright” means that the line can be spat out with real venom – there is nothing paradoxical about an angry pacifist.
There was originally an extra verse which was not included as it made the song over-long and defused the anger of the final recorded verse:
But the enemy troops they are poor just like you
And they all have rich masters in their countries too
So the poor of all nations should stand side by side
Be united in grief for their sons who have died
With the lyrics finished it was time to turn my attention to the melody. I briefly thought of setting the words to an existing English folk tune, but couldn’t find one that fitted properly. As I have said elsewhere, I am always striving to find the perfect marriage of lyrics and tune, and a pre-existing tune simply wouldn’t have cut it here. So I wrote my own, and placed the chorus and verses in different keys in the same way as I had done in “I Wish I Was”.
My original arrangement owed much, too much, to “Brothers in Arms”. It had the same swirling keyboard pad sound which betrayed its origins too obviously. Mark (Thomas not Knopfler!) suggested I replace the keyboard with a string orchestra and this immediately bore fruit, as it blended well with the martial snare drums and trumpets.
I used the same chromatic descending chord sequence that I included later in “Caught in the Glare” – both of them borrowed from George Harrison’s “Something”. This progression suggested to me that I might be able to play a grandiose lead guitar solo over it in the outro of the song – along the lines of Gary Moore’s “Parisienne Walkways”. The fact that the horrors of the First World War were played out in the fields of France was a link which pleased me. Another was the choir part-writing of the second chorus where the influence of Ralph Vaughan Williams (who was an ambulance driver during the Great War) is unmistakeable. The final a cappella chorus, however, accompanied only by stuttering snare drum rolls mimicking machine guns, is based on the vocal harmonies of Steeleye Span, and especially their “Cadgwith Anthem”. I have always admired these giants of folk rock, even more so than Fairport Convention, Lindisfarne or Pentangle. Maybe it’s the purity of Maddie Prior’s vocals that does it for me.
That just left the Gary Moore solo to play and that caused no problems – I have been playing “Parisienne Walkways” in my band for the last thirty years or so and it took only a couple of takes for me to nail the final version.
My feelings about the popular appeal of this track are borne out by its low number of views on YouTube but I am unrepentant: it says what it says in the way I intended and I am proud of every word and note of it.
Line 6 Variax electric guitar (simulating acoustic 6-string Martin, Rickenbacker 12-string guitar and Fender Stratocaster guitar, programmed Fender Precision bass guitar, programmed drums, programmed string orchestra, trumpets, French horns and side drums, lead vocals, backing and harmony vocals.
Lyrics
When the rich go to war it’s the poor folks who die
Laying down their sweet lives to preserve the old lie
That to die for one’s country is noble and fine
And we swallow that wicked lie time after time
Come all you brave soldiers and harken to me
This is not the way your lives were destined to be
You were meant to be free men beneath the blue sky
Now you’re left with no choice: it’s to kill or to die
Come all you bold sailors who plough the sea foam
Did you ever believe you’d die so far from home?
As you slowly sank down to your watery grave
Did you count all the diplomats' necks that you saved?
For when the rich go to war it’s the poor folks who die
Laying down their sweet lives to preserve the old lie
That to die for one’s country is noble and fine
And we swallow that wicked lie time after time
Come all you young airmen who soar through the sky
Where the hawks and the doves are the first ones to die
Though your lifetime of glory burns bright like the sun
It is blown out so quickly before it’s begun.
But it’s damned unforgiveable, downright obscene
That you’re trained to be part of the killing machine
While the nightmare of battle lies locked in your heads
So the rich folks at home can sleep safe in their beds.
For when the rich go to war it’s the poor folks who die
Laying down their sweet lives to preserve the old lie
That to die for one’s country is noble and fine
And we swallow that wicked lie time after time