Protest song

Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans 
At the end of the early British war 
The young land started growing 
The young blood started flowing 
But I ain't marchin' anymore 

For I've killed my share of Indians 
In a thousand different fights 
I was there at the Little Big Horn 
I heard many men lying I saw many more dying 
But I ain't marchin' anymore 

(Chorus) 
It's always the old to lead us to the war 
It's always the young to fall 
Now look at all we've won with the saber and the gun 
Tell me is it worth it all 

For I stole California from the Mexican land 
Fought in the bloody Civil War 
Yes I even killed my brothers 
And so many others But I ain't marchin' anymore 

For I marched to the battles of the German trench 
In a war that was bound to end all wars 
Oh I must have killed a million men 
And now they want me back again 
But I ain't marchin' anymore 

(Chorus) 

For I flew the final mission in the Japanese sky 
Set off the mighty mushroom roar 
When I saw the cities burning I knew that I was learning 
That I ain't marchin' anymore 

Now the labor leader's screamin' 
when they close the missile plants, 
United Fruit screams at the Cuban shore, 
Call it "Peace" or call it "Treason," 
Call it "Love" or call it "Reason," 
But I ain't marchin' any more, 
No I ain't marchin' any more


I Ain't Marching Anymore by Phil Ochs

The song “ I Ain’t Marching Anymore” protests going to fight wars by a soldier whom had experience in numerous battles. He says that he has made many sacrifices, " Yes I even killed my brothers", showing that he did what he had to for his country. The soldier shows that he's tired of fighting by repeating " But I ain't marching anymore"; the soldier is against continuously going to battle. The song refers to many battles from wars throughout history, this could mean that the writer of the song has fought more than once. "Oh I must have killed a million men and now they want me back again." I think the soldier is tired of killing other men over issues that could be solved a different way. He feels that he’s served his time to help his country and war isn’t something he’d like to be involved in again.

“It's always the old to lead us to the war. It's always the young to fall.” The soldier feels like he shouldn’t be fighting a battle he didn’t begin to possibly die from the disagreement of elders. I chose this song because I never thought war solved anything that couldn't be talked out, because after the war an agreement is reached anyway, which could've been reached without fighting. From learning about wars, there are many deaths and soldiers don't survive; I could understand why this soldier doesn't want to go back, there's no guarantee that he/she will come back home this time.  The soldier also stated “Now look at all we've won with the saber and the gun. Tell me is it worth it all”, showing that no matter how many wars we go to there are always more and they are mostly pointless. Wars could damage a person mentally more than physically, which is why I don’t think it’s healthy to continuously return to war if the soldiers survived and got the chance to go back home to family.

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