With God On Our Side

(album: Judy Collins Sings Dylan... Just Like A Woman - 1993)

Oh, my name, it means nothing, my age it means less
The country I come from is called the Midwest
I was taught and brought up there, the laws to abide
And the land that I live in has God on its side

Oh, the history books tell it, they tell it so well
The cavalries charged, the Indians fell
The cavalries charged, the Indians died
Oh, the country was young with God on its side

Oh, the Spanish-American war had its day
And the civil war too was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes I was made to memorize
With guns in their hands and God on their side

Oh, the first world war, boys it closed out its fate
The reason for fighting I never got straight
But I learned to accept it, accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead when God's on your side

When the second world war came to an end
We forgave the Germans and then we were friends
Though they murdered six million, in the ovens they fried
The Germans now too have God on their side

But now we've got weapons of the chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to, then fire them we must
One push of the button and a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions when God's on your side

So now as I'm leaving, I'm weary as hell
The confusion I'm feeling, ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head and fall to the floor
Oh, if God's on our side, He'll stop the next war