Phil Ochs – We Seek No Wider War (Guitar)

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Over the ashes of blood marched the civilized soldiers,

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over the ruins of the French fortress of a failure

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over the silent screams of the dead and the dying

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but please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

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The treaties were signed, the country was split into sections

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but growing numbers of prisons were built for protection

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rapidly filling with people who called for elections

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But please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

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Ngo Dinh Diem was the puppet who danced for the power

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The hero of hate who gambled on hell for his hour

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Father of his country was stamped on the medals we showered

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but please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

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Machine gun bullets became the bloody baptizers

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and the falcon 'copters don't care if someone's the wiser

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but the boy in the swamp didn't know he was killed by advisers

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So please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

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And fires were spitting at forests in defoliation

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while the people were pressed into camps not called concentration

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and the greater the victory the greater the shame of the nation

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but please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

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While we were watching the prisoners were tested by torture

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and vicious and vomiting gases maintained the order

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as the finest Washington minds found slogans for slaughter

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but please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

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Then over the border came the Bay of Pigs planes of persuasion

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All remaining honor went up in flames of invasion

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But who'll tell the bodies of children it's not escalation?

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But please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

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We're teaching people freedom for which they are yearning

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While were dragging them down to the path of never returning

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But we'll condescend to talk while the cities are burning

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But please be reassured, we seek no wider war.

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And the evil is done in hopes that evil surrenders

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but the deeds of the devil are burned too deep in the embers

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and a world of hunger in vengeance will always remember

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So please be reassured, we seek no wider war, we seek no wider war.