The Men Behind the Guns by Phil Ochs (Cover)

When I first heard this song I thought it seemed very out of place with Phil's politics. Turns out it is a scathing parody of a poem celebrating America's defeat of the Spanish in the 1898 battle of Santiago de Cuba:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santiago_de_Cuba

John Rooney wrote the original poem in 1898:
https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/an-american-anthology-1787-1900/1575-the-men-behind-the-guns/

Here are Phil's updated lyrics:
http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs/lyrics/men-behind-the-guns.html

Phil's version from 'I Ain't Marching Any More':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoqtjlePBSg

And a great discussion of the song:
https://philochsthing.wordpress.com/2014/04/23/the-men-behind-the-guns/

#Navy #War #PhilOchs #TopicalSongs

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