I Don’t Wanna Be a Soldier

I don't wanna be a soldier
Marchin' off to war
Justified by a manmade cause
All in the name of the Lord
And I won't carry any banner
Or step out proudly to the drum
Or ravage others when I disagree
Just to win and overcome
All in the name of the Lord

See him in the Barrio
In the inner city
Surrounded in an alleyway
Shot down dead for stealin' money
See him on the Reservation
Now drunk on stinging water
Tryin' hard to drown the memory
Of his people slaughter

No, I don't wanna be a soldier
Marchin' off to war
Justified by a manmade cause
All in the name of the Lord
And I won't carry any banner
Or step out proudly to the drum
Or ravage others when I disagree
Just to win and overcome
All in the name of the Lord

Oh, see him in the Nazi camps
A child at the gallows
Offered as a sacrifice
Her mother stabbed with sorrow
See him victim in El Salvador
Raped and murdered at the roadside
We don't ever recognize the Holy One
And so, we kill him again and again
And again and again and again

Oh, I will never be a soldier
Marchin' off to war
Justified by some manmade cause
All in the name of the good, good Lord
And I won't carry any banner
Or step out proudly to the drum
Or ravage others when I disagree
Just to win and overcome
All in the name of the Lord

I don't wanna be a soldier
All in the name of the Lord
I don't wanna be a soldier

But I am willing and desire to be
A simple flute made from a hollow reed
Fashioned by the hand of the Divine
To play for all created kind
A haunting universal melody
One that's ringing out the theme of peace
Though I may be slapped upon the cheek
I pray to love my enemy
All in the name of the Lord