WHAT ARE WE MAKING WEAPONS FOR Lyrics by John Denver

Found the mysterious lyrics on my computer and this is growing like Topsie. As usual. And now instead of fighting the Russians or the perceived outside enemy we are fighting each other. We are stronger together. And I guess Portland is proving this. I have no support for those who would use violence to further their cause. It simply does not work. That said, the outpouring of attempts to protect the protesters (who probably would have gone home by now) from the heavy handed, illegal, private army from DC by moms in T shirts, dads with leaf blowers and finally verterans should teach us all a lesson. Stand together we stand a chance. Stand alone we go down. 

Found these lyrics in a file. In the mid eighties John Denver visited the USSR. One side trip took him to the cemetary where more than four hundred thousand men, women, and children who died diromg the siege of Leningrad during WWII. He also met Alexander Gradsky, probably one of the most populat singers, songwriters in Russia. Denver wrote a piece known by two names. "Let us begin" and "What Are We Making Weapons For." There are two versions on YouTube. One from the eighteis when the two got together during Denver's second visit sometime in the late eighties. 

The second is from a live concert in Tokyo for Earth Day in 1990. In a background interview with the Chicago Tribune Denver said there were plans to hold a concert every year until 2000. Tragically that never happened. John Denver was killed in the crash of his plane in 1997. Doubly tragic because he had learned so much over the years about using his voice. That said his songs were always wonderful 

The first video has the song as background to a video compilation. In the second video of the Tokyo concert you can see the video on a multi screen off to the side. 

The section in bold was sung solo by Gradsky. There's a back and forth and finally Denver, Gradsky, and a chorus from the Russian army. John Denver. The kid who took a guitar and started singing. Not professionally trained. Got better and better. Alexander Gradsky. Started singing in his teens, reportedly has a three and a half octave vocal range and plays twelve instruments. Totally fantastice together. Denver's lyrics? Priceless. 

What Are We Making Weapons For (Let Us Begin)

I am the son of a grassland farmer
Western Oklahoma nineteen forty three
I always felt grateful to live in the land of the free
I gave up my father to South Korea
The mind of my brother to Vietnam
Now there's a banker who says I must give up my land
There are four generations of blood in this topsoil
Four generations of love on this farm
Before I give up I would gladly give up my right arm

What are we making weapons for
Why keep on feeding the war machine
We take it right out of the mouths of our babies
Take it away from the hands of the poor
Tell me, what are we making weapons for

I had a son and my son was a soldier
He was so like my father, he was so much like me
To be a good comrade was the best that he dreamed he could be
He gave up his future to revolution
His life to a battle that just can't be won
For this is not living, to live at the point of a gun
I remember the nine hundred days of Leningrad
The sound of the dying, the cut of the cold
I remember the moments I prayed I would never grow old

What are we making weapons for
Why keep on feeding the war machine
We take it right out of the mouths of our babies
Take it away from the hands of the poor
Tell me, what are we making weapons for

For the first time in my life I feel like a prisoner
A slave to the ways of the powers that be
And I fear for my children, as I fear for the for the future I see
Tell me how can it be we're still fighting each other
What does it take for a people to learn
If our song is not sung as a chorus, we surely will burn

What are we making weapons for
Why keep on feeding the war machine
We take it right out of the mouths of our babies
Take it away from the hands of the poor
Tell me, what are we making weapons for

Have we forgotten
All the lives that were given
All the vows that were taken
Saying never again
Now for the first time
This could be the last time
If peace is our vision
Let us begin

Have we forgotten
All the lives that were given
All the vows that were taken
Saying never again, never again
Now for the first time
This could be the last time
If peace is our vision
Let us begin, let us begin

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: John Denver