When I printed out the words to Pete Seeger’s wonderful anti-war anthem Where Have All the Soldiers Gone? yesterday, Jim at Ranger Against War suggested that I should remember Buffy St Marie’s remarkable Universal Soldier. He’s right of course.

There were many fine songs written from the late 20s right through the 70s that espoused sensible progressive ideas promoted through the musical style generally classified as “folk”. I just happen to like Buffy’s artwork, which principally advances Native American themes and can be seen at several museums in western Canada and at the American Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe. You can find some of her artwork, as well as several music clips here. You can find one of her children's projects here.

Universal Soldier

He's five feet two and he's six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of 31 and he's only 17
He's been a soldier for a thousand years

He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an atheist, a Jain,
a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
and he knows he shouldn't kill
and he knows he always will
kill you for me my friend and me for you

And he's fighting for Canada,
he's fighting for France,
he's fighting for the USA,
and he's fighting for the Russians
and he's fighting for Japan,
and he thinks we'll put an end to war this way

And he's fighting for Democracy
and fighting for the Reds
He says it's for the peace of all
He's the one who must decide
who's to live and who's to die
and he never sees the writing on the walls

But without him how would Hitler have
condemned him at Dachau
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He's the one who gives his body
as a weapon to a war
and without him all this killing can't go on

He's the universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you, and me
and brothers can't you see
this is not the way we put an end to war.

© Caleb Music-ASCAP

Because soldiers are universal, so are veterans.