Song Lyrics

Silent Soldiers on a silver screen
A F#m E A F#m
Framed in fantasies and dragged in dream
Bm E7 A
Unpaid actors of the mystery
Bm E F#m E
The mad director knows that freedom will not make you free
F#m E
And what's this got to do with me
G D
I declare the war is over
A E E A E C#m
It's over, it's over

Drums are drizzling on a grain of sand
Fading rhythms of a fading land
Prove your courage in the proud parade
Trust your leaders where mistakes are almost never made
And they're afraid that I'm afraid

I'm afraid the war is over
It's over, it's over

Angry artists painting angry signs
Use their vision just to blind the blind
Poisoned players of a grizzly game
One is guilty and the other gets the point to blame
Pardon me if I refrain

I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over

So do your duty, boys, and join with pride
Serve your country in her suicide
Find the flags so you can wave goodbye
But just before the end even treason might be worth a try
This country is too young to die

I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over

One-legged veterans will greet the dawn
And they're whistling marches as they mow the lawn
And the gargoyles only sit and grieve
The gypsy fortune teller told me that we'd been deceived
You only are what you believe

I believe the war is over
It's over, it's over

Phil Ochs

The duration of The War is Over is 4:22 minutes and seconds.