Line #5 WarIsHell/Music


1	WarIsHell in {{Music\|tropes}}.
2	----
3	%%* Music/GunsNRoses' "Civil War"
4	%%-->''What's so civil about war anyway?''
5	* The song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0K3LJq9KnU&ab_channel=AdrianFisher War]]" is an anti-Vietnam War protest song. The original version was sung by Music/TheTemptations but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQHUAJTZqF0&ab_channel=InnerMusicLove the Edwin Starr cover]] is also quite famous.
6	-->''War! Huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin'!''
7	* Music/EricBogle's song "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda". As an old UsefulNotes/WorldWarI veteran who lost his legs at Gallipoli sits on his porch, watching the veterans march past every ANZAC Day, he muses:
8	-->''The young people ask what are they marching for, and I ask m'self the same question.''
9	** Also his song, ''No Man's Land''.
10	--->''But here in this graveyard that's still No Man's Land\
11	The countless white crosses in mute witness stand\
12	To man's blind indifference to his fellow man\
13	And a whole generation who were butchered and damned''
14	* "Mama", from Music/MyChemicalRomance's ''Music/TheBlackParade''.
15	-->''But the shit that I've done with this fuck of a gun\
16	You would cry out your eyes all night long...''
17	* "War Is Hell (On the Homefront, Too)," a No. 1 country song for T.G. Sheppard in 1982. A twist on the trope, the song – set during World War II – sees a 16-year-old grocery delivery boy have his first sexual encounter with the wife of a soldier stationed on the front lines overseas. The woman relates her loneliness and burning desire for sexual intimacy by telling the boy the title line.
18	* "Godspeed" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
19	* "Hero of War" by Music/RiseAgainst
20	** Just [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJfAV3mJrGY listen to it]]
21	* The aria 'War, he sung, is toil and trouble' from Handel's ''Alexander's Feast''.
22	* "Eve of Destruction" written by P. F. Sloan and most famously performed by Barry [=McGuire=].
23	-->''"If the button is pushed, there's no runnin' away.\
24	There'll be no one to save, with the world in a grave."''
25	* "The Patriot Game",
26	-->''"And now as I lie here, my body all holes,\
27	I think of those traitors who bargained in souls\
28	And I wish that my rifle had given the same\
29	To those quislings who sold out the patriot game"''
30	* Music/{{Metallica}} are pretty big on this theme. Their most famous song of such kind is "One", which is [[FilkSong based on]] ''Literature/JohnnyGotHisGun'' (covered in [[WarIsHell/{{Literature}} the trope's Literature subpage]]). Other examples include "Disposable Heroes", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", and arguably "Hero of the Day".
31	* Music/IronMaiden's "2 Minutes to Midnight":
32	-->''"The body bags and little rags of children torn in two. And the jellied brains of those who remain who point the finger right at you. As the madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song. To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun."''
33	** Given their penchant for war-based ([[UsefulNotes/CrimeanWar "The Trooper"]], [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI "Paschendale"]], [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII "The Longest Day"]], [[UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns"]], [[UsefulNotes/TheFalklandsWar "Como Estais Amigos?"]]) or anti-war ("The Aftermath", "Blood In The World's Hands", "Afraid To Shoot Strangers", "Mother of Mercy") songs, it's a recurring theme in Maiden's music.
34	* Music/BlackSabbath's "War Pigs" and especially "Electric Funeral" from ''Music/ParanoidAlbum''.
35	* Music/SonataArctica's "Replica", especially the older version. "Destruction Preventer" also gives off this vibe.
36	-->''Now tell me, who won here, tonight?\
37	The price of winning worthless fights?''
38	* Music/{{Trivium}}'s "Down From the Sky" is about dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII.
39	* This is a common topic for former Music/PinkFloyd frontman Music/RogerWaters, whose father was killed in the Battle of Enzio during World War II; ''Music/TheFinalCut'' in particular absolutely '''oozes''' this trope thanks to it being written as a reaction to UsefulNotes/TheFalklandsWar.
40	* Music/LArcEnCiel's "Hoshizora" is about both the aftermath of either the Tokyo firebombings or Hiroshima and dedicated to the children of Iraq.
41	-->''Flickering hot air is the remains of a dream,\
42	a town that fears the darkness goes to sleep\
43	A small happiness above the rubble, I was born here,\
44	I who watches the stars. nobody knows. nobody cares.\
45	I have lost everything to bombs.''
46	* "Some Mother's Son" by Music/TheKinks
47	* "Gods of War" by Music/DefLeppard
48	* "Hell is a War," by Music/{{Annihilator}}:
49	-->See the people suffering, watch the children die\
50	Doesn't it make you wonder why?\
51	Money and power, the television's red\
52	One by one, they collect the dead\
53	Hell is a war - hell, what is it for?
54	* Music/{{Muse}}'s ''A Soldier's Poem''.
55	** ''Map of the Problematique'' has elements of this, although the main subject matter is different.
56	* The discography of Music/{{Galneryus}} up until 2009 is pretty equally split between this trope and WarIsGlorious. Some of the best for this trope would be "Blame Yourself" and "Stardust."
57	* ''I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green)'' by Redgum, which details the various horrors faced by the ANZAC troops in Vietnam.
58	--> God help me, I was only nineteen.
59	* The Music/KaizersOrchestra song "170", about a volunteer soldier (given the number "170" and never referred to by name) who leaves behind his pregnant wife to fight in a war. The song ends as his CO sends him over the top first to check if all is clear, and no response comes. The song "Død manns tango" (Dead Man's Tango) involves a veteran who's been forgotten by the world and paralysed from the waist down: It's possible it's the same person.
60	* Music/{{Nightwish\|Band}}'s "Planet Hell" and "10th Man Down."
61	* Music/{{Sabaton}} singing almost entirely about war, uses this trope from time to time. Some notable examples:
62	** "Cliffs of Gallipoli"
63	--> ''"How many wasted lives\
64	how many dreams did fade away\
65	broken promises they won't be coming home\
66	Oh, mothers, wipe your tears\
67	your sons will rest a million years\
68	found their peace at last as foe turned to friend\
69	and forgive"''
70	** "Angels Calling":
71	--->''"Hell on earth, the trenches mean death, better keep your head down low\
72	Charge their lines, the ultimate test it's a synchronized sacrifice\
73	Get the wounded after dark\
74	Left alone in no man's land\
75	Maddening chaos at the front\
76	Dream of heaven. Angels are calling your name"''
77	** "A Light In The Black":
78	--->''"Leaving home, set to sea\
79	Was this really meant to be?\
80	See the shore of our home fade away\
81	Facing blood, facing pain\
82	Have our brothers died in vain?\
83	Many lives have been lost on the way"''
84	** ''The Price of a Mile'' (over on the [[Quotes/WarIsHell quotes page]]), about the bitter stupid bloody battles of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.
85	** "A Lifetime Of War" (English version):
86	--->''"Has man gone insane?\
87	A few will remain\
88	Who'll find a way\
89	To live one more day\
90	Through decades of war\
91	It spreads like disease\
92	There's no sign of peace\
93	Religion and greed\
94	Cause millions to bleed\
95	[[UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar Three decades of war]]"''
96	*** The Swedish version offers a more personal view of the war.
97	** They also covered the aforementioned "[[{{Music/Metallica}} For Whom the Bell Tolls]]."
98	* Music/RalphVaughanWilliams' ''Dona Nobis Pacem'' sets to music sections of the Roman Catholic Mass, poems by Creator/WaltWhitman, a speech by John Bright MP opposing the UsefulNotes/CrimeanWar, and selections from the Bible. Vaughan Williams had been an ambulance corpsman in the Great War, and Whitman wrote in response to the US Civil War.
99	-->For my enemy is dead, [[AntagonistInMourning a man divine as myself is dead,]]\
100	I look where he lies white-faced and still in the coffin - I draw near,\
101	Bend down and touch lightly with my lips the white face in the coffin.
102	* Benjamin Britten's ''War Requiem'' sets nine poems by [[WarriorPoet Great War soldier Wilfred Owen]] to music and surrounds them with OminousLatinChanting. The standard text of "Agnus Dei" in the Requiem mass replaces the line "Dona nobis pacem" (Grant us peace) with "Dona eis requiem sempiternam" (Grant them everlasting rest); the "Agnus Dei" in the ''War Requiem'' uses both.
103	* ''The Planets'' by Music/GustavHolst starts with "Mars, the Bringer of War". With the hammering ''ostinato'' drums, asymmetric, unsteady [[UncommonTime 5/4 and 5/2 time]], blaring brass, and the [[LastNoteNightmare shrill, dissonant chords at the very end]], it shocked audiences with its violence and brought to mind recollections of the Great War, despite [[{{Foreshadowing}} being written before the War]].
104	* "Army Dreamers" by Music/KateBush.
105	* "This Is Why We Fight" by Music/TheDecemberists:
106	-->''"Come the war, come the avarice\
107	Come the war, come hell\
108	Come attrition, come the reek of bones\
109	Come attrition, come hell"''
110	* "Masters of War" by Music/BobDylan from ''Music/TheFreewheelinBobDylan''.
111	** The cover by Music/TheStapleSingers was made famous by Resistance 3.
112	* Music/BillyJoel's "Goodnight Saigon", about UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, is well known for its realism and the many [[TearJerker hearts it broke.]] To give an example, ''these'' are the opening lines.
113	--> ''"We met as soul mates on Parris Island\
114	We left as inmates from an asylum\
115	And we were sharp, as sharp as knives\
116	And we were so gung-ho to lay down our lives..."''
117	* This is a common theme used in the Music/{{Gorillaz}} anti-violence ballads, but "Dirty Harry" from ''Music/DemonDaysAlbum'' (namely the rap solo) is an especially good sample:
118	--> ''"I got a ninety-days digit and I'm filled with guilt\
119	From the things that I've seen\
120	Your water's from a bottle / Mine's from a canteen\
121	At night I hear the shots ring, so I'm a light sleeper\
122	The cost of life, it seems to get cheaper..."''
123	* Music/SmileEmptySoul has a few of these such as "This Is War" and "God's Army" where they make their opinion on the subject extremely clear.
124	* Music/ToxicHolocaust use the exact phrase in "War Is Hell," which includes near nearly 1 minute of chanting "war is fucking hell."
125	* "Still Spinning Shrapnel" by Music/{{Skyclad\|Band}}.
126	* Music/GodDethroned released a concept album based on the battle of Paschendale. They did not skimp on the details.
127	* Music/{{Warbringer}} seems to invoke this trope more often than not, especially the song 'Forgotten Dead', below. YMMV, as they tend to toe the line between condemning and glorifying war with their explicit, visceral lyrics.
128	--> ''"The whistle blows, you are forced to advance into oncoming machine gun fire\
129	Caught in the blast as the mines detonate lifeless bodies hang from barbed wire\
130	Stabbed through the gut by a bayonet, blood chokes your scream\
131	Another dying soul is laid upon the altar of mankind's greed"''
132	* Music/AvengedSevenfold has the song "M.I.A." on ''City of Evil'', "Gunslinger" on the self-titled album, "Danger Line" on ''Nightmare'', the title track of ''Hail to the King'' and "Angels" on ''Music/TheStage''... It's a theme that inspires them apparently.
133	* Carach Angren's "The Funerary Dirge of a Violinist"
134	--> And so the instrument of peace is silenced by the one of war \
135	It plays the music of the dead; music made of lead\
136	I've had enough of this sickening war and it's murderous puppets!\
137	They don't understand the language of music cannot be spoken in death
138	* "Combat" from Music/HeavenShallBurn deals with child soldiers.
139	--> You are an orphan now,\
140	Adopted by the beast of war\
141	The end of all your childhood dreams has come\
142	A life of combat, forevermore
143	* Phil Ochs's SignatureSong is considered to be be ''I Ain't Marching Anymore''.
144	--> For I marched to the battles of the German trench\
145	In a war that was bound to end all wars\
146	Oh I must have killed a million men\
147	And now they want me back again\
148	But I ain't marchin' anymore
149	* The traditional Irish anti-war song ''Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya'' details the maiming the titular soldier receives when off fighting, and the horror of people seeing him when he returns.
150	--> Where are your legs that used to run \
151	When you went to carry a gun \
152	Indeed your dancing days are done \
153	Oh Johnny, I hardly knew ye. \
154	... \
155	Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg \
156	Ye're an armless, boneless, chickenless egg \
157	Ye'll have to be put with a bowl out to beg \
158	Oh Johnny I hardly knew ye.
159	* Music/TomWaits: "Hell Broke Luce" from ''Music/BadAsMe''.
160	* Music/OldCrowMedicineShow: "Big Time In the Jungle"
161	* "War" by Music/BobMarley from ''Music/RastamanVibration'', based on a speech by Haile Selassie for the UN.
162	* ''Music/WarInaBabylon'' by Music/MaxRomeo.
163	* "Mars: Bringer Of War" by Music/GustavHolst from ''The Planets''.
164	* Australian folksinger Judy Small's "Mothers, Daughters, Wives" is about the women the soldiers left behind, and how their roles changed as the men of each successive generation left and, perhaps, never came back.
165	-->Then your daughters grew to women, and your little boys to men \
166	And you prayed that you were dreaming when the call-up came again! \
167	But you bravely smiled, and held your tears, as they proudly waved goodbye, \
168	But the photos on the mantlepiece, they always made you cry.
169	* ''No Bravery'' by Music/JamesBlunt focuses especially on the horror of the civilian population.
170	* The unfinished song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qefkpHM7SaM Ronin]]" by Music/{{Cormorant}} explores this theme. Even though it was a 1/4 of the way finished, Arthur von Nagel provided the rest of the lyrics.
171	-->You once visited the graves \
172	Of the heroes and the knaves, \
173	Asked God why it wasn't you, \
174	Why you lost the will to live, \
175	Why your homeland wouldn't give
176	* A lot of lyrics of later Music/{{Dismember}}, particularly on ''Massive Killing Capacity''. From "On Frozen Fields":
177	-->On frozen fields of horror \
178	March through the firestorm \
179	Mangled victims lay \
180	Forgotten and forlorn
181	* Music/{{Kreator}}'s ''Warcurse'' makes it clear what the song is about from the very first lines:
182	-->Envision World War Two \
183	In a land that's ruled by hate and hunger \
184	I guide the fading souls \
185	As bodies drown in flames
186	* Galaxy Hunter's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80JFxqaM1Eg "Kandahar"]] is about a platoon of soldiers fighting UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror in Afghanistan.
187	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70HRcrp9wgc "Out in the Fields"]] by [[Music/ThinLizzy Gary Moore & Phil Lynott]] is a [[LyricalDissonance deceptively upbeat]] song whose lyrics warn that "No color, religion, flag, or uniform ever stopped a bullet from a gun".
188	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUOfUqLA84Y "Mimi wo Sumashite"]] by [[Characters/OjamajoDoremi Hazuki Fujiwara]] if the lyrics remind you of losing your family during a war.
189	* Apocalypse Orchestra's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh_GkBIluaE "Theatre of War"]]:
190	-->Dead men walking, trumpets blare\
191	Death rides by on his bony mare\
192	Triumph is certain, in the mind's eye\
193	Truth hides under limbs piled high
194	* The ConceptAlbum ''Domino Theory'' by Music/BollandAndBolland. Best known for the song "In the Army Now" which was also covered by bands such as Music/{{Sabaton}} and especially Music/StatusQuo.
195	-->You've got your orders better shoot on sight,\
196	your finger's on the trigger but it don't seem right
197	* "Born in the U.S.A." by Music/BruceSpringsteen, a commentary on the return of American soldiers to their country after UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar:
198	-->Got in a little hometown jam\
199	So they put a rifle in my hand\
200	Sent me off to a foreign land\
201	To go and kill the yellow man
202	* A common theme in Music/DavidRovics' work, his songs tell how the horror of war leaves no one untouched: the soldiers (e.g. "When Johnny Came Marching Home"), the non-combatants (e.g. "Baghdad") and those left at home (e.g. "Song for Cindy Sheehan").
203	* "Dirty Paws" by Music/OfMonstersAndMen tells the story of a war between two groups of forest creatures: The bees, not wanting to share the sky, declare war on the birds. The creatures of the forest, led by Dirty Paws, helped the birds take down the tyrannical bees, but the formerly green forest was "colored black" as a result.
204	* "Courage Knows No Bounds" by [[Music/AlexanderJamesAdams Heather Alexander]] is about the losses and bloodshed of war. The singer is told after the battle that they'd "won," and taken a small tract of land from the enemy, while the battlefield is littered with the dead and dying.
205	* Music/{{Slayer}} has a few war-inspired songs, but "Eyes of the Insane" is a particular standout example of this trope. The [[https://youtu.be/FhwRunMCNAo music video]] makes it even worse with images of human suffering, the life the soldier had before the war, and undergoing a graphic surgery scene after being wounded. It ends with the soldier being DrivenToSuicide.
206	-->The eyes of the insane\
207	On an demented campaign\
208	Flashbacks, panic attacks\
209	Death raising his ugly face at me\
210	Got to make it stop\
211	Can't take it anymore\
212	Death's face keeps haunting me\
213	It just keeps coming back for more
214	* "Atrocity" by ''Music/InkubusSukkubus''
215	-->The poor farmer boy goes to the war\
216	With his father's pride and his mother's tears\
217	He'll go a virgin to both women and blood\
218	But he'll return a monster; mad crippled and blind\
219	And his name is Atrocity\
220	And his name is Atrocity
221	* {{Parodied}} with Music/NanowarOfSteel's song [[https://youtu.be/39CyUAnKUso "Pasadena 1994"]], an AffectionateParody of Music/{{Sabaton}} who are known for their songs on this theme. The song depicts the [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball 1994 FIFA World Cup]] finals between Italy and Brazil as a bloody battle between two mighty titans. Sabaton's lead singer, Joakim Broden, also provides vocals [[ParodyAssistance just to add to it]].
222	* "Hell Broke Luce" by Music/TomWaits doesn't sing about the horrors of war so much as it ''roars'' about it with the force and fury of a neighborhood being carpet bombed.
223	->''I had a good home and I left, right, left\
224	That big fucking bomb made me deaf, deaf\
225	A humvee mechanic put his kevlar on wrong\
226	I guarantee you'll meet up with the suicide bomb!''
227	* Creator/SamanthaMoore: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2dEaD8-xyA Glory Reaped]]" is sung by a young woman [[SweetPollyOliver who disguised herself as a boy to enlist and win glory in battle to earn her father's pride]]. However, the horror of the carnage and horror left over by the end, and in particular the sight of a dying boy crawling to her after mistaking her for his own sister, shock her into realizing that war is a horrible act of butchery and drive her to run away from home for good and swear off martial life forever.

Context WarIsHell / Music