The War Is Over (full version)

Silent soldiers on a silver screen
Framed in fantasies and dragged in dream
Unpaid actors of the mystery
The mad director knows that freedom will not make you free
And what's this got to do with me

I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over
All the children play with Gatling guns 
Tattooed mothers with their tattooed sons 
The strong will wonder if they're surely strong 
It doesn't matter lately whether we are right or wrong 
But surely we've gone on too long

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

Cardboard cowboys in a new frontier 
Drowning Indians in vats of beer 
The troops are leaving on the Trojan train 
The sun is in their eyes but I am hiding from the rain
 Now one of us must be insane

I declare the war is over
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

But at least we're working, building tanks and planes 
And a race is coming so we can't complain 
The master of the march has lost his mind 
Perhaps, some other war, this fabled farce would all be fine 
But now we're running out of time 

I declare 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 a flag 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