If soldiers all were pugilists...
If soldiers all were pugilists there would not be a war,
For pugilists would want to know what they were fighting for.
For instance:
If Tommy Atkins had been told to beat up Herman Schmitz,
And Herman had been told to blow the other into bits,
And if they had been pugilists they would have answered "No!
We will not fight unless we get a section of the dough.
We will not risk our arms and legs and shed our ruddy gore,
While you who fatten on the fight make millions by the score.
Although it is a noble stunt to redden hill and dale,
We will not fight unless we get a section of the kale."
And thus the world-wide warfare would be ended in a minute,
For bankers would not start a war if there were nothing in it.
("Yellow-Legs and Pugs," quoted in the May 1917 "Journal of Electrical Workers and Operators" and attributed to "a wise wage-slave somewhere"; later recited by Utah Phillips on his album "I've Got to Know")
For pugilists would want to know what they were fighting for.
For instance:
If Tommy Atkins had been told to beat up Herman Schmitz,
And Herman had been told to blow the other into bits,
And if they had been pugilists they would have answered "No!
We will not fight unless we get a section of the dough.
We will not risk our arms and legs and shed our ruddy gore,
While you who fatten on the fight make millions by the score.
Although it is a noble stunt to redden hill and dale,
We will not fight unless we get a section of the kale."
And thus the world-wide warfare would be ended in a minute,
For bankers would not start a war if there were nothing in it.
("Yellow-Legs and Pugs," quoted in the May 1917 "Journal of Electrical Workers and Operators" and attributed to "a wise wage-slave somewhere"; later recited by Utah Phillips on his album "I've Got to Know")