Pete Seeger - King Henry lyrics

King Henry marched forth, a sword in his hand Two thousand horsemen all at his command In a fortnight the rivers ran red through the land The year fifteen hundred and twenty The year it is now nineteen sixty-five It's easier far to stay half-alive Just keep your mouth shut while the planes zoom and dive Ten thousand miles over the ocean Simon was drafted in sixty-three In sixty-four, sent over the sea Last month this letter he sent to me He said "You won't like what I'm sayin'" He said "We've no friends here, no hardly a one We've got a few generals who just want our guns But it'll take more than that if we're ever to win Why we'll have to flatten the country" "It's my own troops I have to watch out for", he said "I sleep with a pistol right under my head" He wrote this last month, last week he was dead And Simon came home in a casket I mind my own business, I watch my T.V. Complain about taxes but pay anyway In a civilized manner my forefathers betrayed Who long ago struggled for freedom But each day a new headline screams at my bluff On T.V. some general says "We must be tough" In my dreams I stare at this family I love All gutted and spattered with napalm King Henry marched forth, a sword in his hand Two thousand horsemen all at his command In a fortnight the rivers ran red through the land The year fifteen hundred and twenty The year it is now nineteen sixty-five It's easier far to stay half alive Just keep your mouth shut while the planes zoom and dive Ten thousand miles over the ocean