Escrita pela cantora e
compositora canadense Buffy Sainte-Marie, foi lançada originalmente
em 1964 pela própria compositora no disco de estréia dela, mas não
atingiu muito sucesso, embora tenha conseguido chamar atenção no
círculo da folk music.
Buffy disse que escreveu
Universal Soldier no basement do The Purple Onion Coffee House, em
Toronto, no começo dos anos 1960s. É sobre responsabilidade
individual pela guerra e como o velho pensamnto feudal mata a todos
nós.
Só chegaria ao
conhecimento do grande público quando foi lançada por Donovan, em
1965, e que é a nossa escolha pra lista. Donovan lançou-a em 15 de
agosto de 1965, num EP de mesmo nome, Universal Soldier. Chegou ao
número 5 no Reino Unido. Chegou ao número 53 nos charts pop
americanos.
Na versão de Donovan,
Dachau se transformou em Liebau, um centro de treinamento para jovens
de Hitler.
Foi regravada por Glen
Campbell, entre tantos outros artistas.
A letra:
He's five foot-two, and he's
six feet-four,
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He's all of thirty-one, and he's only seventeen,
Been a soldier for a thousand years.
He'a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew.
And he knows he shouldn't kill,
And he knows he always will,
Kill you for me my friend and me for you.
And he's fighting for Canada,
He's fighting for France,
He's fighting for the USA,
And he's fighting for the Russians,
And he's fighting for Japan,
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way.
And he's fighting for Democracy,
He's fighting for the Reds,
He says it's for the peace of all.
He's the one who must decide,
Who's to live and who's to die,
And he never sees the writing on the wall.
But without him,
How would Hitler have condemned them at Liebau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone,
He's the one who gives his body
As a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can't go on.
He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame,
His orders come from far away no more,
They come from here and there and you and me,
And brothers can't you see,
This is not the way we put the end to war
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He's all of thirty-one, and he's only seventeen,
Been a soldier for a thousand years.
He'a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew.
And he knows he shouldn't kill,
And he knows he always will,
Kill you for me my friend and me for you.
And he's fighting for Canada,
He's fighting for France,
He's fighting for the USA,
And he's fighting for the Russians,
And he's fighting for Japan,
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way.
And he's fighting for Democracy,
He's fighting for the Reds,
He says it's for the peace of all.
He's the one who must decide,
Who's to live and who's to die,
And he never sees the writing on the wall.
But without him,
How would Hitler have condemned them at Liebau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone,
He's the one who gives his body
As a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can't go on.
He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame,
His orders come from far away no more,
They come from here and there and you and me,
And brothers can't you see,
This is not the way we put the end to war
A versão de Buffy
Sainte-Marie:
A versão de Donovan:
A versão de Glen Campbell:
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