Escrita por
Bob Dylan, foi gravada em 7 de agosto de 1963 e lançada em 13 de janeiro de
1964 no disco The Times they are a-changing. Bob tocou essa música pela
primeira vez no The Town Hall, em New York City, em 12 de abril de 1963.
A letra é
direcionada à noção que os seres humanos tem que Deus ou algum poder maior
invariavelmente fica do lado deles e oposto à quem não está de acordo com esse
ser humano, e assim eles não questional a moral de guerras lutadas e as
atrocidades feitas pelo seu país.
Dylan
menciona muitos eventos históricos, incluindo a matança dos indios americanos
no século 19, a guerra Hispano-Americana, a guerra civil americana, a primeira
e a segunda guerra mundial, o holocausto, a guerra fria e a traição de Jesus
por Judas Iscariotes.
O titulo se
refere ao Epistolo aos Romanos, de Paulo, no primeiro século. “Se Deus está
conosco, quem pode estar contra nós”, se referindo a vitoria de Jesus sobre a
morte. A frase entao foi usada muitas vezes e reinterpretada nos contextos de
guerra.
Dylan e
Joan Baez tocaram-a ao vivo no Newport Folk Festival, em julho de 1963 e em
julho de 1964. Ele tambem gravou-a no seu album Unplugged MTV, em 1995. Nessa versao,
ele omite os versos sobre os alemaes, os russos, a guerra fria e o holocausto.
Joan Baez
gravou-a ao vivo em 1963. Manfred Mann gravou-a em 1965. Judy Collins em 1993.
Burton Cummings em 2004, entre muitos outros artistas.
A
letra:
My age it means less.
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I was taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that the land that I live in
Has God on its side
Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side
Oh the Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
l’s made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side
Oh the First World War, boys
It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting
I never got straight
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don’t count the dead
When God’s on your side
When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side
I’ve learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war comes
It’s them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side
But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we’re forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God’s on your side
Through many dark hour
I’ve been thinkin’ about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can’t think for you
You’ll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side
So now as I’m leavin’
I’m weary as Hell
The confusion I’m feelin’
Ain’t no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God’s on our side
He’ll stop the next war
Joan Baez, ao vivo:
A versao de Manfred Mann:
A versao de Burton Cummings:
