joe mcdonald
According to musician, anti-war activist and Woodstock icon Joe McDonald himself, this song was written in 30 minutes in '65. First released on an EP before "Country Joe and the Fish" was reallly established, it was cut as a single in -69, sold well and appeared in two versions (solo and band) at the monumental Woodstock Festival. Thereafter it has become a lead protest song and a symbol of the hippie culture.
In 2001 - after a new recording of the song in '99 - Babette Ory, daughter of late jazz musician Kid Ory, claimed that the song partly was a copy of her father's "Muskrat Ramble", a famous jazz standard, and filed a lawsuit. The court concluded that the family had been aware of the song for more than 30 years, and the case was dismissed and finally closed in favour of McDonald in 2005.
The song is quite often introduced with "The Fish Cheer" - «Gimme an eff!»...-«F!!» and so on, spelling "fish". In '68, drummer Chicken Hirsch suggested to alter it, spelling "f*ck", resulting in public success ... and a ban from Ed Sullivan Show. «Keep the money, but don't appear on the show».
come on all of you big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
he's got himself in a terrible jam
way down yonder in Vietnam
so put down your books and pick up a gun
we're gonna have a whole lotta fun
and it's one • two • three
what are we fighting for?
don't ask me • I don't give a damn
next stop is Vietnam
and it's five • six • seven
open up the pearly gates
well there ain't no time to wonder why
whoopee! we're all gonna die
come on generals • let's move fast
your big chance has come at last
gotta go out and get those reds
the only good commie is the one that's dead
you know that peace can only be won
when we've blown 'em all to kingdom come
come on Wall Street • don't move slow
why man : this is war au-go-go
there's plenty good money to be made
supplying the army with the tools of the trade
just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb
they drop it on the Viet Cong
come on mothers throughout the land
pack your boys off to Vietnam
come on fathers • don't hesitate
send your sons off before it's too late
you can be the first one on your block
to have your boy come home in a box
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
E come on all of you big strong men A Uncle Sam needs your help again E he's got himself in a terrible jam A way down yonder in Vietnam F# B7 so put down your books and pick up a gun E7 E6 A we're gonna have a whole lotta fun Bm Gdim E7 and it's one two three A what are we fighting for Bm ...E7 don't ask me I don't give a damn A next stop is Vietnam Bm Gdim E7 and it's five six seven A ...C#7 open up the pearly gates F# B7 well there ain't no time to wonder why E7 E6 A whoopee we're all gonna die
