Masters Of War Lyrics

Performed by Bob Dylan

Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks.

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly.

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain.

You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion'
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud.

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins.

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do.

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead.


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Jesse! | Reviewer: Anonymous | 1/8/12

True anarchy is not the way. You speak of strength as if its a good thing and power as if the people in power are weak. Power these days has grown beyond brawn and is far beyond the eye can see. people like me and you obviously cant even begin to see the true scale of the 'power' ladder. Free will and power/mental problems are very different. Children get raped without order, hence forth anarchy would be without order. Rape crime and abuse would go sky high, what a stupid contradiction and proposition. This all leads to mental illness, it is proven that nearly all killers/rapeists have had abusive childhoods. You really want your kid growing up in an anarchy driven 'power struggle' in the year 2012? I do believe though that the way we are now Is an absoloute disgrace and some things have made me almost suicidal such as 'whats the point in living if im just a fucking pawn, my passions are useless i am an object of control'. There needs to be something done. Anytime there is, people get shot.

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interesting thoughts | Reviewer: unbound [Rich Sauve] | 9/3/11

Reading these reviews it strikes me as quite interesting the shades of overlapping thoughts put forth. I wonder how much easier it is to rant biasedly, vehemently, and with such certainty that which is at it's base as ignorant an opinion as anyone's. That is to say, there is no one alive today that has witnessed all of history - though we are so very overwhelmed with it's various versions poured down on us by decendents of the victors - and sometimes the victims - of societal upheaval, empires come and gone, and the millions of talking heads and commenters in our global media.

Personally, I agree with those that think the colonel's arguments lacking in both knowledge of facts and ethical resolution of thought. But I also see that given the massive unwillingness of citizens of the world to resist the onslaught of war and profiteering in general, his opinions are sadly more popular than some of us would like to think - as is his ignorance, in my opinion. But they could say the same of those of us on the other side - that we are ignorant of the bigger picture; that the loss of the lives of millions and the rape of women, children and lands all brought us to where we are today - a state of military industrial supremacy over the world. Oh, we can bring on the facts then that china owns our debt, that our country is filled with resources, but the distribution is an abysmal mess; that billionaires exist while millions starve. But this has been known for centuries, and has not stopped those in power, or those sheep that support them.

What I find ironic is that jesse - and I also appreciated many of your words - speaks of anarchy and yet even he misses still the greatest point! Anarchy in my mind is not at all about the strongest surviving. If you take a look at the recorded history of our now ubiquitous species, only when we first established permanent settlements and a system of writing and class systems did we begin a steady, sure road upwards towards war, capitalism and profit off the labors of our fellow humans. The evidence clearly suggests that before this time - and up to the present time in smaller and smaller enclaves and periods - it was never competition against one another, but rather through cooperation with one another that the human race accomplished anything that benefitted more than a select group of individuals. If we are to move past this many thousand year blight on the record of humankind, we must first see this glaring fact for what it is - a very bad turn taken by our ancestors that we have wittingly or unwittingly followed to the present.

These words are, of course, my opinion; and they are as ignorant and as wise as anyone else's. To share them is one thing humans are certainly gifted at. Hurray for us. And hurray for Bob Dylan, who wrote of many things - women and love, war and politics, and many other things - for once when he was young and frustrated, writing a song which brought awareness to thousands that they were not alone in their dismay and horror at what the world had become. It's certainly better than the lyrics of millions of songs blathering on about nothing important whatsoever.

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well said jesse | Reviewer: Anonymous | 5/15/11

hats off to jesse. i actually copied your text and pasted it onto my computer. i like you. probably because you sound like me - you even use small case. i have been arguing the same thing for a while now.
it pisses me off the way people go on and on and on. sounding so intelligent and saying it all so gramatically well. but they miss that very point you mentioned.
we humans bull-shit ourselves so much nobody can see through the shit anymore. perhaps they never did. and perhaps they never will. it seems like you need a kind of deeep analysis or understanding to see it, but when you do see it then its so clearly there. and it seems like people dont realise. they just ape so-called 'leaders' of thought. its a way of hiding their own inability to see clearly. just talk the talk of 'he who is respected' and you will also be given respect. crap.
no offence to anyone but i have felt for a long time that dylan really does not have very deep lyrics. intelligent, poetic and quirky. but deep? no.

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respect for jesse | Reviewer: dufus | 5/15/11

colonal whats-his-name............... wha?????
your logic - not to mention your knowledge of history - is primitive to say the least. its a bit like having a rapist say in court, "before me everyone raped with a knife. i didnt. therefore..............". im ok!!!????
but respect for jesse. you have said what i have been trying to say to people for a while also. you got it spot on. the 'colonal' is a perfect example. but liberals lie just as convincingly and the media seems to work in a kind of symbiotic alliance with our personal desire to believe our own bull-shit.

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Agreed | Reviewer: Anonymous | 4/17/11

I have a Bob Dylan Documentary called No Direction Home.. really good.. In that he comments on this song and says that he was just so fed up at that point when the song was written .. it's not on any specific wars its in general about that msters who fund and make civilians fight in wars. The song basically says it itself

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oh bob... | Reviewer: jesse seesholtz | 2/4/11

i find it funny that people believe that anything they say will sway the opinions of one another. life is petty and death is "release", just believe in some sort of celestial oak and youre covered, or gale-bearded politicians preaching of "the brotherhood of man", all the while waging wars for profit. some people sell fruit and profit from juice, some people sell god and profit from fear, and some people sell weapons and profit from war. people are weak minded consumers. strike the shepard and the sheep will scatter. live alone long enough to kill for company, live in shit long enough to kill for kingdoms, or even the promise of such. everything we see is a false reality, there has always been and will always be a curtain, and when drawn, another curtain, and when drawn, another curtain, and when drawn, you guessed it, another curtain. the true intentions of man are simple to figure out, there are no true intentions, everthing we have built was built on lies, everything we have destroyed was destroyed on lies. i say that anarchy is the only true freedom, forcing people to face their fears, allowing the strong to prosper, and the weak to thin out and hide or be consumed by the strong. natural selection would make the best and the brightest prosper, rather than laws protecting the weak and powerless. if there is a god, then he/she /it is cruel. everyday in this country alone a 6 year old girl is raped by a 45 year old man, and god watches this happen... seriously? freewill? is that your answer? was it the will of that child to be violated and plagued with memories and sleepless nights for the rest of her life? "our father" is a sick creature. believe if you will, but know that if you do, you are ignorant and weak and need to look to yourself for strength, and not believe everything that you read. its the oldest game of "telephone" passed down and rewritten for thousands of years. changed to suit the needs of the current leaders. burn it all, and start anew.

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Great Song | Reviewer: Clancy | 12/25/10

For the record Colonel Marksman:

1) We kept most of Mexico when we invaded it (Arizona, New Mexico, California, Texas, Oklahoma, etc...)

2) Philippines were never "conquered" by the US, we bought them for $20 mil in 1898. We then defeated the Filipino war for independence. The war dept ran them as a protectorate until after WW2.

3) Cuba was never "conquered" almost the same deal as the Philippines, we "won" them from Spain in the Spanish-American war (then let them go 4 years later) and after the 1962, the embargo has pretty much killed any type of progress -- so yeah, we kind of did enslave them...

4) Guam is still a territory of the US, not a "self-running" government

5) Irag and Afganistan have admittedly been done so that they become a magnet for anti-american violence - "Fight them there, so we don't have to fight them here" - not as a way to promote democracy or freedom as you suggest.

BUT.... That's all irrelevant. I think many people miss the point of this song. I don't think it's anti-war exactly. It's just against the industry of war. It was written in 61-62... Korean war was long over, Vietnam hadn't started. It's a protest against fear. It's a protest against profiteering. War seems to unfortunately be necessary, but murder and death should not be a source of wealth. Some posts here seem to elude to American Exceptionalism - implying that when we kill people it's okay, because we mean well. But it is never okay to kill people because you want them to live like you. And it is a terrible burden to carry when you must kill people to defend the way you want to live.

People make a great deal of money making other people carry that burden, and I'm with Bob Dylan in protest of that.

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You're wrong colonel | Reviewer: Drf | 9/6/10

Colonel, I'm sorry but when a nation conquers another it does not enslave and destroy. This technique was only employed in a few circumstances such as Thebes after Alexander the Great destroyed it. In most cases when a nation or area was conquered they were only made to offer loyalty and tribute.

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master songwriter | Reviewer: ken doerfler | 8/8/10

We could pick this song apart for a week
from an ideological standpoint. The bottom line
is, no matter what side of the fence you are on
you can't help but understand, it's a great
song, from the master of prose.

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How can you be pro war after hearing this? | Reviewer: Anonymous | 5/26/10

I could only hope that people would watch images of the horrors of war, and listen, really listen to these lyrics, but I see my hope was in vain

It's very easy to talk the way you do mister marksman, if you obviously have never experienced the horrors of war yourself.

But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do.

And I'm looking at you.

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Colonel Marksman | Reviewer: Snakeweirdo | 5/25/10

It is clear to me that Colonel Marksman does not see the stupidity in his own words.
He does not even see the obvious FACT that ALL the countries he mentioned in his little rant are currently going through a period of extreme poverty and exasperation. Not to mention: slavery, dictatorship and so on.
His lack of knowledge about demography is astounding. So is his lack of history.
The united states of America (the big one) was FOUNDED on the very principles he described in the beginning of his comment. That is exactly what the settlers did against the native population of America when they arrived. They have continued their "crusade" through time. "The crusade on evil" as Mr. Bush so nicely phrases it is just another way of controlling.
The American empire is not un-like the roman empire, and believe me, it will collapse. Not from the outside, no, it will be ripped apart by its own population.

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as Paul Harvey would say... | Reviewer: Anonymous | 2/10/10

"...and now the rest of the story"

Colonel Marksmen would have us believe in a notion of "benevolent conquerors."

Hmmmm... 200,000 Filipino citizens killed as the U.S. military "liberated" the islands' multitudinous natural resources for American Business Interests (how familiar).

And this is only one example... it's the same old story over and over. "Freedom" "Democracy" and "Progress" covering for "Money" "Land" and "Resources." Just go through the Congressional record at the time... back in those days they didn't even hide their true intentions, they say outright, and on the record, how desirable the area in mind is, and they usually accompany it with some lofty notions about God and the divine mandate of the white race.

Thanks goodness for musicians and artists who remind us of these things that Network News and mainstream educators rarely address!

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Peace Comes from War | Reviewer: Colonel Marksman | 1/25/10

People who protest war with America don't know their history.

When a nation conquers another, it is typical that you enslave the population, take the women so that the population can't reproduce (and is eventually erased from history), and induct the conquered peoples into the laws of your own land, making anyone willing (traitors usually) citizens of your own nation.

That is, until America reset the standard. The very first nation America conquered and defeated was Mexico, just before the Civil War. I mean, completely, 100% conquered. So, what did America do?

Paid millions upon millions of dollars to rebuild Mexico, PAID for the lands that she wanted, and helped support the Mexican government, and even sent materials and workers to rebuild what was destroyed, and helped protect it were it to be invaded or exploited by other nations.

Did you know that the Philippines was conquered by America? So was Cuba, and Guam, and a number of islands. All of these nations are self-running governments. America liberated them from Spain, and built up their militarizes and government.

Are the Philippines an American state? No. What about Guam? Oh yeah, Cuba is totally enslaved by America.


You idiots don't get it. Afghanistan and Iraq carry on the tradition of America using up its own resources for its own people, its own military, its own future, and invests it into another country to make it better.

Vietnam and Korea would be unified Republics if the politics didn't make all the changes to the wars. The Vietnam War would've been over in a few months, a few years at most, in American hands as the Americans help such nations improve, get a good military going, and hold off against the Communists. Instead, politics stepped in and said, "No, just try to contain the Communists. Don't fight them."


Now the government is being pressured. Should it succumb to the stupid people and allow Iraq and Afghanistan to fall under terrorist rule, jurisdiction, and under the leadership of a dictator? Or do you want us to continue our tradition and make the two countries better than they were?



Simpler than that. Are you in favor of Hitler ruling much of Europe? I hope not. If you weren't, then why are you in favor of Saddam Hussein, who killed millions of people, more than Hitler, to rule Iraq?

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Masters of War = MIC | Reviewer: Ernest A. Canning | 1/1/10

I am surprised by the number of comments that entirely missed the thrust of Dylan's message which was directed at the very military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about.

The U.S. has been in a near continuous state of war dating back to Pearl Harbor. The post-World War II engagements were not "just wars" carried out for self-defense, but instead entail imperial conquest.

This is why Dr. Martin Luther King in "Beyond Vietnam" said that his own government was "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."

Dylan was addressing the tiny segment of our society -- the economic elites at the pinnacle of the military-industrial complex who make a killing off the killing but never expose themselves to harm; who "lie and deceive" to convince us that war is necessary for our security when, in truth, it is only necessary to swell their bottom line.

But "all the money [they've] made will never buy back their soul[s]."

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War is complex, truth even more so. | Reviewer: Lofoten | 9/7/09

This song is poetry of it's time.
It voices the feelings of the young with right and justice in their hearts. Fine sentiments and vision but ultimately naive.
We may protest about war, reasons, the way it is committed, outcomes and errors, hard and long but it changes nothing.
As long as there is man there will be war.
Good wars, bad wars. All justification for one's beliefs and prejudices.
Dying is part of living.
Dying that we may live is the ultimate sacrifice.
Past, present and the future.
This song is like the mayfly, living only fleetingly and yet forever.
New generations, new wars, new truths.
It will be ever so.

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