Lyrics for Civil War as interpreted by mike

Civil War Lyrics
"What we've got here is failure to communicate.
Some men you just can't reach...
So, you get what we had here last week
Which is the way he wants it!
Well, he gets it!
N' I don't like it any more than you men."*
Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before
Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before
My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars
D'you wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "Peace could last forever"
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
An I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
when it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
for their promised land
And
I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
Look at the shoes you're filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more
My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
'Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars
"We practice selective annihilation of mayors
and government officials
for example to create a vacuum
Then we fill that vacuum
as popular war advances.
Peace is closer"**
I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
I don't need one more war
I don't need one more war
Whaz so civil 'bout war anyway

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  • 86 Comments
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pretty_girl
11-02-2006

Rated 0 
"You can't trust freedom when its not in your hands, when everybody's fightin' for their promised land" Thats probably the most truthful thing I ever heard.

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arapistsdaughter
11-22-2006

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ha once some drunken schizo told me its was about gang wars then the fuck tried to fight me cause I talked during the song.

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Sidious
12-09-2006

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This song was written for an album called Nobody's Child, The Romanian Angel Appeal. It was an album where a bunch of artists did songs and the money went to Romanian Kids. The cd came out in 90 I think. That is why it is the only song on the Illusion albums where Steven is on drums.

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Slash__86
01-13-2007

Rated 0 
although Axl Rose was a racist drunk red neck this is one of the best lyrics about war i have ever heard. I personally can relate allot to it living in a country where we had civil war for about 15 years (Lebanon) its definitely one of my favorite GNR songs .

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draven66
01-16-2007

Rated 0 
I don't suppose the "Special Thanks Niven / James" in the credits to this song have anything to do with the composition?? Axl wrote great songs when he wanted to, but this song has a different style, no?? Great song.

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Mariners
01-23-2007

Rated 0 
I find it interesting that this song is still relevant 15 years after its creation, while the songs on Green Day's American Idiot for example, will lose their relevancy in a year, as it was just tirade against George Bush. In this song, Guns N Roses attacks the ideas, instead of taking cheap shots at the president.

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Daniel726
02-21-2007

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"Whaz so civil 'bout war anyway"

Brilliant line.

I love playing this on guitar =)

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phantasmalkitty
04-06-2007

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I am a fan of both Green Day and GnR. I really don't like any of the songs on American Idiot, however, and I definitely like Civil War better than American Idiot. But, American Idiot will still be relevant in the future because the only thing directly related to the current president is the "redneck agenda" part, and we have had, and probably will have, many "redneck" presidents.

besides, many songs written about the state of the world in a specific time are still relevant later on. For example, Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Run through the Jungle." History repeats itself, after all.

also, I think the "everybody's fightin for their promised land" line is a reference to the conflict in the middle east with jews, muslims, and christians all claiming Jerusalem, but then it could also be applied to other situations.

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14johnnyc
04-06-2007

Rated 0 
I think it's obvious what this song means. War is no good. Great song.

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oldskoolpunker23
04-10-2007

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my fav song 10 or 11 years ago when i was 7 or 8 and still is my fav GNR song ever... wont ever forget the first time i listend to it i think i rewound that tape 30 times then grabed the casset sleve and read the lyrics with the song 30 more times trying to sound like axl fuck thoes were the days

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jsmith
04-28-2007

Rated 0 
I enjoy this song a lot, but am I the only one who finds it a little cheesy? Don't get me wrong, its cheesy in a good Bon Jovi Living on a Prayer kind of way, but come on. You've got Axle Rose of all people quoting cool hand luke, whistling, and cheesy lines like "what so civil about war anyway". I'm sure right after he wrote this song he went and beat up his girfriend or something.

Still a cool song, but trying to give it some perspective.

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michaelk
05-10-2007

Rated 0 
"For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by"
this part makes me almost cry everytime I listen to

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rorster
05-13-2007

Rated 0 
"peace could last forever" im pretty sure john lennon said that. sorta says it in imagine too, great song. i was studying WW1 in modern history, turns out franz ferdinand was a tyrant that was occupying another country near serbia. i think it was bosnia but i cant remember

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andy2007
05-19-2007

Rated 0 
My take : Axl is right in saying the way weve always done before its shows were wrong for what we do but its the way weve always done before.... we ned to learn from our mistakes not repeat them

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spooner113
06-04-2007

Rated 0 
i think its just about how war basically gives exuses for inexuable things. lying, using ppl to do the fighting, rich ppl getting richer for own weapon factories. that stuff.

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azauraa
07-28-2007

Rated 0 
this is IS the SONG of guns n roses.simply stunning...not to mention long too...which is good.

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singmeanythingx
08-26-2007

Rated 0 
peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. YUP, POSSIBLY MY NEW FAVORITE GUNS N' ROSES SONG. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love. peace and love.

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LeChuck
09-10-2007

Rated 0 
it feeds the rich while it buries the poor

awesome. an alltime classic

playing after that: deep purple - child in time

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Zek
09-23-2007

Rated 0 
I always thought the "Peace could last forever" part was about Ghandi. Gahndi? I have no idea how to spell his name. But y'all get it.

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IronBMike
10-03-2007

Rated 0 
what is so bad about war? it is natural

great song though

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ShortHairedOffender
11-05-2007

Rated 0 
Not only is it saying that we are killing of our own kind in mass amounts but it mentions the main them of Masters Of War. The rich use it to get richer by supplying the militery with weapons. It also says that we may never find true peace because someone always goes to violents. Like the assassinations of JFK and MLK.

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JoeyRamone65
03-23-2008

Rated 0 
Hey, I like the opening words. Cool Hand Luke, man.

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idan87813
04-08-2008

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this song i amazing,it actually made me go to my youtube channel and delete all of my racist videos.

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jesslene
04-22-2008

Rated 0 
i like in the live in tokyo video how axl swaps from a confederate jacket to a usa one. its kickass. the fact that he in a way acts the song out.

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fightforyourrights9
04-23-2008

Rated 0 
It's sad that the most powerful country in the world which is supposed to be the most free and democratic has achieved its power through war and domination. Spreading democracy to politicians means sending the poor to die while they rake in profits behind the scenes. Those who support war for economic gains can only be called pure evil. No money should ever be worth even one human life.

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