The Sons of the Saxons
by Bob Kanefsky (2/14/87)
After "Song of the Shield-Wall" by Debra Doyle to tune by Melissa Williamson
 
Hasten, old farm hands, down to induction,
Drafted and shipped o'er the froth of the sea.
The white man has called us from Texas and Georgia
To Southeastern Asia, his army to be.
We'll plug the seeds into softer than soil.
We'll cut the furrows in dearer than land.
The masters are calling for blood from this harvest,
Blood that the sons of the Saxons demand.
 
Pay heed to the orders that come from the generals.
Obey them or die at an officer's hand.
The old hanging tree and the long whip of rawhide
Are echoed again in the chain of command.
Give up your life lining rich people's pockets;
Later, whenever our story is told,
They'll say that you died guarding what they call dearest:
Land that the sons of the Saxons still hold.
 
Hasten, young athletes, into the troop ships,
Packed side by side in a dark, smelly hold.
The sons of the Saxons provide you with quarters
More spacious than those in the slave ships of old.
Bitter you'll find there the loss of your freedom;
Hard-working people too poor to die old
Are granted six feet --- plus as much as they're taller ---
Of land that the sons of the Saxons still hold.
 
Hasten, mechanics, down to the air base,
Into the planes from whose doors you will jump.
Khomeini the bastard has risen in Persia,
Withholding the oil they pay you to pump.
Fall toward the fields filled with enemy armies,
Pushed by the masters who trained you to kill.
And die for the sons of the Angles and Saxons,
Guarding the land they enslaved you to till.
 
 
      +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
      | Copyright (C) 1987 by Bob Kanefsky.  All rights reserved.            |
      |    For information, contact:    Off Centaur, Inc.                    |
      |                                 P.O. Box 424                         |
      |                                 El Cerrito, CA 94530                 |
      |                                                                      |
      |    You may give away up to three printed, typed, and/or electronic   |
      |    copies of this song, provided that the above copyright notice is  |
      |    attached and the following notice is added to it:                 |
      |        "Please do not make further copies of this song.              |
      |         Contact the author or publisher for additional copies."      |
      +----------------------------------------------------------------------+