Editor’s note: There are few more horrific things than war. Accounts of battles by those who survived them are especially heartbreaking. Men who were young, optimistic and full of joy, thinking only of their sweethearts and the grand sweep of life in front of them, suddenly finding themselves in the hell that is war, so often seem baffled at the turn of events that landed them in the raging inferno of death and destruction. Their humility and reverence for human life is as moving as it is unexpected. Great big men, hardened and grown old before their time, men who performed heroic deeds and witnessed horrors thankfully spared most of us, are rarely braggarts or aggressively macho men, and so often show a sweet, vulnerable tenderness for their fallen comrades that can bring tears to the most jaundiced eye. Having never been a soldier, I can only wonder what that is like, how monumentally powerful must be their emotions, their experiences and their seared memories. No one approves of war or ever wants to fight one, yet ordinary boys have been fighting them since the beginning of civilization. I wrote this song to try to make some sense of this cruel reality, wanting it to be over forever. One of these days I’ll get around to recording it, but for now let me share these words and remember these boys:

GOD IS ON OUR SIDE

- words & music by R.R. Crespo

YOUNG, SO PROUD AND GRAVE

SO VERY CLEAR OF HEART AND MIND

TALL, AND STRONG AND BRAVE

THEY LEAVE THEIR MOTHERS’ LOVE BEHIND

TRUE, THEY MARCH TO WAR

THEY MUST DEFEND THEIR NATION’S PRIDE

LIKE THOSE THAT MARCHED BEFORE

THEY KNOW THAT GOD IS ON OUR SIDE

OLD, AND VERY WISE

A GENERAL STANDS ON SOLDIERS’ TRUST

PAIN, SHOWS IN HIS EYES

HE TELLS HIS MEN OUR CAUSE IS JUST

FIGHT, AND GLORY’S YOURS

AND IF YOU FALL, YOU FALL WITH PRIDE

LIKE THOSE WHO FELL BEFORE

WE KNOW THAT GOD IS ON OUR SIDE

MAMA DON’T YOU CRY

YOU KNOW THAT GOD IS ON OUR SIDE

AND IF I AM TO DIE

THE LORD WILL TAKE ME TO HIS SIDE

SO MAMA DON’T YOU CRY

LOVE, AND TEARS OF QGE

FILL UP A MOTHER’S HEART AND EYEYS

WHY, MUST WARS WE WAGE

WHY MUST A MOTHER ALWAYS CRY

WHY, THE GRAND PARADES

THE COLORED FLAGS, THE FOOLISH PRIDE

ALL THE DAYS WE PRAYED

WE PRAY THAT GOD IS ON OUR SIDE

MAMA DON’T YOU CRY

YOU KNOW THAT GOD IS ON OUR SIDE

AND IF I AM TO DIE

THE LORD WILL TAKE ME TO HIS SIDE

SO MAMA DON’T YOU CRY

BOLD, THE CANNON BLOWS

A THOUSAND MILES FROM HOME SWEET HOME

RED, THE RIVER FLOWS

A THOUSAND BOYS DIE ALL ALONE

GONE, A THOUSAND DREAMS

A THOUSAND OCEANS DEEP AND WIDE

AND IN THEIR FINAL SCREAMS

THEY PRAY THAT GOD IS ON OUR SIDE

MAMA DON’T YOU CRY

YOU KNOW THAT GOD IS ON OUR SIDE

AND IF I AM TO DIE

THE LORD WILL TAKE ME TO HIS SIDE

SO MAMA DON’T YOU CRY