Is this what I raised my little boy for?
To send him to fight (and never know why) in that raging war
Pet him and teach him fast as you can
Scold him caress me make him a man
You can't hold the strings you once held before
Turn around and you'll find he's a boy no more
Is this what I raised my little boy for
To send him to fight (and never know why) in that raging war
Backward turn back the tide of the years
I am so weary and troubled with fears
War with its sorrows, tears shed in vain
Take them and give me his childhood again
How many cares must a mother's heart know
How many joys must be stilled in their flow
How many tears must a mother's eyes shed
How many prayers must we say for our dead
Before we can see the futility of
Before we will learn the meaning of love
God's test of manhood, so I am told
Is not "will he come", but "did he go"
I shall be sad, but proud that he
Went like a man, unselfishly
Is this what I raised my little boy for
To send him to fight on a distant shore
God! how I pray for the end of all war
Is this what I raised my little boy for?
To send him to fight (and never know why) in that raging war
Pet him and teach him fast as you can
Scold him caress me make him a man
You can't hold the strings you once held before
Turn around and you'll find he's a boy no more
Is this what I raised my little boy for
To send him to fight (and never know why) in that raging war
Backward turn back the tide of the years
I am so weary and troubled with fears
War with its sorrows, tears shed in vain
Take them and give me his childhood again
How many cares must a mother's heart know
How many joys must be stilled in their flow
How many tears must a mother's eyes shed
How many prayers must we say for our dead
Before we can see the futility of
Before we will learn the meaning of love
God's test of manhood, so I am told
Is not "will he come", but "did he go"
I shall be sad, but proud that he
Went like a man, unselfishly
Is this what I raised my little boy for
To send him to fight on a distant shore
God! how I pray for the end of all war
Is this what I raised my little boy for?
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Pubblicato su Broadside #91, maggio 1968
Sullo stile di I Didn't Raise My Son To Be A Soldier una ballata scritta dalla madre di un soldato in Vietnam
(Author's note: "My son has been in Vietnam for several months and knowing only too well haw gruesome the situation really is, I wanted to put into words some of my feelings about the war. I have wanted very desperately for this song to be heard because of the meaning it will have for other mothers who share a similar heartache... I'm sure there isn't a parent of a young man today who hasn't thought to himself or herself: IS THIS WHAT I RAISED MY LITTLE BOY FOR?")