One Tin Soldier

I was just listening to the 1971 theme song to the movie "Billy Jack." It's by a satanic rock group called "Coven" who probably would never have had a real hit if they had stuck to the black mass bit. Tom Laughlin asked them to do the song, and while I'm sure they hated it, they made the right decision to record it, since it's pretty much their longest-lasting musical legacy.

It was written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. I was just a small child when this song was on the radio, but I remember my sister playing it in her room, all cranked up and defiant.

In light of Dubya's continued war in Iraq, I'm printing the lyrics here (please forgive if I am breaking copyright laws). It's not an exact parallel, but with what's going on today, the words resonate very well even 35 years later.

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ONE TIN SOLDIER (Lamber/Potter, 1971)

Listen children to a story,
That was written long ago.
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain,
And the valley folk below.
On the mountain was a treasure,
Buried deep beneath a stone,
And the valley people swore,
They'd have it for they're very own.

Chorus:
Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowin'
Come the judgement day.
On the bloody morning after,
One tin soldier rides away.

So the people of the valley,
Sent a message up the hill.
Asking for the buried treasure,
Tons of gold for which they'd kill.
Came an answer, from the kingdom,
"With our brothers, we will share,
All the secrets of our mountain,
All the riches buried there."

Now the valley cried with anger,
"Mount your horses,
Draw your sword"
And they killed the mountain people,
So they won their just reward.
Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain dark and red,
Turned the stone and looked beneath it,
"Peace on earth"
Was all it said.

(Chorus X 2)

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Kinda makes you think, huh?