The War Is Over Lyrics - Phil Ochs

Silent soldiers on a silver screen 

Framed in fantasies and dragged in dream 

Unpaid actors of the mystery 

The mad director knows that freedom will not make you free 

And what's this got to do with me 

I declare the war is over 

It's over, it's over 

Drums are drizzling on a grain of sand 

Fading rhythms of a fading land 

Prove your courage in the proud parade 

Trust your leaders where mistakes are almost never made 

And they're afraid that I'm afraid 

I'm afraid the war is over 

It's over, it's over 

Angry artists painting angry signs 

Use their vision just to blind the blind 

Poisoned players of a grizzly game 

One is guilty and the other gets the point to blame 

Pardon me if I refrain 

I declare the war is over 

It's over, it's over 

So do your duty, boys, and join with pride 

Serve your country in her suicide 

Find the flags, so you can wave goodbye 

But just before the end even treason might be worth a try 

This country is too young to die 

I declare the war is over 

It's over, it's over 

One-legged veterans will greet the dawn 

And they're whistling marches as they mow the lawn 

And the gargoyles only sit and grieve 

The gypsy fortune teller told me that we'd been deceived 

You only are what you believe 

I believe the war is over 

It's over, it's over