Over the ashes of blood marched the civilized soldiers,
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over the ruins of the French fortress of a failure
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over the silent screams of the dead and the dying
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saying please be reassured, we seek no wider war.
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The treaties were signed, the country was split into sections
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but growing numbers of prisons were built for protection
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rapidly filling with people who called for elections
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But please be reassured, we seek no wider war.
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Ngo Dinh Diem was the puppet who danced for the power
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The hero of hate who gambled on hell for his hour
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Father of his country was stamped on the medals we showered
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but please be reassured, we seek no wider war.
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Machine gun bullets became the bloody baptizers
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and the falcon copters don't care if someone's the wiser
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but the boy in the swamp didn't know he was killed by advisers
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So please be reassured, we seek no wider war.
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And fires were spitting at forests in defoliation
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while the people were pressed into camps not called concentration
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and the greater the victory the greater the shame of the nation
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but please be reassured, we seek no wider war.
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While we were watching the prisoners were tested by torture
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and vicious and violent gasses maintained the order
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as the finest Washington minds found slogans for slaughter
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but please be reassured, we seek no wider war.
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Then over the border came the Bay of Pigs planes of persuasion
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All remaining honor went up in flames of invasion
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But the shattered schools never learned that it's not escalation
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But please be reassured, we seek no wider war.
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We're teaching freedom for which they are yearning
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While were dragging them down to the path of never returning
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But, we'll condescend to talk while the cities are burning
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But please be reassured, we seek no wider war.
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And the evil is done in hopes that evil surrenders
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but the deeds of the devil are burned too deep in the embers
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and a world of hunger in vengeance will always remember
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So please be reassured, we seek no wider war,
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we seek no wider war.
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We Seek No Wider War
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Phil Ochs |