What is the meaning of the song "The Universal soldier" by Donovan?

Question

I know the lyrics to the song, but is it a pro war song or anti war song.

Answer 1

Personally, I believe it's just another protest song stemming from the Vietnam war (there were sooo many). For those too young to remember, Vietnam vets (of which I was one), were welcomed back to the U.S., not with open arms, but to protests and ridicule.
This song just bares that out...that soldiers, no matter what age, nationality, religion, etc, blindly follow the orders of others, without reservation or conscience. I'm not going to any long-winded critique about the song itself....it was just simply another example of the sign of the times.

In answer to your added details, I'd say anti-soldier. After all, you can't have one (war), without the other (soldier).

Answer 2

Universal Soldier Lyrics

Answer 3

Donovan Meaning

Answer 4

He's five foot-two, and he's six feet-four,
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He's all of thirty-one, and he's only seventeen,
Been a soldier for a thousand years.

He'a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew.
And he knows he shouldn't kill,
And he knows he always will,
Kill you for me my friend and me for you.

And he's fighting for Canada,
He's fighting for France,
He's fighting for the USA,
And he's fighting for the Russians,
And he's fighting for Japan,
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way.

And he's fighting for Democracy,
He's fighting for the Reds,
He says it's for the peace of all.
He's the one who must decide,
Who's to live and who's to die,
And he never sees the writing on the wall.

But without him,
How would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone,
He's the one who gives his body
As a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can't go on.

He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame,
His orders come from far away no more,
They come from here and there and you and me,
And brothers can't you see,
This is not the way we put the end to war.


He's explaining how there would be no war without soldiers. Caesar only conquered because he had an army.