D E A F#m
He's five foot two and he's six feet four
D E A
He fights with missiles and with spears
D E A F#m
He's all of thirty-one and he's only seventeen
Bm E
He's been a soldier for a thousand years
D E A F#m
He's a catholic, a hindu, an atheist, a jain,
D E A
G buddhist and a baptist and a jew
D E
And he knows he shouldn't kill
A F#m
And he knows he always will
Bm E
Kill you for me, my friend and me for you
D E A F#m
And he's fighting for Canada, he's fighting for France
D E A A7
He's fighting for the U.S.A.
D E A F#m
He's fighting for the Russians and he's fighting for Japan
Bm E
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way
D E A F#m
And he's fighting for democracy, he's fighting for the reds
D E A A7
He says it's for the peace of all
D E A F#m
He's the one who must decide who's to live and who's to die
Bm E
And he never sees the writing on the wall
D E A F#m
But without him how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau
D E A A7
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
D E A F#m
He's the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war
Bm E
And without him all this killing can't go on
D E A F#m
He's the universal soldier and he really is to blame
D E A
His orders come from far away no more
D Bm
They come from here and there and you and me
A F#m
And brothers can't you see
Bm
This is not the way we put the end to war
Transcribed by David Linley 4th November 1995