Buffy Sainte-Marie

The Universal Soldier

Buffy Sainte-Marie


Tom: G

(intro)  C D Bm Em C Am D

           C         D            G            Em
    He is five feet two, and he`s six feet four,
        C           D                  G
    he fights with missiles and with spears.
          C             D             G        Em
    He is all of thirty-one, and he`s only seventeen,
                C                     Am    D
     `s been a soldier for a thousand years.

            C          D          G         Em
    He`s a Catholic, a Hindu, and atheist, a Jain,
       C               D             G
    a Buddhist, and a Baptist, and a Jew.
             C                D             G             Em
    And he knows he shouldn`t kill, and he knows he always will,
                 C                        Am   D
    kill you for me, my friend, and me for you.

               C           D            G           Em
    And he`s fighting for Canada, he`s fighting for France,
         C                D G
    he`s fighting for the USA.
              C                D                 G             Em
    And he`s fighting for the Russians, and he`s fighting for Japan,
            C                                 Am   D
    and he thinks we`ll put an end to war this way.

             C               D            G                Em
    And he`s fighting for democracy, he`s fighting for the Reds,
        C                  D       G
    he says, it`s for the peace of all.
              C             D              G                Em
    He`s the one who must decide,  who`s to live and who`s to die,
           C                            Am     D
    and he never sees the writing on the walls.

            C                 D               G               Em
    But without him how would Hitler, have condemned him at Dachau,
        C               D                G
    without him Caesar would have stood alone.
              C                D         Bm           Em
    He`s the one who gives his body as a weapon to the war,
            C                                Am  D
    and without him all this killing can`t go on.

             C         D              G           Em
    He`s the universal soldier and he really is to blame,
             C               D            G
    but his orders come from far away no more,
                    C                D
    they come from here, and you and me,
        Bm                Em
    and brothers can`t you see,
             C                        Am
    this is not a way we put an end to war.