Well come all you big strong men

[303squadron]

Last edited Thu Apr 2, 2026, 10:58 AM - Edit history (1)

Well, come on all of you, big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way over yonder in old Iran
So put down your phone, pick up a gun
Gonna have a whole lot of fun

And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is old Iran
And it's five, six, seven
Open up the pearly gates
Ah, ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee, we're all gonna die


Well, come on admirals let's play loose
Send our boys through the Strait of Hormuz
When they don’t return you can all high five
The only good Persian is the one not alive
And you know that peace could only be won
When we've blown them all to kingdom come

And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is old Iran
And it's five, six, seven
Open up the pearly gates
Well, there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee, we're all gonna die


Well, come on Wall Street don't move slow
This is insider trading a-go-go
There’s money to be made no need to toil
Just act on your tip to short on oil
Just hope and pray they don’t send a drone
And drop it on your luxury home

And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is old Iran
And it's five, six, seven
Open up the pearly gates
Well, there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee, we're all gonna die

Come on mothers who don’t give a heck
To find out what happened to Mosaddegh
Come on fathers your blinders have fused
Watching all the lies on the right wing news
Be the ones who never see the con
Emanating from ole dementia Don

And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is old Iran
And it's five, six, seven
Open up the pearly gates
Well, there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee, we're all gonna die

[Diamond_Dog]

1. Brilliant.

[Ocelot II]

2. Excellent! Country Joe would be proud.

[Prairie Gates]

3. Nice

Just hope and pray they don’t send a drone
And drop it on your luxury home

***Chef's kiss***

[Walleye]

4. Excellent, I've been thinking of this song a lot great lyrics you wrote

[PittBlue]

5. Brilliant!

[quaint]

6. TY. Nice work.

My oldest gdaughter is an USAF TSgt.

[democrank]

7. Highly recommended

[Half-step]

8. Wow... Thank you.

[niyad]

9. Excellent.

[travelingthrulife]

10. All my life the US has been at war or conducting armed 'excursions' somewhere.

We need to tear apart the MIC. It keeps us in the dark ages, heavily reliant on oil and gas to make the weapons go.

[303squadron]

15. I have likened US history to

A seemingly never ending cycle of Samsara. The suffering we give to others while living the delusion that some lives are more important than others……especially if they have darker skin and are living on gold or oil.

[Wild blueberry]

11. Good lyrics

Updated for our current ghastly time.
Thank you.

[Mblaze]

12. Standing "O"

[MustLoveBeagles]

13. Great job 👍

Too bad Country Joe isn't alive to sing it.

[orangecrush]

14. Same as it ever was

[Auggie]

16. Anyone sing and play guitar? Need this out there.

[JohnnyRingo]

17. I don't think Joe McDonald would have minded.

Only a shame he couldn't write anything before he went

[Spazito]

18. That is awesome...

Well done!

[highplainsdem]

19. Love this! Thanks for doing this!

[kimbutgar]

20. Great verses!

[KitFox]

21. Whoa! Outstanding!!! My pals and I bring our instruments and play at our protests. Do we have your permission to sing

your terrific updated version? Will give you writer’s credit 303squadron. The music of a protest movement has special power. Thank you for your most excellent and valuable contribution!

[303squadron]

22. A million times yes!!!!

Happy to be in service to the cause.

[KitFox]

26. Wonderful! Again, thank you so much!😊

[bluescribbler]

30. I want to sing this.

I play bass and sing, GF plays guitar and sings harmony. My friends will like that.

[Jack Valentino]

41. For the love of god DO IT! And record it and upload it to YouTube---

and bring us a link, of course! I see the author has already given their blessing,
so I look forward to seeing your performance !!!!!

[usonian]

23. The Vietnam and Civil Rights songs and battlles have returned.

And no Dr. Martin Luther King, though I have hopes for Senator Warnock.

I challenge young(er) people. Come up with new songs.

I just bought a guitar and am up to two chords already.

Do you want to be outdone by an old Vietnam-era vet?

Are you chicken?

[Xavier Breath]

24. Well I got a letter from DJT, it says that I'm no longer free...

Etcetera

[CoopersDad]

25. 🎶 🎸 🥁 Country Joe and the Fish, Vietnam Song! 🎶 🎸 🥁

For the younger ones in the DU!

It was a little concert called Woodstock, back in the day.

&list=RD8qPUJhy0Dz4&start_radio=1

[uppityperson]

27. War. Huh. What is it good for.

[BidenRocks]

29. Say it again!

War. Huh. What is it good for.

Absolutely NOTHIN'!

[BidenRocks]

28. "Old Iran"

That was the missing rhyme I couldn't figure out.
I always got hung up.
You nailed it!!

[tazcat]

31. Outstanding!!!

[Roy Rolling]

32. The Anthem of my Youth

Draft Age is something meaningless to youth today and inconceivable to even half of the population back then. Though thousands served courageously in Vietnam, women weren’t issued draft cards for compulsory military service. They faced their own battles of discrimination, something men were largely unaffected.

To the point: these lyrics were what was on every teenager’s mind in the 60s and early 70s. And to those old enough to remember, Johnny Carson had country Joe and the fish perform this song on the tonight show. The audience was stunned, as I remember. But it was an important point for the anti-war movement.

[Oppaloopa]

34. I pray some one will find the song Frank Sinatra sung during civil rights

What is America to me. I can't be the oldest one on here. The plumber and the butcher the baker too all Nations and religions that's America to me"

[dpibel]

44. Here ya go

&list=RD1BaPLhloMO8&start_radio=1

[NewLarry]

33. Well Done!!!

TYVM

[11 Bravo]

35. Well done!

[calimary]

36. I wasn't able to just read this.

I found myself singing along with it!

And all it did just made me sing LOUDER!!!

[struggle4progress]

37. gimme an eff!

[Dear_Prudence]

38. What's that spell?

FISH

[or another f word because war]

[madamesilverspurs]

39. As would have been said back in the day, fanfuckingtastic!

I'd love to play that, but cannot presently play any of my three guitars thanks to (damned ironic) bone spurs in my right shoulder. Aaaarrrrrgggghhhhh! Currently doing PT, hoping for the day when I can once more play. Until then, sharing this with those who can play, also with our local protest organizers.
Meanwhile, THANK YOU for your magnificent rendering!

.

[Jack Valentino]

40. Gosh, I know the original so well, so at first I didn't read through your lyrics---

thought that was what you were posting, until some comments alerted me to the fact that you had rewritten it....

This is freaking BRILLIANT! My hat's off to you!


I was a small child while the Vietnam war raged, I was about 10 years old when most of our troops were pulled out...
and this song didn't get much (or any) airplay on the AM stations in my city that I can recall....

The first time I recall hearing it was in 1988 when I made a trip to Davenport Iowa
as part of a group, to work for Gary Hart's ill-fated second 1988 presidential campaign---
(yeah, that didn't end very well, lol)

However, the organizer we were assigned to was fond of it,
and sang it to us A cappella, and I was instantly hooked!

It was many years later when I finally stumbled upon the Woodstock recording, thanks to the internet...


If we have any musical artists here who can do it,
you ABSOLUTELY should perform it and post it to YouTube !!!

[AllaN01Bear]

43. domg. this. do it please.

[AllaN01Bear]

42. hehe arlo guthurie

[Ilsa]

45. Well done and thank you. I remember the voice. nt