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From: zinerytee
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  • Shane Mcgowan is a truly great singer, we will miss him when he's gone, so enjoy while he's still alive!

  • Im an irish republican, and I absolutely love this song

  • great

  • Class song.

  • learned about this song on rememberance day...

  • best version ive heard.i now a pogues fan.the irish made australia served their time fought our wars populated the country.make australia an irish state

  • @jimyhickie Search for The Pogues A Pair of Brown Eyes, another great song

  • The pogues - singing The Band Played Waltzing Matilda ? .. no. Sorry, just not right.

    Go and make your dollars another way .

  • @ChifleyLIB Way to miss the point. Dollars? Get a clue...

  • all that aside , the pogues give the best version i've heard

  • Let's not forget the brits sent the Celts there as a penal colony to begin with. The indigenous people were the aboriginals. Yet, the ANZACS were willing to fight for their british oppressors. Free Ireland!

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  • no-one wins during war, even the so called victors

  • Probably the saddest song ever written.

  • un des plus beaux textes sur la guerre, impossible de l ecouter sans larmes, dans la meme lignée, la chanson de craonne, et le "pourquoi ont ils tue Jaures" de Brel, j allais oublier Barbara des freres jacques QUELLE CONNERIE LA GUERRE

  • extremely powerful song - the pogues did it very well. tks.

    btw to the sanctimonious a-ho's arguing in the previous posts just remember - the turks died too! everybody lost.

  • extremely powerful song - the pogues did it very well. tks.

  • fills me with sadness

  • love this song. no words to describe it.

  • This is a good song. no other way to describe it and you all should stop arguing and you are fools and I hate you all I don’t think it’s cool or attractive to feel so superior to everyone that you shouldn’t be conscious, we are all just here and there is no such thing as better or worse and we all shouldn’t have names and pierce our toes to the bone and and I am just posing as this interesting girl with an interesting life with an imaginary enemies and this sour queer perpetration

  • @SuperMrFrodo i like them but i think they would ruin it

  • evil never rests - so good men play bad - the good die young so that there may be peace "in our time" ?

    LEST WE FORGET - at the going down of the sun "every day" ! ! !

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  • it's a very sad song i believe all wars should be remembered as long as they are used as a warning to make sure history does not repeat itself ..too many people are spending too much time analysing this war /this song ..it's very easy to sort out the good guys from the bad guys in a war that was fought nearly a hundred years ago...if people took as much time thinking and commenting about current affairs it might help a change come about but you're all too busy trying to sound clever.

  • my dogs named matilda after this song... :)

  • but i dont think thats the problem i think its good to celebrate the life that was lost but i dont think it should be forgotten or overshaddowed by the sacrifice that people made else the whole point is lost.... least we forget....

  • beautiful song

  • I thought the composer ( Eric Bogle ) is Australian

  • @gtrpickable

    Scottish born but has lived in Australia since the 70's

  • @gtrpickable o it was written by him for a folk festival or something when i was a kids my folks were into folk music.... and english or scot or something writing a song about Australian ANZAC day celebrations... sombre though they were..... my generation of kids took it seriously '76 but it seems today its an excuse for not remembering the terific sacrifice of all... the absolute waste of humanity..... its not to be forgotten not to get pissed on the grounds....

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  • oh crazy free german america!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Beau et triste à pleurer

  • Einfach super,berührend,traurig und ideal vorgetragen!!!!

  • My great grandfather was an Aussie survivor of Gallipoli. It was a generation when honour and duty meant something. Lest we forget the bravery and the sacrifice.

  • australian and british = same fucking thing

    ask either of them whats the difference between aussies and brits and the answer will always be something stupid about who can drink the most pints of shitty brown ale or score the most goals in a soccer game

  • its a the british way unfortunatly fighting spears with cannons and laving there conscripts out front against real armies

  • i dont think it was arrogance ,,,, these were awefull decissions to make but they had to be made,,, in the end they got more right than the enemy

  • Composed by a Scotsman, sung by an Irishmen, about an English campaign, fought by Australian's and New Zealander's (ANZACS), against the Turk's at Gallipoli in WW1.

    Epic Song.

  • Yeah but what were we defending? Arrive at Heathrow and join the long queue of Indians, Aussies, Kiwis, Canadians, West Indians et al. Stupid us, thinking we were British subjects. Meanwhile the Germans walk straight through on EU passports. See the irony?

  • @tobydun No irony really, as this song refers to a battle with the Turks.The Germans were not involved. Perhaps you should read your history before you make innorant comments.

  • @tobydun Maybe you should have some pride and be happy not to be anyones subject.

  • wars are so fuckin stupid, a quote from the song "the green fields of france": mans blind indifference indifference to his fellow man, so damn true, cant there just be peace on earth? <3

  • @apfelstrudelmaster aint gonna happen, humans are to hardheaded to have peace with everyone. humans are selfish creatures and they will do anything to get what they want. and killing everyone who stands in the way, is the easiest method.

  • @SgtZippzapp yeah, i guess, its sad but true :(

  • Beste Grüsse aus Deutschland..Jeder Krieg ist unmoralisch..egal wer für welches Heimatland stirbt!!..mein Volk hatt genug gebüsst...lasst uns Freunde sein!!

  • @miromanism Genau, mein Freund. Beste Gruesse auch aus England.

  • @ega95jch Dir auch nochmal die besten Grüsse!!! Michael vom Bodensee..

  • I love it

  • wickedly appropriate.

    

  • I listen to Opera, and I still think Shane is one of the best singers I have ever heard. I've never believed someone's words more than I have Shane's

  • To all ANZACS you are great allies and have paid a terrible price for the advancement of freedom. America did not win wwi we won it together.

    REDHAWKE731

  • To all ANZACS you are great allies and have paid a terrible price for the advancement of freedom. America did not winnwwi we won it together.

    REDHAWKE731

  • Ein Song gegen alle Kriege...Greetings @ all from Germany

  • Someday no one will march there at all...

  • it's nice to be alive to comment..... this is about young men who died for us to live the lives we enjoy now. I'm glad that easter took a back seat to the these poor young souls.

  • it's nice to be alive to comment..... this is about young men who died for us to live the lives we enjoy now. I'm glad that easter took a back seat to the these poor young souls.

  • lest we forget <3

  • Those Turks of the Ottaman Empire were a tough Empire, I'm Canadian and us colonies won the Great War for the British at a great cost.

  • It's ANZAC day on Monday (25 April)

    time to stop and think

  • This song is among the best anti-war songs ever written. Up there right along side Where have all the Flowers gone, Imagine and One Tin Soldier. Incredible respect to the song writer. We can never forget what happened in times like this, or we'll make the same mistakes again. Peace

  • Hmmm? Scrolled down a bit to see some yutzes saying Shane's vocals are an insult to this song and he shouldn't be allowed to sing it, "anything for a dollar," etc... This is one of the best deliveries of this song you could possibly hope for. Perfection from the closing track of a true classic album filled with power and humor and Shane's grand poetry. Get a clue!

  • @knoskillerr666 You dumb ass - this is about the british in WW1

  • @happy42xxx Uhhh...the Australians.

  • @happy42xxx

    This song is about Australians who fought at Galliopli in WW1 , not about the British.

  • @lestat7632 But it was written by a British songwriter! Eric Bogle was born and brought up in the Scottish Borders and emigrated to Australia as an adult of about 25 years of age. This song was written in the first couple of years of him being in Oz.

  • @gaconnochie

    Much like they try to pretend John Simpson Kirkpatrick was a Kiwi. He was a geordie from South Shields, a member of the International Workers Of The World trade union and a proud member of the working class who refused to recognise national boundries.

  • @lestat7632 the anzacs.... not just australians.....

  • @happy42xxx but eh americans won ww1 and ww2 for us??? yeehaaa wheres my burger?????

  • @knoskillerr666 Tell em what mate ??? We never started wars of our own??? Piss off 

  • No War But The Class War

  • play this song every memorial day, giving cheers to all who have served, and hopes that none will have to serve again. Beautiful song, this and John mcdermitts are my favorites

  • no war but the class war!

  • Doesn't matter who or when it be sang, this is a song of those that defend the freedom of those (more and more so, Nigs, Mex, Libs, Socialists) that want to eat but not pay... God Bless all that have fought for freedom... AND BTW F-U OBAMA!

  • written by a scotsman based in australia and sang brilliantly by an irishman, its a small world.

  • this is no anti war song its an australian story something that proud aussie's play in memorial...lest we forget

  • @brutalbrital I think you must be listening to a differnt song.

  • this is no anti war song

  • Anyone else remember that when they played this people would stop moshing and waltz together? Great memories. Thanks. Happy St. Pat's Everyone. End war.

  • The last American veteran of World War I just died. There are only 1 Englishwoman and 1 Aussie left. The Lost Generation is truly lost to us, and they deserve to be remembered by us all.

  • @BrianBinOR how many are left from other countries? Or do they not count?

  • @MrDuignan "Only" means "ONLY" Look it up, I'm sure you've a copy of OED somewhere close by. The answer to your first question is, therefore, "NONE". If you don't care to take my word for it, simply google "remaining world war i veterans". That leaves it unnecessary to honor your snarky second question with an answer.

  • @BrianBinOR

    Yeah!

  • @BrianBinOR I agree when i was a kid it was a sad occasion to remeber the sacrifice made by so many, not just australians but the terrible impact of the first world war....... not just to be miss used by the AUSTRALIAN goverment as part of there international public relations campaign..... its a solem occassion..... LEAST we forget...

  • my great grandad is stronger than ever.....hes still trying to join up!!

  • this song has made so many people think twice about the mad rush to kill.... LEAST WE FORGET

  • this song and shitloads of bottles of whiskey got me through a bad break up

  • @dangleberry07 For me it was beer and "A Pair of Brown Eyes". Cheers, Mate.

  • Shane never got his teeth fixed. Said it wasn't natural. I don't think he went to the gym much either. My kind of human.

  • Shane never got his teeth fixed. Said it wasn't natural.

  • Did Shane McGowan ever get his teeth fixed? I always felt sorry for him in that regard.

    

  • @Pinckney12 yeah,, der gone again though :P

  • @Pinckney12

    Even though some guys are telling that he never got em fixed.

    I've seen him last year August 3rd in Berlin with beautiful fixed teeth!

    There are even pics of him with some weird beanie on and hollywood smile!

  • @BigotedVideo That's great. He's gonna be in my hometown in March - Royal Oak , Michigan.

  • as story-songs go, this is the best.

    Makes sense to include that it was written by Scottish-born singer-songwriter Eric Bogle in 1971.

  • It's a great ditty akin to The Green Fields of France.

  • Have forwarded this to my very young co-workers and my grandsons. When will we understand that we need to end wars !!!

  • For some (not all) posters that are idiots. This is basically a protest song about the futility of war. Correct me if I am wrong but this attack was the doings of Winston Churchill cutting his teeth as a military leader. A total disaster with no impact on teh outcome of WWi

  • @MrEddieo1 churchill was the scape goat.....it wanst actully all his fault

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  • @bolabus Actully Churchill was against kicking arabs off there land to make a "homeland for the jews" so that ticks Zionist off the list...Genocidal? no he wanst..the only time he came close was when he had to decide wheater to gas the curds on not...he decided not to......Maniac? in sum respects yeah he was .. hence why we won the war....and homo is impossible as he had a wife!....so fuck him? no mate....Fuck you

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  • @bolabus for doing what? proving you wrong after everything you just sed??? kinda pathetic arent you

  • "Never knew there were there worse things than dying.." that always makes me tear up. My dad is a Vietnam vet so this song has special significance for me.

  • Perhaps it is a chronichle from Irishmen who met Australian soldiers This tune has become an international antiwar song,

  • they gave me a tin hat, they gave me a gun

  • i grew up listening to this song courtesty of a dumb irish father

  • I dont find this as much of a Anti War song as as Song Sobering of the effects and cost of wars, By no means am i agesnt war, i beleave there are times when you are left with war as the only option, how ever that doesnt mean its always the answer, Nor should one go blindly into the fray with hopes there officer's know everything, as rarely do they know much more then the enlisted

  • I used this as part of a History course I was offering to 14 yr old pupils

    It did more for understanding of conflict than all the films and books. I have never seen so many in real tears! ( yes, boys too )

    It has to be one of the greatest anti war songs ever.

    Oldgit

  • I think the pogues do an amazing version of this song. Only him could get the drunken war veteren rambling about his life in the corner of a pub drinking away his sorrows. it's a brilliant band doing a brillian version of a brilliant song

  • You know, Shane's performance here is actually pretty subtle in a way. The first time I heard the song, I was struck by how dissimilar it was to the brilliant Liam Clancy rendition. I was struck by Shane's voice, which is a lot like Dylan, Young, Cash, etc. It's as immediately radio-friendly as so much overproduced pop garbage, but that's because it's REAL. Shane pours real emotion into his every word, but you have to LISTEN to the beautiful subtitles inherent in the song and his singing.

  • @U2Larkin04 I think they're both brilliant in their ways.

  • I recently read a military biography of Winston Churchill and a large section was the debacle that was the battle of Galippoli.

    This song really came alive when I realized that these men died pointless deaths because the British officer class couldn't fathom that the British could lose. They took massive casualties in the Bohr war then repeated the same arrogance in WW1

    Truly a pointless war.

  • @rrtodd95 the lessons Churchill learned helped the D day landings to be a success but nothing justifies regarding brave soldiers as cannon fodder

  • @rrtodd95 isn´t EVERY war pointless?

  • @Breacca Churchill was hell bent on being a war hero and didn't listen to his generals consoling him that the war plans would cost thousands of lives.

    Not all wars are pointless.

    Fighting terrorism and the Nazis are two cases.

    They started over stupidity but the wars had to happne.

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  • @MCpEAsOUP Churchill was a commander in the first world war and oversaw the attack on Gallipoli. The poverty caused to Germany was caused becasue of the treaty of versaille, as germany were responsible for WW1 they had to pay reparitions to affected countries which they had agreed to. As a result the Germans printed off an incredible amount of money which in turn made their currency worthless. That is what led to people like Hitler being created and the start of WW2.

  • @MCpEAsOUP You sir also need to learn your history before you talk about. Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty during WW1 and had everything to do with Galipoli, it was his idea to invade the Dardanelles to begin with.

  • @MCpEAsOUP Churchill served as First Lord of the Admirality during the start of WWI which is the head of the navy you clown. He was the head of the British military at the start of the war and you think he had nothing to do with Gallipoli?

    He sponsored the assault and was demoted because of it. He then left the government and served for several months on the Western Front commanding the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

  • @MCpEAsOUP Let me guess, you must be American. What ignorance. You probably believe in creationism. Gallipoli was Churchill's idea numbskull.

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  • @MCpEAsOUP You seriously need to heed your own advice and LEARN some history. Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty and the Gallipoli campainge was his idea and after it failed he was demoted.

  • @rrtodd95 that's why churchill wanted indians, aussies and new zealanders for ww2... because they weren't really theirs. second class.

  • Dedicate for Felicity "Fiss", our dear Australian's friend, and irish music ! we are fond of that, in my country ! (country=...country in the country ^^ in France, but in a village with sheeps and cows (lol), and an Irish festival ^^ )

    This song is cool :)

  • I don't think that the song is about being critical of those who think that there are things worth fighting for, and I don't think that it's saying veterans shouldn't be thanks for their services, I think it's just lamenting the fact that humans fight over such things and that the world works the way it does. This could be a song about either side of a war to me, it's something at once about the personal experiences of a soldier and not about the overall politics of anything. Just my 2c.

  • I think both have their merits. I heard Liam's version first so it's the version I first fell in love with, but I think Shane's is interesting. Shane reminds me in some ways of Dylan. He doesn't have the most conventionally pleasing voice, but there's a certain mystique that he has, however drunken and scraggly, Shane sounds like a man whose live hard and lived to sing about it and say what he means. He's a punk poet whose public image and difficult nature often overshadow his true talent.

  • @jratt2 Not a Pogues fan, I see :P.

  • @hanshotfirst1138 lol...I think they are over-rated.

  • In 1934 Atatürk wrote a tribute to the ANZACs killed at Gallipoli:

    "Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. ... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land. They have become our sons as well."

  • @jrwjrw88 Atatürk was a great man...

  • Shane, I hate war.

  • well the tenth irish division landed at sulvla bay in august 1915 , supported by attacks by the australians at a.n.z.a.c cove , so its quite right that an irishman sings this song, over 210,000 irish men from all counties in the present day north and south of ireland enlisted , with out conscription! to fight and die during the great war

    lest we forget the 10th (irish) division

  • true heart breaker this song!

  • Shane might not be a technically great singer, but his voice is one of the most powerful and moving in popular music and he's written some of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard (i know he didn't write this one).

  • Everyone please ease up. This is an Australian song. We grew up with it. It is a very meaningful song to all Aussies. It is about our forefathers that went off to war (to fight for the empire) and a large percentage never came back. Written by a Scot that came to Australia when he was about 24. This is not a glorification of war. Like ANZAC day, it is what it is

  • @peterlawler1 Absolutely, Peter! I am of Eastern European origin but was brought up in Australia. This song was equally appreciated by immigrants from every corner of the world (once they'd learned English). It represents everything that Australia stood for -- and I still hope it stands for -- being the working class being exploited by the elite.

    It speaks to everyone who has come here to escape tyranny. I don't know a single immigrant who doesn't shed a tear on hearing this. It is our emblem!

  • @peterlawler1 It needs to be understood that 'Waltzing Matilda' in itself would have been meaningful to Aussies at the time (Banjo Paterson was of Scottish heritage, but was born in Australia). Of course, the lyrics would sound like gobbledygook to English speakers as it was constructed of Aussie colloquialisms of the time. Basically, it spoke for the independent individual pitted against the establishment/elite who was prepared to die rather than captured by the troopers who enforced the 'law'.

  • @peterlawler1 The ANZACS, themselves, were committed to standing up for the masses/average worker. They were exploited by the very system Australians hated. For them, their commitment to 'Empire' was a commitment to justice for all.

    It is tragic that so few people know anything about Australian history and how brutally & cynically decent, moral people were exploited by propaganda by the 'Empire'. This song was written as a poignant reminder of why we should not be sucked in by propaganda again.

  • @peacefrog1916 ah, he is from fucking nenagh like meself I LOVE THAT WEE FUCKER!

  • When you hear this it's sad to think that 20 years later we were at it again. The world had learnt nothing and 90 years later people are still dying in pointless wars. If you don't learn from history you're doomed to repeat it!

  • Wozu sind Kriege da ???

  • greed causes war

  • Ode of Remembrance.

    They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

    Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

    At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

    We will remember them.

    Lest we forget.

    “Lest we forget” does not encourage celebration or pride. It asks us to regretfully, solemnly, drag pain into the world once more; to remind ourselves what we destroyed. It troubles me that some feel pride, where the sentiment is shame. It’s a bitter duty, not a proud moment.

  • Powerful song/lyric about the futility of war (all war) written by the wonderful ERIC BOGLE who emigrated to Australia in 1969 and still lives here. We who know him and his music are very proud to have him amongst us. I have seen him live many times over the years. Check out Eric's website.

  • Such a beautiful song, sung with feeling so well.

    my grampa was shot and badly wounded for life by the turks there, not their fault for defending their homeland but :

    sad to see that nothing has changed except the weopanry.

  • I'm an Aussie (and for those who didn't pick it up it's an Aussie song, yeah, gets played on our memorial days and stuff), and hearing this in Shanes Irish accent is no shame whatsover, wonderful rendition

  • @tosgem he's not Irish! He's from Kent....but yeah sounds great the way he sings it!

  • @unplanedlayer Ok, but in that case 1,000,000 Ulster Protestants aren't British - They're from Ireland

  • @ZZKe7 forgive me but where is munster in ireland?

  • @47dyl The southern quarter (approx) of Ireland is Munster

  • @ZZKe7 fair enough. just saying he's from kent, was a geographical statement not a political one. but feel free rant on!

  • @unplanedlayer Making one point hardly constitutes a rant

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  • @tosgem  I agree....

  • @tosgem It's so sad and points out the futility of war.Makes me cry.

  • Actually some wars are better to have been fought - WWII - or let the world be run by Nazis, the American revolutionary war and civil wars...

  • @tosgem

    21,255 killed. 52,300 wounded from the UK.

    Australia 8,709 killed

    Well fuck the rest of them

    Look up the figures from the colonials, and remember this was a side show.

    You aozzies aren't that great. More British soldiers were killed and wounded at Gallipolis. remember that.

  • @roberts1966

    3 or 4 people from newzealand had their tea cups upset and the austalians and kiwis have been whining on about it ever since, which obviously shows a lack of perspective.

    Or as we In the UK realise, they lack bottle and just aint up to it.

  • @roberts1966 yes, more British were killed and wounded. No one said that doesn't matter. Australia is a small country, small pop, and the troops we lost there was significant to us. Who said we were the best or the greatest? What do you expect us to do, not write any songs about our loss and forget it all? And before you go writing off the Anzacs and trying to devalue them, it wasn't their war, they obeyed their duty to fight for the British. Remember that.

  • @tosgem They may not have been the best in WWI but they had WWII's best infantry, or at least that is what I heared

  • @tosgem Well said. As a Limey I will always be grateful to our Commonwealth friends who stood up to the plate with us in two devastating World Wars. None of our sons died in vain, thankfully.

  • @roberts1966

    You are a fool. In proportion to total population Australia had the highest casulaty rates of any combatant nation in WWI.

  • @roberts1966

    You are a fool. In proportion to total population, Asutralia had the highest casualty rates out of any comabatnt nation.

  • @roberts1966 ya.... 8,709 people killed. funny joke. dickhead

  • Wars are fought by all types of countries. Don't try to pin it on capitalism. That's just stupid.

  • @sHART1780 Good justification, shart. Divert the thrust, intead of facing it head-on.

  • brilliant cover

    

  • wow i didnt realize the pouges had a version of this song

  • what a brilliant song. So moving.

    I first heard it sung by Mike Harding many years ago.