With God on Our Side
Patriot Game - Dominic Behan
(„The Times They Are A-Changin'”, 1964 Columbia)
(„The Times They Are A-Changin'”, 1964 Columbia)
Patriot Game, the original, as written and performed by
Dominic Behan 1960. The melody and lyrical structure was used
by Bob Dylan in crafting With God On Our Side, first performed
April 1963. Behan's original contains two versus not sung by the
Clancy Brothers in their popuar version.
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Patriot Game - Dominic Behan
With God On Our Side {Live at Town Hall 1963} (23/25) - Elston Gunn
The lyrics generally address the notion of humans that God or some other higher power(s) invariably sides with them and opposes those with whom they disagree, and thus they don't question the morality of wars fought and atrocities committed by their country. Dylan mentions various wars and events from United States and world history, including the slaughter of Native Americans in the nineteenth century, the Spanish-American War, the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Holocaust, the Cold War, and the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot.
Radio personality Tim Riley once wrote: „'With God on Our Side' manages to voice political savvy mixed with generational naivete” as it „draws the line for those born long enough after World War I to find its issues blurry ('the reasons for fightin'/I never did get') and who view the forgiveness of the World War II Germans as a farce.”
Dylan claims „With God on Our Side” is an entirely original composition, however, its melody very strongly resembles that of „The Patriot Game”, a song with lyrics written by Dominic Behan and a melody borrowed from the traditional Irish folk song „The Merry Month of May”. Behan called Dylan a plagiarist and a thief, but Dylan never responded to Behan's claims.
In the introduction to the song at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963 Dylan has the following to say, „Yeah. You know, Jean Redpath sang a song here awhile ago which I heard Liam Clancy sing about two years ago and I was listening to her sing it and I thought that I never, uh, I thought I wrote this song called With God On Your Side. And it must have somewhere stayed in the back of my mind hearing Liam Clancy singing The Patriot Game.”
Dylan was familiar with „The Patriot Game”, having first been introduced to the song by Scottish folksinger Nigel Denver. Scottish writer and folksinger Jim McLean said he remembers Dylan asking him in late 1962: „'What does it mean, 'Patriot Game'?'…I explained--probably lectured him--about Dr. Johnson, who's one of Dominic's favorite writers, and that's where Dominic picked up [the] saying: 'Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.'”
