Old Smedley Butler, Marine | A Folk Ballad About the General Who Said "War Is a Racket"

Old Smedley Butler, Marine: an original folk ballad about a Pennsylvania boy who fought for his country for thirty-three years, then came home and told working folks who he had really been fighting for. He carried the flag from China to the Caribbean and won two Medals of Honor. Then he stood with the hungry veterans of the Bonus Army, told Congress about the bankers who wanted him to lead a march on Washington, and wrote a little book called "War Is a Racket." HISTORICAL NOTE Smedley Darlington Butler (1881-1940) was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1898, at sixteen, he talked his way into a Marine Corps commission during the Spanish-American War. Over 33 years he served in Cuba, the Philippines, China (1900), Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Haiti and France. His men called him "Old Gimlet Eye." He is one of only 19 people to receive the Medal of Honor twice, for Veracruz in 1914 and for Fort Riviere, Haiti, in 1915. He retired in 1931 as a major general. In July 1932 he visited the Bonus Army camp in Washington, where thousands of jobless World War I veterans were asking for early payment of their promised bonus, and he spoke to them in support. Days later the camps were cleared by force. In 1934 he testified to the House Special Committee on Un-American Activities (the McCormack-Dickstein Committee) that a group of businessmen had tried to recruit him to lead a large army of veterans against the Roosevelt administration, a scheme now known as the Business Plot. The committee reported that it could verify parts of his account, and no one was prosecuted. In 1935 he published "War Is a Racket," and in a magazine article that year he wrote that he had been "a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers," adding that Al Capone ran his racket in three districts while he had operated on three continents. Butler died in Philadelphia in 1940. Some details are told the way a song tells them. Butler appears only as a far-off silhouette; the art is original linocut-style illustration inspired by 1930s WPA posters. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:11 Verse 1 0:38 [Harmonica break] 0:51 Verse 2 1:20 Verse 3 (Talking Blues) 1:46 Verse 4 (The Bonus Army) 2:16 Verse 5 (The Business Plot) 2:46 Verse 6 (War Is a Racket) 3:16 Outro 3:37 [Harmonica break] LYRICS [Verse 1] Come gather 'round, you working folks, I'll sing about a man Old Smedley Butler, Marine Corps boy from Pennsylvania land He lied about his age at sixteen, joined up for the fight And he carried Uncle Sam's flag through the jungle day and night Oh, the general was a fighting man, the bravest ever seen But he learned who he was fighting for, old Smedley Butler, Marine [Verse 2] He fought in China, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico and more Nicaragua and Honduras, he was knockin' on every door Two Medals of Honor on his chest, they called him Old Gimlet Eye But the more he fought, the more he saw, the more he wondered why Oh, the general was a fighting man, the bravest ever seen But he learned who he was fighting for, old Smedley Butler, Marine [Verse 3] Well, he got home and he got to thinkin' Looked back over thirty-three years of fightin' And he said, "Boys, I'll tell you plain I was a high-class muscle man for Wall Street and the banks" Made Mexico safe for the oil men Made Haiti and Cuba nice for the National City boys Said Al Capone ran three districts But he ran three continents [Verse 4] Then nineteen thirty-two rolled in, the hungry veterans came To Washington for their bonus pay, all ragged, poor and lame And Smedley walked into their camp and stood up on a crate Said, "You boys fought for this country, now they've left you at the gate" Oh, the general was a fighting man, the bravest ever seen And he stood up with the soldiers, old Smedley Butler, Marine [Verse 5] Then the bankers came a-knockin' with a suitcase full of cash Said, "General, lead a half a million men, we'll make this quick and fast We'll throw out Franklin Roosevelt, put a fella of our own" But Smedley went to Congress and he told it on the phone Oh, the general was a fighting man, the bravest ever seen And he wouldn't sell his country, old Smedley Butler, Marine [Verse 6] Well, he wrote a little book that he called "War Is a Racket" Said the few make all the money and the many pay the bracket Take the profit out of war, boys, and you'll never see one start Let the rich men fight the battles, let the poor boys keep their hearts Oh, the general was a fighting man, the bravest ever seen And he fought for you and me at last, old Smedley Butler, Marine [Outro] Now when they beat the drums again and wave the flag up high Just ask 'em who gets rich off it, and ask 'em who's to die And remember Smedley Butler, who saw both sides of the scene Oh, the bravest man they ever made, old Smedley Butler, Marine #SmedleyButler #WarIsARacket #FolkMusic TAGS smedley butler, smedley butler song, old smedley butler marine, war is a racket, general smedley butler, business plot