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The War Poetry Website

Folk songs about war

Folk songs about war are a very neglected area of popular poetry about war. Here are two.

Willie McBride by Eric Bogle
With God on Our Side - Bob Dylan

Willie McBride, folk song of The First World War

One of the most popular folk songs of the First World War and one which is sung every year in thousands of folk clubs is Willie McBride. The song is also known as The Green Fields of France. The writer is Eric Bogle.

Eric Bogle, the writer of the Willie McBride song, returned to the actual grave of Willie McBride in 2018. The video of this visit is well worth seeing and especially hearing Eric Bogle so movingly speaking some of the words of the song. Unfortunately the YouTube video is not allowed to be included on websites other than YouTube but you can get to see it by using this link.

With God on Our Side
written and sung by Bob Dylan

With a 1964 BBC introduction

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