War Isn’t Murder
by Jesse Wells
War isn’t murder, good men don’t dieChildren don’t starve and all the women surviveWar isn’t murder, that’s what they sayWhen you’re fighting the Devil, murder’s okayWar isn’t murder, they’re called casualtiesThere ain’t a veteran with a good nights sleep
Let’s talk about dead peopleI mean a-dead peopleThe dead don’t feel honorThey don’t feel that braveThey don’t feel avengedThey’re lucky if they got graves
Call your dead mother, ask her when she diedIt’s a deathly silence on the other lineThe dead don’t talk but the children don’t forgetSo in twenty short years, you could live to regret that
War isn’t murder, there’s money at stakeGirl, even Kushner agrees it’s good real estateWar isn’t murder, ask NetanyahuHe’s got a song for that and a bomb for youWar isn’t murder, it’s an old desert faithIt’s a nation-state sanctioned, righteous hate
Let’s talk about dead peopleI mean a-dead people
War isn’t murder, it’s the vengeance of GodIf you can’t see the bodies, they don’t bloat when they rotAnd the flies don’t swarm and the children don’t cryIf war isn’t murder, good men don’t die
So in a short twenty years, when you vacation the StripDon’t think about the dead and have a nice tripWar isn’t murder, we should all give thanksI saw it all in a movie, give it up for Tom HanksWar isn’t murder, they don’t ship out the poorAnd the bullets they fire aren’t part of the cureWar isn’t murder, land is a rightBut the banks called dibs, it’s something you can’t fight
Let’s talk about dead peopleI mean a-dead peopleThe dead don’t feel honorThey don’t feel that braveThey don’t feel avengedThey’re lucky if they got graves
War isn’t murder, ain’t a river of bloodStretching all-through time and raining down in a floodIt’s a dark sacrifice, made on your behalfSo get down on your knees and thank the sweet Lord thatWar isn’t murder
Jesse Welles or simply Welles, is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born in Arkansas, Welles released his debut studio album Red Trees and White Trashes, on which Dave Cobb was a producer for three songs. In 2024, Welles garnered attention on social media for writing and performing folk protest songs, including “The Poor”, “Cancer” and “The Olympics”, as well as “War Isn’t Murder”, a protest song about the Israel-Hamas War.Recently he was seen performing at a New York City subway station. The song he sang was called War Isn’t Murder.
