"Universal Soldier" is a song written and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these ar ...

. The song was originally released on Sainte-Marie's debut album ''

It's My Way! ''It's My Way!'' is the first album by folk musician and songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. It was released in April 1964 by Vanguard Records. It was later released in Britain in the spring of 1965 by Fontana Records. Though the album did not chart, ...

'' in 1964. "Universal Soldier" was not an immediate popular hit at the time of its release, but it did garner attention within the contemporary

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

community. It became a hit a year later when

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

covered it, as did

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting '' The Glen Campbell Good ...

. Sainte-Marie said of the song: "I wrote 'Universal Soldier' in the basement of

The Purple Onion coffee house The Purple Onion Coffee House was a music venue at 35 Avenue Road in the Yorkville neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada. It operated from 1960 to 1965. It was a popular venue for folk musicians. History The Purple Onion was opened by Barry Witkin, ...

in Toronto in the early sixties. It's about individual responsibility for war and how the old feudal thinking kills us all." Sainte-Marie has said she approached writing the song from the perspective of a student writing an essay for a professor who didn't see eye-to-eye with her perspective, hoping to present him with a different point of view.

Composition

In the six verses of the song, a soldier of different heights, ages, religious and political backgrounds is depicted, fighting in different times, for different countries (starting with Canada, where Buffy Sainte-Marie comes from), and with different motives, always thinking that he is fighting for peace but never realizing he is part of the problem. The song ends with: Sainte-Marie sold the

publishing rights A publishing contract is a legal contract between a publisher and a writer or author (or more than one), to publish original content by the writer(s) or author(s). This may involve a single written work, or a series of works. In the case of music p ...

to the song, but later bought them back for $25,000.

Donovan cover

By 1965, the song had caught the attention of budding folk singer

, who recorded it using a similar arrangement to Buffy Sainte-Marie's original recording. In Donovan's version,

Dachau Dachau () was the first concentration camp built by Nazi Germany, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents which consisted of: communists, social democrats, and other dissidents. It is lo ...

became Liebau (Lubawka, Poland), a training center for

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

. Donovan's recording was released on an EP titled ''The Universal Soldier'' in the United Kingdom (August 15, 1965). The EP continued Donovan's run of high charting releases in the UK by reaching No. 5 on the charts. The tracks on the EP are "Universal Soldier"; "The Ballad of a Crystal Man" b/w "Do You Hear Me Now?" (

Bert Jansch Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter ...

); "The War Drags On" (Mick Softley). The lack of interest in the EP format within the United States led Hickory Records to release the song as a single in September 1965. Donovan's cover of "Universal Soldier" was backed with another track from the British EP: Bert Jansch's "Do You Hear Me Now?". Donovan's US release of "Universal Soldier" also became a hit, charting higher than his previous single "

Colours Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...

" and ultimately reaching No. 53 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' charts. This success led Hickory Records to include the song on the United States release of Donovan's second album, '' Fairytale'', replacing a cover of Bert Jansch's "Oh Deed I Do". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' described it as "a plaintive, twangy, medium-paced message-song which takes a strong anti-war stand." Sainte-Marie was glad that Donovan's success with this song got more people to hear it.

Other covers

* The Highwaymen *

(#45 US, No. 16 AUS, No. 4 SWE) *

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enoug ...

Heikki Harma Heikki Veikko Harma (born 20 April 1947 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish singer-songwriter who has also distinguished himself as a translator of song lyrics, but has written popular lyrics of his own too. To the public he is better known by ...

, 1965, lyrics in Finnish, called "Palkkasoturi" ("The Mercenary") *

Boudewijn de Groot Frank Boudewijn de Groot (, born 20 May 1944) is a Dutch singer-songwriter, known for "'' Welterusten Meneer de President''" (1966). Biography Youth Boudewijn de Groot was born in wartime occupied Dutch East Indies in 1944 in a Japanese concent ...

, lyrics in Dutch, called "De eeuwige soldaat" *

Juliane Werding Juliane Werding (born 19 July 1956 in Essen) is a German singer and alternative therapy practitioner ('' Heilpraktiker''). Her recordings include "Am Tag, als Conny Kramer starb" and "Nacht voll Schatten" in 1983 (German cover of Mike Oldfield ...

, lyrics in German, called "Der Ewige Soldat" * Ámmun Johnskareng a

Northern Sami Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

, lyrics in Sami, called "Máilmmálaš soalddát" *

Bettina Wegner Bettina Wegner (born 4 November 1947 in West- Berlin) is a German singer-songwriter. She is best known for her song "Sind so kleine Hände", written as "Kinder (Children)", also sung by Joan Baez, Dean Reed and others. Biography Wegner was bor ...

, lyrics in German, called "Soldaten" *

Toni Vescoli Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name. In Spanish, Italian, Croatian and Finnish, it is a masculine given name used as a short form of the names derived from Antonius like Antonio, Ante or Anttoni. In Danish, English, Finnish, Norweg ...

, lyrics in

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...

, called "De-r-eewig Soldat" *

Mariusz Zadura Mariusz is a Slavic-language masculine name, and may refer to: *Mariusz Czerkawski (b. 1972), Polish ice hockey player *Mariusz Duda (b. 1975), Polish musician *Mariusz Fyrstenberg (b. 1980), Polish tennis player * Mariusz Jędra * Mariusz Jop *Mari ...

, lyrics in Polish, called "Żołnierz tego świata" ("The soldier of this world") * Lobo, 1974, on his album ''Just a Singer'' * Aimee Allen, performed at the

Target Center Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, ...

in 2008 during

Campaign for Liberty The Campaign for Liberty (C4L) is a political organization founded by twelve-term United States Congressman Ron Paul. Campaign for Liberty focuses on educating elected officials and the general public about constitutional issues, and currently pr ...

's "Rally for the Republic", hosted by

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as we ...

First Aid Kit A first aid kit or medical kit is a collection of supplies and equipment used to give immediate medical treatment, primarily to treat injuries and other mild or moderate medical conditions. There is a wide variation in the contents of first aid ...

, 2011, for Jack White's Third Man Records tri-color vinyl series * Jake Bugg, 2013, performed exclusively for ONE's Agit8 campaign

Response

In 1965, Jan Berry of

Jan and Dean Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music style ...

released as a single an

answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer so ...

presenting the opposite point of view, titled "The Universal Coward", which criticized anti-war protesters.

Dean Torrence Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles ...

objected and did not participate.

Quoted unknowingly in ''Smithsonian'' article

Lyrics from this song (ending in "without you all this killing can't go on") were quoted in Owen Edwards' article "Kilroy Was Here" in the October 2004 edition of '' Smithsonian''. The author identifies the lyrics as "free verse" from "a mysterious poem" that was found written on a cot from a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

era troopship. The true authorship of the words was provided by more than 285 readers who wrote in to provide a correction.

References

External links

lyrics

{{Authority control Songs about soldiers Songs about the military 1964 songs Anti-war songs Donovan songs Buffy Sainte-Marie songs Protest songs Glen Campbell songs Folk rock songs Songs written by Buffy Sainte-Marie 1965 singles The Highwaymen (folk band) songs