who wrote i didn't raise my boy to be a soldier
I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier" is an American anti-war song that was influential within the pacifist movement that existed in the United States before it entered World War I.[1][2] It is one of the first anti-war songs.[3] Lyricist Alfred Bryan collaborated with composer Al Piantadosi in writing the song,[4] which inspired a sequel, some imitations, but also a number of scornful parodies. It was a hit in 1915, selling 650,000 copies. Its expression of popular pacifist sentiment "helped make the pacifist movement a hard, quantifiable political reality to be reckoned with."[5]
I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home) Farner himself does not explicitly state what the song is about, and indeed prefers that listeners be able to use their own imaginations when listening to songs in general.[3] Nor did the other band members have any real idea of what Farner was getting at; Brewer has said, "I think it can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people."[4] But the most common interpretations and resonances of "I'm Your Captain" revolve around the Vietnam War. The VH1 program Behind the Music said the song "became a subtle anti-war anthem".[14] Lee Andresen, author of Battle Notes: Music of the Vietnam War, sees it as portraying President Richard Nixon as "captain" of the United States, losing popular support for continuing the war.[24] Fellow Flint native Michael Moore remembers hearing it on the radio the day he went to his draft board (where he would file as a conscientious objector),[25] and hoping the I'm getting closer to my home refrains would never end, as he felt America was his home and not Vietnam.[14]