The Mensch Song

1.

Any fool can be a soldier.
Any jerk can fire a gun.
Nazi, Tonton Macute, or the Klan,
Any clod can.

Chorus:

But it takes guts to throw the gun away and fight no more.
Brains to find a better way to make war cease,
It takes a mensch to bear the olive branch of peace.

2.

Bang bang bang bang - dumb, dumb, dumb.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat - dumb, dumb, dumb.
Any moron chewing bubble gum
Can fire a gun.

Chorus:

3.

A here's not all rough 'n tough.
A hero's made of sweeter stuff.
And when the army says, "Ya gotta go,"
A hero says "No."

Chorus:

Final chorus [at half-speed]:

Yes, it takes guts to throw the gun away and fight no more,
Brains to find a better way to make war cease,
It takes a [a tempo] mensch to bear the olive branch of peace.
It takes true grit to bear the olive branch of peace,
It takes a mensch to bear the olive branch of peace.

"Mensch" is a very high priase word; it means "a real human being."

words & melody by
Carole Rose Livingston
(c) 1988