Talk:Universal Soldier (song)

Dislike of the song
I don't like this song because its content is just 'all soldiers are evil' and that's all. There is no difference between armies of democracies and dictator's regimes. "But without him how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau" -> Dachau was made by paramilitaries, not by regular soldiers. "And he's fighting for Canada, he's fighting for France, he's fighting for the USA,..." -> probably he was fighting against Hitler. To follow the song's content strictly, the GI who brought freedom to Europe after 1945, has to be blamed for the war. That's ridiculous. And, at least to note - not the soldier is making war, but the politician.I agree that the politician is first to blame, but who does the politicians' bidding like sheep with blinders on? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.125.132.3 (talk) 17:42, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

This is an encylcopedia. It doesn't matter if you like it or not. Pustelnik (talk) 10:50, 14 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Deserves a criticism section all the same. This song is pretentious sanctimonious manure.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.152.158.220 (talk) 23:49, 1 November 2018 (UTC)


 * See WP:NPOV. PaulodiCapistrano 23:11, 19 May 2020 (UTC)

Pretentious or sanctimonious manure ;) hardly. Its without doubt one of the greatest songs ever written and apart from its beautifully crafted lyrics and mournful impact, does some hard hitting. Somewhere somehow it IS the soldiers who do the bidding of the politicians. Oh... and to Hollywood beluever man @ 89.125.132.3 (talk) 17:42, 6 July 2008 It wasn't just GI's that liberated Europe... ! Clive Harman (talk) 07:06, 30 May 2021 (UTC)
 * As mentioned, This is an encylcopedia. It doesn't matter if you like it or not. True words. The song is awful indeed, written by a female obviously, and a very naive one to say the least. Indians are not known to be peaceful in their time, there is enough evidence already found. But some fabulated the same about 'peaceloving' Slavs once. Folkloristic sosci bs created in the 1960s. Ok boomers, and thank you.


 * For 1,000s of years men/boys at times, had to kill and be killed, this will hopefully change in future, thanks to equality? equity? ...share-alike. After all females are allowed to wage wars too, like male cowards like Bush jr and Blair did, so they should also suffer by going to war and getting murdered in the cruellest, most inhumane ways. Maybe then we the people gonna learn sth from it. ;)
 * Oh... and yes @ Clive - those 'other soldiers', for a good half of a century they 'liberated' half of Europe for even more despicable dictatorships, with devastating consequences for the people living there, and are still 'liberating' China, Tibet, and a chunk of Korea last time I checked. It were these 5th columns who commit the actual killings. Somehow it IS always the non-fighters, the 'party soldiers' - those poltroons and scaredy-cats - brutish extremist rats doing the bidding of shitheads up there. Kowtowing to those above in hierarchy and trampling the ones underneath.
 * As Orwell pointed out, imagine a boot... Who would have thought that! 88.151.75.239 (talk) 15:07, 6 June 2021 (UTC)

Uncertainty about lyric in Donovan cover
There's an uncertainty about a certain lyric in this song... "without them how could Hitler have condemned them at ______?"... it is some place name, but it seems a lot of people are unsure about what place it is. If anyone has any information about this, it would be useful, I think.


 * Dachau is a village near Munich. It stands for all the concentration camps during the Nazi Time. There is an interesting German Homepage about Dachau: www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de.
 * Wllngr 18:35, 22 May 2006 (UTC))

Dachau was established in March 1933, the Dachau concentration camp was the first regular concentration camp established by the National Socialist (Nazi) government. Heinrich Himmler, in his capacity as police president of Munich, officially described the camp as "the first concentration camp for political prisoners." It was located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the northeastern part of the town of Dachau, about 10 miles northwest of Munich in southern Germany. I also added the lyrics to the song because i had a question about this to concerning what the word was. I have added the wikipedia "Dachau" article. Zaxzaxzax 06:49, 22 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Dachau is well-known, but the confusion comes from Donovan who in his cover version is clearly not singing 'Dachau' but something like 'Laval' (which is what I hear), that is usually quoted (on several web sites) als 'Labau'. None of those two (Laval/Labau) seems to be a real place. Never heard the Buffy Sainte-Marie version, but I've come across several discussions that stated she was indeed originally singing 'Dachau'.--87.165.91.232 (talk) 13:49, 30 March 2008 (UTC)
 * If you listen to her sing it on Youtube (the Internet's a marvelous thing) she's clearly pronouncing the name Dachau -- the question that remains is, could Donovan really have gotten the name of a prominent concentration camp that wrong? It sorts of destroys the meaning of that line if the place doesn't exist, doesn't it?  I'm not sure there isn't a reference he thought he heard that we're all missing. 71.112.36.216 (talk) 05:02, 7 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Donovan's version (or at least some of his renditions) seems to refer to Lwów, which has a significant history as a Nazi persecution site as well (see Lwów, Lwów Ghetto, and Janowska concentration camp). —BarrelProof (talk) 19:55, 30 November 2013 (UTC)

In Donovan's version, Dachau becomes Liebau (Lubawka, Poland), a training center for Hitler Youth. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ‎81.154.139.181 (talk) 25 July 2017 20:17 (UTC)


 * Not sure about this. Guess the connex to a possible 'Hitler Youth training center' is becoming sth of an urban myth, for whatever reason. My bet is rather on Liep%C4%81ja, a major city in Latvia. Has been named 'Libau' or 'Liebau' in German and 'Libava' or 'Libau' (spelled sorta 'Libav'?). The people there had been suffering twice during and after 2nd world war, thanks to Stalin's and Hitler's minions. For a whole decade.
 * btw, Donovan is singing early 'at Dachau' here; and here is a recording, and what sounds 'at Labau'. He is pronouncing 'Dachau' similar to 'Dacca', and 'Labau' becomes 'Labaa/Labal', or 'Laval' even, in a slurred way. He is dropping endings too it seems. As for Labau or Liebau, given his accent may influence spelling, I would actually opt for 'Labau'. An -i- or -ie- in German would sound more like an -ee- in English (like in Lee), also the Russian vowel should sound more like that. In English howewer direct pronunciation would sound weird, 'Liebow' or 'Leyebou' like in lie or eye, with -ow-/-ou- like in bow or in couch. Perhaps -i- or -ee- can become -a- in Scottish accent, not sure though. An -ow-/-ou- is sounding more like -uh-, like in Edinborough (Scot spelling). If so a 'Labou' for Libau seems likely correct, if that does make any sense...
 * But there is also a place like Laval, Mayenne in France which, given the lyrics and context, 'was condemned' or basically blown to pieces in 2nd world war. Same happened to the Libau mentioned above. Both towns were fought for to destruction.
 * Also here, live and with good quality sound - I can clearly hear he is singing 'in the war'. It is definitely the most neutral variant, not 'honouring' any place, like in the others.
 * In this and that more recent live recording Donovan seems to prefer using the original lyrics. Or he does hesitate for a moment, before deciding on 'at Dachau', not sure. Sometimes I hear 'in Dachau' in recent recordings too, he is singing more slowly by now.
 * Nonetheless, this is one of the most crisp early audio recordings I found. Donovan is using 'at Labaa' ('Labau'). The images in the video show who the real perps are - warning, some very bad and cruel ones inside. 88.151.75.239 (talk) 17:55, 6 June 2021 (UTC)

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Banned by the BBC during the invasion of Iraq
Playing of the song was banned on the BBC during that time. There are probably references out there, those with more interest in the article might like to find them and then add this fact into the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.97.143.19 (talk) 22:46, 12 April 2013 (UTC)