The futility of war - will we remember, and learn from history?
“man's blind indifference to his fellow man. And a whole generation who were butchered and damned”
“the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame. The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain.”
(Green Fields Of France) has criticised Joss Stone for recording a "
sentimentalised" version of his song, which
omits key verses about the horrors of war, as part of the Poppy Appeal.
Stone teamed up with guitarist Jeff Beck to record a revamped version of the song, a reflection on the grave of a young man, Willie McBride, killed in the First World War, which was written by Scottish folk musician Eric Bogle.
Chosen as the official single for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, Stone will perform her version in front of the Queen on Remembrance Sunday.
However Stone's soul version, sung to a gospel choir backing, removes the final two verses,
which deliver a withering condemnation of the futility of the First World War.
The missing lines refer to "
man's blind indifference to his fellow man. And a whole generation who were butchered and damned" and "
the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame. The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain."
Bogle, 70, who wrote the much-covered song in 1976, said Stone's omissions "
diminished" its intended anti-war message.
"Believe it or not I wrote the song intending for the four verses of the original song to gradually build up to what I hoped would be a climactic and
strong anti-war statement," Bogle said. "
Missing out two and a half verses from the
original four verses very much
negates that intention."
Comment: With kidnapped girls and ebola and the continuing violence, what makes Nigeria so interesting? Could it be its large oil reserves and that it is the world's 21st largest economy with a low debt-to-GDP ratio?