I Ain't Marching Anymore

By Phil Ochs

D     G              C         D
Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans
        G          C            D
At the end of the early British war
G                      C
The young land started growing
                        G
The young blood started flowing
    C        Am          D
But I ain't marchin' anymore

For I've killed my share of Indians
In a thousand different fights
I was there at the Little Big Horn
I heard many men lying
I saw many more dying
But I ain't marchin' anymore

             C                 G
        It's always the old to lead us to the war
        C               Am       D
        It's always the young to fall
        Now look at all we've won with the sabre and the gun
        Tell me is it worth it all

For I stole California from the Mexican land
Fought in the bloody Civil War
Yes I even killed my brother
And so many others
And I ain't marchin' anymore

For I marched to the battles of the German trench
In a war that was bound to end all wars
Oh I must have killed a million men
And now they want me back again
But I ain't marchin' anymore

(chorus)

For I flew the final mission in the Japanese sky
Set off the mighty mushroom roar
When I saw the cities burning
I knew that I was learning
That I ain't marchin' anymore

Now the labor leader's screamin' when they close the missile plants,
United Fruit screams at the Cuban shore,
Call it "Peace" or call it "Treason,"
Call it "Love" or call it "Reason,"
But I ain't marchin' any more.

There seems to be a variety of opinions about the chords for this song. Since I am not able to judge which is right, I will simply present all of them.

The first set of chords were provided by Dave Miller:

D     G              C         D
Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans
        G          C            D
At the end of the early British war
G                      C
The young land started growing
                        G
The young blood started flowing
    C        Am          D
But I ain't marchin' anymore

             C                 G
        It's always the old to lead us to the war
        C               Am       D
        It's always the young to fall

D     G              C  C/B   D/A
Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans
        G          C  C/B       D/A
At the end of the early British war
      G                  C
The young land started growing
      F                 Em 
The young blood started flowing
    Am         C        D
But I ain't marchin' anymore

             Am                 G
        It's always the old to lead us to the war
        C               Em       A
        It's always the young to fall
	     C                             Em
        Now look at all we've won with the sabre and the gun
	 Am             C       D
        Tell me is it worth it all

     G              C         D
Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans
        G          C            D
At the end of the early British war
G                      C  Am
A young land started growing
    F                    Em
The young blood started flowing
    Am                  D
But I ain't marchin' anymore

      C                 G
 It's always the old to lead us to the war
 C          Em       A       
 always the young to fall
     C                              Bm            Em     
 Now look at all we've won with the sabre and the gun
 C             Am       D       
 Tell me was it worth it all

Intro
***Capo 2nd Fret***
S= slide 

|-------------------------------------------------
|-3--3333-1--0------------------------------------
|---------------2--0--2-222----222---------------- X2
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3rd Time:                                             D
|----------------------------------------------------22222
|-3--3333-1-0----------------------------------------33333
|--------------2-0-2S5-5555S44S22S-7-7777S55S44S2--- 22222....D
|--------------------------------------------------------- Oh I Marched..
|---------------------------------------------------------
|---------------------------------------------------------

NOTES:

Most of the historical events referenced in this song are probably pretty obvious, with the possible exception of ``United Fruit.'' Further information can be found in the notes to the song United Fruit.

As you can see above, there seems to be considerable difference of opinion as to what the chords are to this song... Here is what Jan Hauenstein tells me (which will hopefully close this debate):

Checked all the suggestions that you already put on the net. None of them are "unplayable". You see, one can sing the same melody to slightly different chords. All the solutions for "Marching" are playable and singable. I decided that for that song fingerpicking works best for me and a good or even mediocre picker (like me) will be able to have fun with the version I suggested. Ochs mainly strums chords in fast succession on "Marching", and I had more problems than on most other of his songs to ascertain what chord exactly was in the middle of three "quick" chords he played. It is often easier to tell what´s happening when chords are fingerpicked - because you can hear the single notes that make up the chord.