Rivers Of The Blood

By Phil Ochs

Have you seen the rivers of the blood?
First a trickle, then a flood --
First the ocean's pounding roar,
Then a tidal wave hits upon the shore.
Knives and arrows fell like rain,
And the powder burst aflame,
And the flames they flew so high --
Dropped their poison down from the sky.

In the shadow of the bygone days
Millions died in a million ways.
Now the whining of the missile's call:
It's time to rise or it's time to fall,
For now one million bombs are stored,
But they keep building more and more.
Can't you hear the warning sound?
Don't you know there's still time to turn around?

In the shadow of the bygone days
Millions died in a million ways.
Now the whining of the missile's call:
It's time to rise or it's time to fall,
For now one million bombs are stored,
they keep building more and more.
Can't you you hear the warning sound?
Don't you know there's still time to turn around?
        -- time to turn around.

Notes:

(C) 1963 Phil Ochs.

[NOTE: The last line's repeat on the recording is a truncated repeat, as shown here; in the liner notes, it's a full repeat. The liner notes have, throughout, only "there's time," where the recording has "there's still time." --gkorsts@agronomy.org]