Musical Musings #15: Universal Solider

The third week of the Sixtie's retrospective, this week's prompt is Donovan's "Universal Soldier."

Written and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie in 1964, who said of the song "It's about individual responsibility for war and how the old feudal thinking kills us all". Although it received attention in folk circles, it was not an instantly popular.

The song got the attention of Irish folk singer Donovan, who recorded it for a 1965 EP and it was a month released as a single after the EP failed to sell. It reached #53 on the Billboard charts. The song has recently seen a revival, capturing the sentiments of the anti-war movement.

I was lucky enough to see Damien Leith sing it at the Byron Bay Writers festival, accompanied by Mark Seymour (of Hunters and Collectors fame). Not an Australian Idol fan by any stretch of the imagination, it was an amazingly moving and rousing performance.


Using the theme of war, call to arms and the archetype of the solider, follow your muse through the moving words of Universal Solider to find your story.