World War Two was the archetypal good war. And ask any liberal, FDR was the archetypal good president. But don't ask Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie -- The Almanac Singers.[1] They released Songs for John Doe[2] in 1941 and it's full of anti-draft, anti-war, anti-FDR songs, inspired by the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, the first peacetime conscription law ever enacted in the US.[3]

And are you afraid to fight, Billy boy, Billy boy?
Are you afraid to fight, charming Billy?
You can comе around to me when England's a democracy...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Almanac_Singers

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_for_John_Doe

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Training_and_Service_Act_of_1940

#ProtestSongs #AlmanacSingers #BillyBoy #WorldWar2 #WW2 #Conscription #SelectiveService #WoodyGuthrie #PeteSeeger #FolkMusic