WHO WANTS TO DIE?:

"War" Singer Edwin Starr Dead: Seventies soul man was sixty-one (1942-2003) (ANDREW DANSBY, April 2, 2003, Rolling Stone)

Soul singer Edwin Starr, who topped the charts in 1970 with his fiery, iconic, anti-war song "War," died yesterday at his home in Nottingham, England; he was sixty-one. The cause of death is believed to be a heart attack.

Starr was born Charles Hatcher on January 21, 1942 in Nashville, and he started his first band, the Future Tones, as a teenager. He did a two-year stint in the army between 1960 and 1962 before moving to Detroit. A music manager there heard his voice and told Hatcher he would be a star. He added an "R" to that description, took on his middle name Edwin, and his stage name was born.

Starr began recording in the mid-Sixties for the Detroit label Ric-Tic Records, and scored his first pop hit, "Agent Double-O Soul," in 1965, which reached as high as Number Twenty-one. "Twenty-five Miles," released five years later would reach as high as Number Six.

But it was "War," delivered in Starr's rough, staccato bursts of singing for which he was best known.

War (Edwin Starr)

Oh no-there's got to be a better way
Say it again
There's got to be a better way-yeah
What is it good for?
*War has caused unrest
Among the younger generation
Induction then destruction
Who wants to die?
War-huh
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War-huh
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Yeah
War-I despise
'Cos it means destruction
Of innocent lives
War means tears
To thousands of mothers how
When their sons go off to fight
And lose their lives
I said
War-huh
It's an enemy of all mankind
No point of war
'Cos you're a man
*(Repeat)
Give it to me one time-now
Give it to me one time-now
War has shattered
Many young men's dreams
We've got no place for it today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord, there's just got to be a better way
It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker
War
Friend only to the undertaker
War
War
War-Good God, now
Now
Give it to me one time now
Now now
What is it good for?

To answer Mr. Starr's question: it seems to be an exceptionally effective way to rid the world of its most brutal dictatorships. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 2, 2003 8:50 PM