A danger in writing topical material is that it may be overtaken by the news before you can get it out, but no collection of topical songs has been quite as unfortunate in that regard as Kris Kristofferson's Third World Warrior. As his recording career declined from the late '70s on, Kristofferson became increasingly interested in writing and singing about left-wing political concerns, especially with regard to Central America, and Third World Warrior was the logical extreme of this tendency, consisting entirely of agit-prop pronouncements. "If you don't like it mister I don't care," Kristofferson sang in the opening song, "The Eagle and the Bear." That song closed with the lines, "And I'll say until the day we free Mandela/All the world will be in chains," while the album's final song, "Sandinista," declared support for the Nicaraguan rebels of that name. Third World Warrior was released on March 6, 1990. But on February 12, Mandela had been released, and on February 26, Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega had conceded defeat in the Nicaraguan election. Thus, Third World Warrior was largely irrelevant the day it arrived in record stores. Probably it was also hobbled by the release a week earlier of Highwayman 2, the second album by the quartet of Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kristofferson that had considerably more commercial clout. But leaving aside issues of timing, Third World Warrior, however committed its statements, was simplistic and heavy-handed, a perfect example of politics overwhelming art.
KRIS KRISTOFFERSON
THIRD WORLD WARRIOR
Mercury 834629March 6/1990
Produced by Danny Lawson
Danny Timms - ac.piano/synthesizer/guitar/vocalGlen Clark - keyboards/harmonica/vocal
Stephen Bruton - lead guitar/vocal
Sammy Creason - drums
Tommy McClure - bass
Donnie Fritts - hammons organ/keyboards/percussion
Billy Swan - guitar/vocal
Recorded:
Ocean Way Recording, LA
1.
EAGLE AND THE BEAR
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '88 Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »I will fight and I will die for freedom up against an eagle or a bear
I will help my brother and we'll sink or swim together
If you don't like it Mister I don't care
I have served with honor in the army I have been a soldier overseas
I have seen my fatherland stagger like a dying man blinded and bewildered by disease
I ain't gonna take it any longer I can't look around it anymore
I'll defend what I believe in a land of liberty like my father did before
I'll just pray to God for Nicaragua and the sorrow of El Salvador today
And I'll say until the day we free Mandela all the world will be in chains
I will fight and I will die for freedom up against an eagle or a bear
I will help my brother and we'll sink or swim together
If you don't like it Mister I don't care
I'll just pray to God for Nicaragua and the sorrow of El Salvador today
And I'll say until the day we free Mandela all the world will be in chains
**********
2.
THIRD WORLD WARRIOR
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '88 Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »You can't defeat him he's fightin' for freedom
That's all he wanted that's all he needs
You'll never beat him with weapons and money
There ain't no chain as strong as the will to be free
Maybe his colors are drivin' you crazy call him a commie maybe it's true
Lure him away from his home with your money
Give him the work that you don't want to do
You can't defeat him...
See how we honor the struggle for freedom they needed vision we gave 'em war
See who is patiently watching in silence the crucification of El Salvador
You can't defeat him...
There ain't no chain as strong as the will to be free
There ain't no chain as strong as the will to be free
[ guitar ] There ain't no chain...
**********
3.
AGUILA DEL NORTE
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '88 Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »Did anybody see them I heard there was a baby
Somebody heard her cryin' weaker through the night
They beat her mama bloody and shot her with her daddy it was the terror from above
El Aguila Del Norte El Aguila Del Norte
Down in Nicaragua running from the shadows striking holy terror deeper in the heart
You believe in freedom and you believe in justice but not in Nicaragua not in Nicaragua [ keyboards ] Aguila Del Norte we can see your power
The beauty of your freedom what is in your heart
You believe in honor and you believe in Jesus but not in Nicaragua not in Nicaragua
Not in Nicaragua not in Nicaragua...
**********
4.
HERO
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '88 Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »Don't you like to see the hero take his licks like a man
Stand up and be tested and be true
Would you like to be a hero in your life well you can did you know it's up to you
Would you trade your place with Jesus on the cross if you could
Shinin' through eternity
Would it bother you to know that you can be just as good as you really want to be
If you're bound to do your duty then it's time that you do
Look your future in the face
For the most important person in the world which is you or the whole damn human race
There's a holy band of angels flying high where no mortal ever trod
Singing holy holy holy holy oh Jesus Christ is the Lord Almighty God
You see the good thing is you don't have to be as good as Jesus to start out with
All you gotta do ask yourself, how would Gary Cooper have done it
Or John Kennedy or Martin Luther King or Malcom X
There's a holy band of angels...
(Holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy oh
Holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy oh)
**********
5.
DON'T LET THE BASTARDS (GET YOU DOWN)
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '88 Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »They're killing babies in the name of freedom
We've been down that sorry road before
They let us hang around a little longer than they should have
And it's too late to fool us anymore
We've seen the ones who killed the ones with vision
Cold-blooded murder right before your eyes
Today they hold the power and the money and the guns
It's gettin' hard to listen to their lies
I've just got to wonder what my daddy would've done
If he'd seen the way they turned his dream around
I've got to go by what he told me
Try to tell the truth and stand your ground don't let the bastards get you down
Minin' roads killin' farmers burnin' down schools full of children fightin' communism
I've just got to wonder...
Don't let the bastards get you down (don't let the bastards get you down)
Don't let the bastards get you down (don't let the bastards get you down)
Don't let the bastards get you down
**********
6.
LOVE OF MONEY
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '88 Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »Love of money is the root of all evil love of money is the root of all evil
Love of money is the work of the devil love of money
She began running for the border and her life
Like the wind straight into the terror of the night
She survived bargainin' her body for their gold
In the end all she had to sell 'em was her soul that's the way it goes
Love of money...
We began reaching for the future like a dream in a land where everything was free
Wordly men turned their profits into war no one knows who we're really fightin' for
Love of money...
Love of money...
**********
7.
THIRD WORLD WAR
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '88 Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »Where the young men's brave new visions threaten old men's selfish dreams
And they try to crush the spirit with their money and machines
And they call it communism because they don't know what it means
In the third world war (third world war) third world war (third world war)
And the rich keep gettin' richer and as wrong as they are right
And the poor become the victims of the armies of the night
And the odds are never even and their skins are never white
In the third world war (third world war) third world war (third world war)
Broken rules and dirty warriors spreadin' lies and secret funds
Can't defeat the Campesino with their money and their guns
Cause he's fightin' for his future and his freedom and his sons
In the third world war (third world war) third world war (third world war)
**********
8.
JESSE JACKSON
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '88 Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »He was walking with your brother on the streets of Alabama
He was marching next to Martin when he died
Working face to face in Cuba and Managua Nicaragua
He did not yet beat the devil but he tried
Hold on brother Jesse Jackson there's a better world a comin'
Where a man can hope a man will show some heart
You just keep right on believin' in the better side of human
They ain't ready for it yet but it's a start
And you move 'em when you hit 'em in the heart
We must bring it all together we must start right at the bottom
Back to helpin' one another when we can
Cause if he's hungry and he's human and he's fightin' for his freedom
Then he shouldn't be too hard to understand
Hold on brother Jesse Jackson...
Hold on brother Jesse Jackson...
**********
9.
MAL SACATE
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '88 Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »Mr Money Man I know you've had your way I know the way you're winnin'
And that bloody hand you're holding ain't no bargain at the price you had to pay
You have stolen all the land that you can steal and you killed so many heroes
But the dreams they left behind them ain't as easy as a man to blow away
And they say el mal sacate ni el fuego lo quema
And los mexicanos dicen cosa mala nunca muere don't you know
The fire don't burn a bad weed boy and a bad thing never dies
Like the bad weeds growin' wild around the broken wounded body of El Salvador
They killed so many heroes like Zapata (presente) and Fonseca (presente)
And Sandino (presente) and Guevarra (presente)
And Allende (presente) and Aquino (presente) and Steve Biko (presente)
But they can never kill the human spirit not in Nicaragua
And they say el mal sacate...
Ay ay ay Nicaragua ay ay ay
**********
10.
SANDINISTA
(Kris Kristofferson) « © '88 Jody Ray Publishing, BMI »Sandinista you can hold your head up high
You have given back their freedom you have lived up to your name
Sandinista may your spirit never die
Hold the candle to the darkness you're the keeper of the flame
Sandinista keep believing in the dream
Truth is stronger than the shadows keep it shining in your eyes
Sandinista may the soldiers disappear
May your children live forever may their laughter fill your lives
Sandinista (Sandinista) los fuerzas de la oscuridad
Nunca pueden extinguir la puridad de tu llama revolutionara
Con su terror y sus mentiras con su dinero sys maquinas
(Sandinista) la libertad en tus ojus el amor caliente en tu corozon
Son fuerzas mas poderosas que las armas de la guerra
Sandinista you can hold...
(Sandinista Sandinista)
**********
