songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire also includes subjects of love, war, religion, and mysticism.
In 1997, she founded the Cradleboard Teaching Project, an educational curriculum devoted to better understanding Native Americans. Read Full BioBuffy Sainte-Marie, OC (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is a Canadian female vocalist
songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire also includes subjects of love, war, religion, and mysticism.
In 1997, she founded the Cradleboard Teaching Project, an educational curriculum devoted to better understanding Native Americans. She has won recognition and many awards and honours for both her music and her work in education and social activism.
Buffy Sainte-Marie was born in 1941 on the Piapot Plains Cree First Nation Reserve in the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada. She was later adopted, growing up in Massachusetts, with parents Albert and Winifred Sainte-Marie. She attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, earning degrees in teaching and Oriental philosophy and graduating in the top ten of her class. She went on to earn a Ph.D in Fine Art from the University of Massachusetts.
In 1964, on a return trip to the Piapot Cree reserve in Canada for a powwow she was welcomed and (in a Cree Nation context) adopted by the youngest son of Chief Piapot, Emile Piapot and his wife, who added to Sainte-Marie's cultural value of, and place in, native culture.
In 1968, she married surfing teacher Dewain Bugbee of Hawaii; they divorced in 1971. She married Sheldon Wolfchild from Minnesota in 1975; they have a son, Dakota "Cody" Starblanket Wolfchild. That union also ended in divorce. She married her co-writer for "Up Where We Belong," Jack Nitzsche, on March 19, 1982. He died from a heart attack on August 25, 2000. As of 2007, she lives in Hawaii.
Although not a Bahá'í herself, she became an active friend of the Bahá'í Faith by the mid-1970s when she is said to have appeared in the 1973 Third National Bahá'í Youth Conference at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and has continued to appear at concerts, conferences and conventions of that religion since then. In 1992, she appeared in the musical event prelude to the Bahá'í World Congress, a double concert "Live Unity: The Sound of the World" in 1992 with video broadcast and documentary. In the video documentary of the event Sainte-Marie is seen on the Dini Petty Show explaining the Bahá'í teaching of progressive revelation. She also appears in the 1985 video "Mona With The Children" by Douglas John Cameron. However, while she supports a universal sense of religion, she does not subscribe to any particular religion.
Sainte-Marie claimed in a 2008 interview at the National Museum of the American Indian that she had been blacklisted by American radio stations and that she, along with Native Americans and other native people in the Red Power movements, were put out of business in the 1970s.
In a 1999 interview at Diné College with a staff writer with the Indian Country Today, Sainte-Marie said "I found out 10 years later, in the 1980s, that President Lyndon B. Johnson had been writing letters on White House stationery praising radio stations for suppressing my music" and "In the 1970s, not only was the protest movement put out of business, but the Native American movement was attacked."
As a result of this blacklisting led by (among others) Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Nashville disc jockey Ralph Emery (following the release of I'm Gonna Be a Country Girl Again), Sainte-Marie said "I was put out of business in the United States".
Universal Soldier
Buffy Sainte-Marie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning | Line by Line Meaning
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of thirty-one and he's only seventeen
He's been a soldier for a thousand years
He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain
A Buddhist, and a Baptist and a Jew
And he knows he shouldn't kill
And he knows he always will kill
You for me my friend and me for you
And he's fighting for Canada
He's fighting for France
He's fighting for the USA
And he's fighting for the Russians
And he's fighting for Japan
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way
And he's fighting for democracy
He's fighting for the Reds
He says it's for the peace of all
He's the one who must decide
Who's to live and who's to die
And he never sees the writing on the wall
But without him how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau
Without him Caesar would've stood alone
He's the one who gives his body as the weapon of the war
And without him, all this killing can't go on
He's the universal soldier and he really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him and you and me
And brothers, can't you see
This is not the way we put an end to war?
Buffy Sainte-Marie's song "Universal Soldier" speaks to the universal experience of warfare and the futility of war in general. The song is powerful because it highlights the fact that soldiers can come from all walks of life and are not always overtly heroic figures. The first few lyrics provide a striking juxtaposition of the image of a five-foot-two soldier with one that fights with missiles and spears. This contrast highlights the idea that soldiers can come in all shapes and sizes - they are not always what we expect.
The following lines of the song provide a list of different religions that this "universal soldier" identifies with. This is significant because it illustrates that war and violence have no boundaries when it comes to religion, which creates a powerful statement about the notion of war being justifiable in the name of religion. The refrain "and he knows he shouldn't kill, and he knows he always will kill" further emphasizes the idea that soldiers are forced to do things that they know are not morally right, which is a recurring theme throughout the song.
The final verse of the song completely changes the tone by suggesting that we, as a society, are responsible for creating the circumstances that lead to war. It shows that every individual has the power to stop war by refusing to participate in it or by refusing to support those who do. The song's overall message is that war is futile and ultimately only leads to suffering and pain. The universal soldier metaphor emphasizes the idea that we are all responsible for trying to create a more peaceful world.
Line by Line Meaning
He's five-foot-two and he's six-feet-four
The physical traits of a soldier should not define their ability to fight
He fights with missiles and with spears
Soldiers' weapons have evolved over time, but the act of war remains the same
He's all of thirty-one and he's only seventeen
War can make soldiers grow up too fast and take a toll on younger generations
He's been a soldier for a thousand years
The concept of war has been around for ages and soldiers have fought for centuries
He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain
Regardless of religion, a soldier's duty is to fight for their country
A Buddhist, and a Baptist and a Jew
Different religions do not change the fact that soldiers are trained to kill
And he knows he shouldn't kill
Soldiers are aware that taking someone else's life is wrong
And he knows he always will kill
Regardless, soldiers must follow orders to kill in order to serve their country
You for me my friend and me for you
Soldiers fight for their comrades just as much as they fight for their country
And he's fighting for Canada
Soldiers fight for their country, regardless of which country it is
He's fighting for France
Nationalistic sentiments drive soldiers to fight for their country
He's fighting for the USA
Patriotic feelings often motivate soldiers to fight for their country
And he's fighting for the Russians
Soldiers can be on opposite sides of a war, but they are all following orders to fight
And he's fighting for Japan
Soldiers from different countries and cultures can be pitted against each other in war
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way
Despite war being a constant, soldiers hope to bring about world peace through fighting
And he's fighting for democracy
Political ideologies can motivate soldiers to fight
He's fighting for the Reds
Communism was a driving force in some wars, motivating soldiers to fight for their beliefs
He says it's for the peace of all
Despite the violence of war, soldiers often believe they are fighting to bring peace
He's the one who must decide
Soldiers often have to make tough decisions, including deciding who lives and who dies
Who's to live and who's to die
Soldiers' actions dictate life and death, which can take a toll on them mentally
And he never sees the writing on the wall
Soldiers may not realize the effects war can have, both short-term and long-term
But without him how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau
Did Hitler rely on soldiers to carry out atrocities such as those in Dachau?
Without him Caesar would've stood alone
Soldiers can help shape history and outcomes of wars
He's the one who gives his body as the weapon of the war
A soldier's body is the most valuable weapon they have to fight and protect
And without him, all this killing can't go on
Soldiers are the driving force behind wars, without them war cannot continue
He's the universal soldier and he really is to blame
All soldiers share the blame for contributing to war and violence
His orders come from far away no more
Soldiers today can't blame faraway leaders for their orders, as orders come from all levels of the chain of command
They come from him and you and me
We all indirectly contribute to wars, through voting, advocating, and funding militarism
And brothers, can't you see
The lyrics are directed towards men to question their role in war
This is not the way we put an end to war?
War is not the answer to peace, so we must find alternate solutions
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Buffy Sainte-Marie
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
KIMBERLEY KOCHEL
I am a big huge fan of Buffy Sainte-Marie. I read her biography with the intro with the one and only,Joni Mitchell. My Auntie saw Buffy last November 2021. She said Buffy never sounded better. Love from a fellow Ontario Canadian. 🇨🇦❤🙏🕊
John Totten
Thank you Buffy. I served on the front lines in Vietnam and I wish someone would revive this song today.
robert Lytle
I too am a Vietnam veteran. I served in the Marines. In 1968 I was in college and a war protestor. I was in Chicago at Grant Park during the Democratic convention. Still when they called my number in 1969 I answered the call. I came from a small rural area and couldn't bring shame to my family for refusing the draft. I was drafted into the Marines.
USMC 1969-1971
robert Lytle
I served in the Marines during Vietnam. Unfortunately when I got out in Sept 1971, people knew who to blame. It was us and the politicians were happy to let us servicemen and women to take the blame. After all they weren't the ones who carried the gun. We were.
tina sadler
Thank you for your service in a time where those who served were mocked and shamed....
M EB
I'm trying
tuforu4
@Ms. Ntropy i seen young AMERICANS OVERSEAS they are far to young to be OVERSEAS..
I use work in iraq .
Tom Dee
This song never gets old a true classic.
Roger Lewis
Brilliant song. As relevant today as it was in the 1960s when it was written. We need more of these.
Kim Kochel
Buffy is an awesome woman. She speaks for her people and other things(protests etc). I love her singing and what she stands for. She reminds me of another favorite of mine Joan Baez. Read both of their biographies both excellent reads. Love and Prayers from Ontario Canada 🇨🇦🙏🕊