Baez first met Dylan in 1961 at Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village. At … Read Full Bio ↴Baez first met Dylan in 1961 at Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village. At the time, Baez had already released her debut album and her popularity as the emerging “Queen of Folk” was on the rise. Baez was initially unimpressed with the “urban hillbilly,” but was impressed with one of Dylan’s first compositions, “Song to Woody,” and remarked that she would like to record it (though she never did). At the start, Dylan was more interested in Baez’s younger sister, Mimi, but under the glare of media scrutiny that began to surround Baez and Dylan, their relationship began to develop into something more. By 1963, Baez had already released three albums, two of which had been certified “Gold”, and she invited Dylan on stage to perform alongside her at the Newport Folk Festival. The two performed the Dylan composition “With God on Our Side”, a performance that set the stage for many more duets like it in the months and years to come. Typically while on tour, Baez would invite Dylan to sing on stage partly by himself and partly with her, much to the chagrin of Baez’s fans, who often booed him. Before meeting Dylan, Baez’s topical songs were few and far between: “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream,” “We Shall Overcome” and an assortment of negro spirituals. Baez would later say that Dylan’s songs seemed to update the topics of protest and justice.

By the time of Dylan’s 1965 tour of the United Kingdom, their relationship had slowly begun to fizzle out after their having been romantically involved off and on for nearly two years. The tour and simultaneous disintegration of Baez’s and Dylan’s relationship was documented in the rock-doc Dont Look Back .

With God On Our Side
Bob Dylan & Joan Baez Lyrics

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Oh my name it ain't nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I was taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side

Oh, the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh, the country was young
With God on its side

The Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War, too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
I was made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side

The First World War, boys
It came and it went
The reason for fighting
I never did get
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead
When God's on your side

The Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And then we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now, too
Have God on their side

I've learned to hate the Russians
All through my whole life
If another war comes
It's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side

But now we got weapons
Of chemical dust
If fire them, we're forced to
Then fire, them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God's on your side

Through many a dark hour
I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ was
Betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side

So now as I'm leavin'
I'm weary as Hell
The confusion I'm feelin'
Ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor

That if God's on our side
He'll stop the next war

Overall Meaning

In "With God On Our Side," Joan Baez sings about the often-blinded patriotism that comes with being an American. The first verse of the song notes that the singer’s name and age don’t matter, because in the grand scheme of things, our individual identities are insignificant. The second verse discusses how history is often told from a biased perspective, how the white man’s account of the devastation caused to Native Americans by the cavalry is usually more celebrated than the indigenous population’s. Baez also points out that in times of war, justification often comes with religious fervor, that armies are "made to memorize (the) names of the heroes with guns in their hands and God on their side."

The song consistently questions the blind patriotism displayed by humans when they are fighting for something they believe in. It highlights the irony of the situations where the killing of other humans is justified with the belief that one has divine right on their side. Ultimately, the song leaves listeners with a reminder about the dangerous combination of religion and war and suggestions of new beliefs because a society with people who blindly kill what they are fighting against will never end.

Line by Line Meaning

Oh my name it ain't nothin'
I don't consider myself important

My age it means less
Age is just a number

The country I come from Is called the Midwest I was taught and brought up there The laws to abide And that land that I live in Has God on its side
I was raised in the Midwest and taught to follow the laws. I'm proud to live there because God is on our side.

Oh, the history books tell it They tell it so well The cavalries charged The Indians fell The cavalries charged The Indians died Oh, the country was young With God on its side
The history books paint a one-sided story of the country's violent past. It was a young country that believed they had God on their side.

The Spanish-American War had its day And the Civil War, too Was soon laid away And the names of the heroes I was made to memorize With guns in their hands And God on their side
I was taught about the Spanish-American and Civil Wars and memorized the names of the heroes who fought with guns in their hands and God on their side.

The First World War, boys It came and it went The reason for fighting I never did get But I learned to accept it Accept it with pride For you don't count the dead When God's on your side
I don't understand the reason for fighting in the First World War, but I learned to accept it with pride because it felt like God was on our side and we didn't think about the dead bodies.

The Second World War Came to an end We forgave the Germans And then we were friends Though they murdered six million In the ovens they fried The Germans now, too Have God on their side
The Second World War ended and we forgave the Germans. Despite the fact that they killed six million Jews, they too have God on their side.

I've learned to hate the Russians All through my whole life If another war comes It's them we must fight To hate them and fear them To run and to hide And accept it all bravely With God on my side
I was taught to hate Russians my whole life and if there's another war, we have to fight them. I've learned to fear and run from them, but I'll accept the war bravely because God is on our side.

But now we got weapons Of chemical dust If fire them, we're forced to Then fire, them we must One push of the button And a shot the world wide And you never ask questions When God's on your side
Now we have chemical weapons that we'll use if we have to. One push of a button and it will affect the whole world. We won't ask questions because we believe God is on our side.

Through many a dark hour I've been thinkin' about this That Jesus Christ was Betrayed by a kiss But I can't think for you You'll have to decide Whether Judas Iscariot Had God on his side
I've thought a lot about how Jesus was betrayed by a kiss. I can't decide whether that means Judas had God on his side or not, that's up to you.

So now as I'm leavin' I'm weary as Hell The confusion I'm feelin' Ain't no tongue can tell The words fill my head And fall to the floor That if God's on our side He'll stop the next war
As I leave, I feel exhausted and confused. There are no words to describe how I feel. I just hope that if God is on our side, he'll prevent the next war from happening.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BOB DYLAN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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