Temptations, The - War Lyrics

https://youtu.be/MDjO2yCshrc

https://youtu.be/D0K3LJq9KnU

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=RDD0K3LJq9KnU

American white evangelicals hate this song

Wait what was wrong with Motown they should have released this

i remember seeing bob hope's show around christmas. He introduced them as five great american's
was so awesome will never forget it.

War? Laibach!

This is great but Edwin Starr gave it the power it really lacked and added conviction to it.

I had no idea one of my favourite songs was written by one of my favourite vocal group!

They sounds like The group behind d the Black Dynamite theme.

sheer magic!

This original is better than the Edwin Starr version, IMO. It's more straightforward and stark. The anti-war message really resonated when it was released during the Vietnam War era. By 1970, protests about the war were everywhere, and hearing it coming from Motown's biggest stars, who became famous singing love songs, really got people's attention.

Thanks for the historical perspective!

The Temptations play "Aint Too proud" brought me here, I had no idea that they covered this first!!

2:31 the power of Paul 🙌🏻

2:27 nobody can do it like Paul listen to that emotion and power🙌🏻

This version is the BEST!!!!

Didn't know of this version until about 1/2 hour ago. The Temptations were an awesome part of the soundtrack to my childhood. Actually, so was the Edwin Starr version of this. I'm glad I was influenced so young by those who challenged the maniacs in power.

So damn little has changed.... :(

Except singers today seem to have forgotten all about protest songs :(

I can dance to this version

First became aware of this song as a cover by Frankie Goes To Hollywood as B-side on Two Tribes

You're a racist. A 3:11 video you are making money off of? 311 means KKK. So disrespectful. Karma will get you. Fuck you from everyone on the Earth.

Edwins version flows better ..... Still a big fan of the Temps though .....

Stay Strong! Great song. Thanks for uploading. Check out my "Positive Music Vibes Radio" channel. Subscribe, shuffle, and enjoy! The message is in the music.

its better than Starr version...sound more like James Brown and beautyful..more soul power!

I don't hear Eddie K. in this song.

Cuz he didn't have any leads

Rest in peace Dennis

Original album filler by the Temps ,It was felt too politically hot for the Temps to release as a single .So they funked it up for the single charts & Put Edwin’s powerful voice on it ,the rest is history .Loads of People have recorded versions of it .But the Temps & The late Edwin Starr ,s versions stand out from all others .UK Motown fan .

this song kept me out of vietnam

This song keep me inside vietnam to train Guerrilla warfare with them

i like this version better

How can you not like anything The Temps do?? However, I like the Edwin Starr version a lot more. Never heard the Temps version before, so it is hard to get Edwin's version out of mind while listening to this. I may be slightly biased since my bro, Bob Babbitt, killed it on bass for Edwin's version.

Yes he sure did.


Amazing single. This is great, but the Starr version is one of the most powerful songs I have ever heard and it hit me as a 8 year old boy back then.


Your bro was amazing. "The Rubberband Man" indeed!

we've learned nothing

As evidenced by your offensive user name. Really?

I like Edwin's version better

this is more like the boot camp version,this should been on full metal jacket.

War is only good for the undertaker!

Absolutely nothin

In fact, it is good for the economy of the winning countries.

Guillermo Perona Guerrero there is no winning. How is there winning in death.

A pyrrhic victory

According to Wikipedia, Edwin Starr's version is more intense.

I agree.

I agree too lol, I found this comment a lot funnier than I should have.

Edwin Starr sounds like a pregnant woman during the Khe San s assault

While Edwin Star's version is fantastic, I wish more people knew of the original

I see what you mean, Sebastian Gustavsson. In fact, the version that I was familiar with, I didn't even know the name of the song itself or the name of the artist. I just remember the "what is it good for? Absolutely nothing" part, but nothing else beyond it.

It was just today that I did the Google search using the words from that refrain, and the first answer that I got was The Temptations - War. Listening to this song, I realized this was not even the same song.

@Edgar José Rodríguez i think that Starr version has the opposite effect,i saw a lot of vietnan war raw graphic footage,with his song on background,sounds like pro war.

@Nobunaga1981 It IS the same song. It's a variation on the theme, and arranged very differently from Edwin Starr's.

@Stephen Kennedy
Same song, yes, but not the same recording.

Norman Whitfield & Barrett Strong....that says it all. They rotated all their sings. Check Undisputed Truth doing Papa was A Rollin Stone...J5/Temps did Hum Along & Dance...Gladys & Marvin did Heard It Through....etc. Norman was a beast!!! Barret sang Money (That's What I Want). On this album, I think they did "Friendship Train", which Gladys and Pips did also.

The Temptations were the first act to record this famous song. As the subject of the Vietnam war was a controversial one, the song was given to a lesser known act, the singer Edwin Starr and it became a big Nr.1, later covered very successfully by Bruce Springsteen.

Motown was petitioned by 3000+ students to release this but the Temptations release schedule was full This version wouldn't have the mass appeal Gordy demanded so he challenged Whitfield to amp it up behind another masculine soul shouter. Starr stepped up and the rest is his-story.

There was also a version by Frankie Goes to Hollywood that came shortly before Springsteen's version.