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The Twelve Days of Christmas
Written by Iris and Jim Klein, Copyright 2005 Iris and Jim Klein

 
On the First day of Christmas
My country gave to me
A promise to set the world free.

On the Second day of Christmas
My country gave to me
Two Crowns of Glory

On the Third day of Christmas
My country gave to me
Three Guns a-blaze

On the Fourth day of Christmas
My country gave to me
Four Cities Burning

On the Fifth day of Christmas
My country gave to me
Five Broken Dreams

On the Sixth day of Christmas
My country gave to me
Six Soldiers Bleeding

On the Seventh day of Christmas
My country gave to me
Seven Children Dying

On the Eighth day of Christmas
My country gave to me
Eight Orphans crying

On the Ninth day of Christmas
My country gave to me
Nine Weeping Widows

On the Tenth day of Christmas
My country gave to me
Ten Bombs a-bursting

On the Eleventh day of Christmas
My country gave to me
Eleven Men in pieces

On the Twelfth day of Christmas
My country gave to me
Twelve Graves a-waiting
 
 
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The Story of The Twelve Days Of Christmas: A War Song
The day before Thanksgiving I went to a farmer’s market in Los Angeles where I was assailed by a Viet Nam vet.
“You want to know about war? I’ll show you war! I’ve had two shoulder operations, three knee operations, seven operations on my back, and spent a year and a half in a coma,” he said, while giving me a visual tour of his wounds.
“My god,” I thought, “it’s the Twelve days of Christmas!”
On Thanksgiving, Iris and I wrote this song, which we recorded with many of our singer and musician friends.  The song is an illumination of the sorrow of war.  It is a step towards shifting global consciousness.
Jim Klein
December 12, 2005
Los Angeles


 

 


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