One Tin Soldier

Monday, March 23, 2026

I don’t think I’ve told this story so if I have you will have to fogive me. When I was young, my sisters fell in love with a song called “One Tin Soldier”. I think it might have been a theme song to a Movie called “Billy Jack”. It is actually a rather depressing song but the first line in the song is “Listen children to a story that was written long ago…”. I made no attempt to memorize the song and I certainly never listened to it myself but I guess I heard it enough that the words kind of stuck in my brain somewhere.

I remember one day when the kids were little I was trying to get the kids to bed. No one was listening to me so I started to say, “listen to me” but as soon as I started the sentence the words to this song came into my mind and without even thinking about it “listen to me” actually came out “listen children…” and I actually sang the entire song from memory. I swear, I never once listened to that song on my own and I hadn’t even heard it for more than ten years and I sang the entire song from memory right then and there. I took a moment to look it up. Here are the lyrics.

Track Title: One Tin Soldier (The Legend Of Billy Jack)

Album Title: Have A Nice Decade: disc 2
Prime Artist: Coven
Vocal: Jinx Dawson
Originally made famous The Original Caste

Written by: Brian Potter
Written by: Dennis Lambert
From: Billy Jack 1971 (M)

Lyrics:
Listen children to a story
That was written long ago
'Bout a kingdom, on a mountain
And the valley folk below
On the mountian was a treasure
Burried deep beneath a stone
And the valley people swore
They'd have it for their very own

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of Heaven
You can justify it in the end
There wont be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill
Asking for the burried treasure
Tons of gold for which they'd kill
Came an answer from the kingdom
With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain
N' all the riches burried there

Now the valley cried in anger
Mount your horses
Draw your sword
And they killed the mountain people
So they won their just reward
Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain dark and red
Turned the stone and looked beneath it
"Peace on Earth"
Was all it said

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of Heaven
You can justify it in the end
There wont be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of Heaven
You can justify it in the end
There wont be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

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