[Cash] was proud of his own military service and often commemorated American military battles in song. Yet even in the realm of heroic warfare, Cash can evidence ambivalence. His 1972 track “The Big Battle” receives little comment but is a remarkable piece of folkloric but deromanticizing songwriting. It’s the closest thing Cash ever wrote to an outright antiwar song. In it, a young Civil War solider hears the shooting fade out and is ready to disarm, thinking the conflict is done. His commanding officer is more seasoned and rebukes the younger solider. The physical warfare may be done, but
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