Take No Prisoners

(Music, lyrics: Mustaine)

Got one chance, infiltrate them
Get it right, terminate them
Panzers will, permeate them
Break their pride, denigrate them
And their people, retrograde them
Typhus, detriate them
Epidemic, devastate them
Take no prisoners, cremate them

Going to war, give'em hell
D-Day, next stop Normandy
Beginning of the end
We know how to and sure as shit, we'll win
"War is peace" sure man
A retreat for the damned
A playground for the demented
A haven for those who walk this world
Bereft of heart and soul

Love and war, they say all is fair
Take his life but won't take his hair
Your body has parts your country can spare
By the way, son, here's your wheelchair

He once had to be all he could be
Now he's nothing for one one, nowhere to see
Funny thing, he's like you and me
It's a funny thing, a funny thing
Tears streak his solemn stare
Abandoned for wreckage, nobody cares
No one knew what would happen there
No one spoke, no one even dared
Don't ask, what you can do for your country
Ask what your country can do for you

Take no prisoners, take no shit!


"I was finally fed up with all of the shit that I had put up with from Jeff and Chuck and was having so much fun with Nick and Marty that I started writing the most obnoxious stuff that I could think of. I did not take into account that Marty was Jewish and singing about the panzer divisions and having him sing backups was not cool, now that I think about it. I do however say my favorite line that I always tell new bands at the end of this song, 'Take no shit from anyone ever!'" (Mustaine, 2001)

"There are some busy rhythm/lead breaks/stops in the middle of this song that were a bitch to play in time! This was before ProTools and quantizing so you really had to nail stuff." (Friedman, 2002)

References:

Panzer is German for 'tank,' this word is often associated with World War II German tank units taking part in the 'Blitzkrieg' against European countries.

Typhus is an infectious disease caused by a microorganism. The symptoms include intractable headaches, extensive skin rash, and high fever. Such a disease could be used as a biological warfare agent, as suggested in the song.

Normandy is region in France which was the site of the D-Day invasion in which the Allied forces liberated Europe from the Axis to end the war in Europe during World War II.

The slogan, "War is peace," is borrowed from George Orwell's 1984, where it was a slogan of "The Party," along with "Freedom is Slavery,"and "Ignorance is Strength". The three major global powers in the book were constantly at war with one another, but they were all about equal in strength so no one was ever going to win or lose the war, hence, "war is peace."