"War Song" is a 1972 single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 credited to Neil Young

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

 & Graham Nash

Graham Nash

Graham William Nash, OBE is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer...

, backed by The Stray Gators

The Stray Gators

The Stray Gators were the musicians Jack Nitzsche , Ben Keith , Tim Drummond and Kenny Buttrey that supported Neil Young in 1972 on his hit album Harvest, for which Nitzsche also produced two songs...

. It was released in support of George McGovern

George McGovern

George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....

's 1972 presidential campaign

George McGovern presidential campaign, 1972

George McGovern, a United States Senator from South Dakota, launched his second candidacy for the presidency of the United States in an ultimately unsuccessful bid for the 1972 presidential election.-Leading up to the announcement:...

, who was running against incumbent President Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

. Young had already voiced his opinions of Nixon two years prior with "Ohio" while a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash, and once again tried to make an impact with a protest song

Protest song

A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...

. Despite his and Nash's intentions, the single failed to make a serious impression.

The single itself would soon go out of print

Out of print

Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....

. Warner Brothers released the song on their 1974 "Loss Leader" Series album Hard Goods (a promotional series used primarily to promote rock acts on the label at the time). After that, "War Song" would remain unreleased in any other format until June 2009, when it was finally released on CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray on a box set by Neil Young

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

 called The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972.