Henry Ford was a Fascist

Ford built tanks for the Nazis
And the Nazis used those tanks
To kill off lots of soldiers
In the U.S. Army ranks
Yes, Henry Ford was a fascist
And a nasty one was he
He’d build tanks for anyone
For the proper fee

Henry Ford spoke to his lackeys
And he said, “isn’t this great?
“We’ll attack our enemies
And we’ll retaliate!”
Henry Ford was a fascist
And a cunning liar, too
A brownshirt with a swastika
Draped in red, white and blue

Henry Ford spoke to his workers
And he said, “you dare not strike!
“You must be patriotic
And take on my Third Reich!”
Yes, Henry Ford was a fascist
And he had not a care
About the dying soldiers
That made him a billionaire

Ford built tanks for the Nazis
And he built many more
To kill off lots of peasants
In Peru and Salvador
Yes, Henry Ford was a fascist
I heard that when he died
The last words to leave his lips
Was “arbeit macht frei”

The dollar was his icon
On whichever shore
And Henry’s only motto
Was “make money and make war”
Yes, Henry Ford was a fascist
That’s all I have to say
I will spit on Henry’s rotting grave
Until my dying day

“Henry Ford was a Fascist” first appeared on the 1998 CD, We Just Want the World, and then on the 2000 CD, Live at Club Passim. The sheet music appears in my Songbook Vol I (1997-2004).

Henry Ford was a supporter of Adolf Hitler and a raging anti-Semite. As were many Americans at the time. Henry’s Ford Motor Company strategically profited hugely from the war, and made sure they would, regardless of the outcome. As did many corporations at the time. But Ford was pretty exceptional that way. After the war, Ford sued the US government for bombing their factories in Germany, and won.