The lyrics address the tendency of nations , tribes , or societies to believe that God will invariably side with them and oppose those with whom they disagree , thus leaving unquestioned the morality of wars fought and atrocities committed by their country . Dylan mentions several historical events , including the slaughter of Native Americans in the nineteenth century , the Spanish – American War , the American Civil War , World Wars I and II , The Holocaust , the Cold War and the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot ; the song made no explicit reference to the Vietnam War until live renditions in the 1980s , when an additional verse ran thus : Music critic Tim Riley once wrote : " ' With God on Our Side ' manages to voice political savvy mixed with generational naivete " as it " draws the line for those born long enough after World War I to find its issues blurry ( ' the reasons for fightin ' / I never did get ' ) and who view the forgiveness of the World War II Germans as a farce . " The melody of " With God on Our Side " is essentially identical to the traditional Irish folk song " The Merry Month of May " , which was also used by Dominic Behan in his song " The Patriot Game " . The opening verse is also similar to the second verse of Behan 's song , in which the narrator gives his name and age . Behan criticized Dylan publicly by claiming the melody as an original composition . Behan took the view that the provenance of Dylan 's entire body of work must be questioned . Behan exercised the same folk tradition as Dylan in writing the song , having himself borrowed the melody
The Holocaust
The Holocaust
With God on Our Side (song)