Music like The Sound Defects

"Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)" is a song written by Chris White and first released on The Zombies 1968 album Odessey and Oracle. It was also released as a single in the US in June 1968, backed by "This Will Be Our Year." It was recorded in one take on 20 July 1967 at EMI Abbey Road Studio No. 3. The song has also been covered by They Might Be Giants, The Immediate, John Wilkes Booze and Chrysanthemums.

It's an anti-war song set during World War I on the Western Front. It specifically mentions Gommecourt, Thiepval, the woods of Mametz and Verdun in France, where key battles were fought.

The lyrics are based on an incident from World War I, a subject in which White took an interest. The lyrics tell of a battle from the viewpoint of a soldier in the midst of the fight. Despite the title, the battle White had in mind when writing the lyrics occurred in 1916. The Bee Gees' 1967 song "New York Mining Disaster 1941" was apparently an inspiration for the serious tone of the song. In the album's CD liner notes, Alec Palao calls the song "a thinly-disguised comment on Vietnam."