"I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier" is an American anti-war song that was influential within the pacifist movement that existed in the United States before it entered World War I.[1][2] It is one of the first anti-war songs.[3] Lyricist Alfred Bryan collaborated with composer Al Piantadosi in writing the song,[4] which inspired a sequel, some imitations, but also a number of scornful parodies. It was recorded by The Peerless Quartet in December 1914 and was a hit in 1915, selling 650,000 copies. Its expression of popular pacifist sentiment "helped make the pacifist movement a hard, quantifiable political reality to be reckoned with."[5]