Edwin Starr - War a counterculture-era soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label. It is one of the most popular protest songs ever recorded – a self-evident anti-Vietnam War statement – with The Temptations as the original vocalists. After Motown began receiving repeated requests to release "War" as a single, Whitfield re-recorded the song with Edwin Starr as the vocalist, with the label deciding to withhold the Temptations version. Starr's version of "War" wa