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Masters Of War is a song by Bob Dylan, written in 1963 and released on the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. It is an adaptation, with new words by Dylan, of Nottamun town.

There is a live version on Dylan's Real Live album which is electric. In his Hiroshima concert of 1994, Dylan played the first acoustic Masters Of War since 1963. Dylan also played the song in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on the night of the US Presidential election in 2004.

Dylan spoke to USA Today's Edna Gundersen about the song in late 2001, weeks after the September 11th attacks. The following is an excerpt from the article, presenting Dylan's remarks:

"Masters of War", for instance, "is supposed to be a pacifistic song against war. It's not an anti-war song. It's speaking against what Eisenhower was calling a military industrial complex as he was making his exit from the presidency. That spirit was in the air, and I picked it up."

Pearl Jam covered this song in concert in Boston on May 24, 2006, Bob Dylan's birthday. They have covered it on numerous other occasions, including in a September 30, 2004 appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. They also recorded the song for Dylan's 30th anniversary celebration in New York City in the early 1990s, dubbed Bobfest by Neil Young.

Roger Meddows-Taylor of Queen, covered the song on his 1984 solo album Strange Frontier.

Martin Simpson, the English-born blues/folk guitarist, singer and songwriter covered the song on his 1983 album Grinning in your Face.

D.O.A., the veteran Canadian punk band, covered the song on their 2004 album Live Free or Die.

Ratdog covered the song during a live show at The Orange Peel in Ashville, North Carolina in 2005.

Rx Bandits singer Matt Embree covered this song at a Sounds of Animals Fighting show. A video of the cover can be seen on their myspace www.myspace.com/rxbandits in a blog.

The Roots performed Masters of War at "The Music of Bob Dylan, a Benefit for Music for Youth" November 9, 2006 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, in a review of this performance The Village Voice commented, "Just a shocking, volatile, incredible 10 minutes of carnage. 'Masters of War' has always seemed to me more like a possibly futile prayer than an inevitable blood oath, the warmonger's funeral described in some hypothetical future Bob can only hope will come soon. The Roots just killed it."

Broadside Electric covered the song at a "Bob Dylan live performance retrospective" concert on September 17, 1998 at The Living Room in New York City. It was later recorded for their 1999 album With Teeth.

Justin Sullivan & Friends whom have comprised in different guises New Model Army, covered the song on their 2003 live album Tales of the Road and have been performing it regularly in touring for the past several years. The performance is bitter and angry and truly lacking in subtelty, and as such does this song a fair amount of justice.

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