Singin' in Viet Nam Talkin' Blues

One mornin' at breakfast, I said to my wife
We've been everywhere once and some places twice
As I had another helping of country ham
She said, "We ain't never been to Vietnam
There's a bunch of our boys over there"
So we went to the Orient Saigon

Well, we got a big welcome when we drove in
Through the gates of a place that they call Long Vihn
We checked in and everything got kinda quiet
But a soldier boy said, "Just wait 'til tonight"
"Things get noisy, things start happenin'"
"Big bad firecrackers"

Well, that night we did about four shows for the boys
And they were livin' it up with a whole lot of noise
We did our last song for the night
And we crawled into bed for some peace and quiet
But things weren't peaceful
And things weren't quiet
Things were scary

Well, for a few minutes June never said one word
And I thought at first that she hadn't heard
Then a shell exploded not two miles away
She sat up in bed and I heard her say, "What was that?"
I said, "That was a shell, or a bomb"
She said, "I'm scared", I said, "Me too"

Well, all night long that noise kept on
And the sound would chill you right to the bone
The bullets and the bombs, and the mortar shells
Shook our bed every time one fell
And it never let up, it was gonna get worse
Before it got any better

Well, when the sun came up, the noise died down
We got a few minutes sleep, an' we were sleepin' sound
When a soldier knocked on our door and said
"The last night they brought in seven dead, and 14 wounded"
And would we come down to the base hospital, and see the boys
Yeah!

So we went to the hospital ward by day
And every night we were singin' away
Then the shells and the bombs was goin' again
And the helicopters brought in the wounded men
Night after night, day after day
Comin' and a goin'

So we sadly sang for them our last song
And reluctantly we said, "So long
We did our best to let 'em know that we care
For every last one of 'em that's over there
Whether we belong over there or not
Somebody over here loves 'em, and needs 'em"

Well, now that's about all that there is to tell
About that little trip into livin' hell
And if I ever go back over there any more
Hope there's none of our boys there for me to sing for
I hope that war is over with
And they all come back home

To stay
In peace